Assessment of the influence of family background on academic performance of university students: a case of School of Statistics and Planning, Makerere University

Abstract

This study was undertaken to find out the influence of family background on academic performance of the student at Makerere University. The researcher used sample size of 150 respondents where this sample represented second and third year students at school of statistics and planning. Questionnaires were the main instrument in data collection. Ordinal Logistic regression was used in the analysis of data. The objectives were to find out the influence of Parental financial status on the student’s academic performance, to find out the influence of Parental education background on the student’s academic performance and to find out the influence of Family size on student’s academic performance. The findings of the study show that there is a significant relationship between parents’ financial status and the student’s academic performance. This implies that the financial status of the parents does have a significant effect on student’s academic performance leaving other factors constant. This shows that students whose parents are employed have higher chances of performing well while at the university than those with unemployed parents. The findings of the study show that there is significant relationship between parents’ education background and the student’s academic performance. This implies that the education level of the parents does have a significant effect on student’s academic performance at university leaving other factors constant. This reveals that having educated parents increases the student’s chances of succeeding while at university than having uneducated parents. The findings of the study show that there is significant relationship between family size and the student’s academic performance. This implies that the size of the family does have a significant effect on student’s academic performance at university. This signifies that larger families provide less support in terms of finances and attention to their children compared to smaller families. The researcher recommends that parents should work more to provide their children with the necessary school requirements, encourage reading and research by their children while at home and people are encouraged to practice family planning practices to reduce on the birth rates.