Sexual Harassment and Students’ Academic Performance in Olorunsogo Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Sexual harassment is a serious and universal societal problem and it is one of the most prevalent forms of misconduct in school settings. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between sexual harassment and students’ academic performance in Olorunsogo L.G.A., Oyo State. The variables taken into consideration were age, class level, and religion. The study was survey research. The population of this study comprised all students in secondary schools in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State, while the target population was students in public secondary schools out of which a sample of 200 respondents was selected using the sample was selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. A questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The instrument was subjected to face content validity and a test re-test reliability method which yielded a coefficient index of 0.78. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in form of percentages, means and rank order analysis while Pearson’s correlation and Multivariate Analysis of Variance were used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05. Findings from the study revealed that sexual harassment experienced by secondary school students was high while secondary school students’ academic performance was low. The study further revealed that there was no significant relationship between sexual harassment and academic performance. The findings of the study also indicated that there were no significant differences in the sexual harassment experiences of secondary school students in Olorunsogo L.G.A., Oyo State based on class level and religion; however, significant differences were observed based on age. Similarly, there were no significant differences in the academic performance of secondary school students in Olorunsogo L.G.A., Oyo State based on age, class level, or religion.