2.2. FACTORS INFORMING STUDENTS WHEN CHOOSING A SUBJECT FOR
2.2.3. Personal relationships
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lacked commitment to their work eroded the enthusiasm of the students to pursue the subject.
Moreover, students will be motivated to select even a challenging subject if the teacher manages to develop a friendly teaching atmosphere that is conducive to learning (Ndalichako & Komba, 2014).
Akintade (2012), while studying the determinants of selecting Geography as a discipline in Ilorin, Nigeria, confirmed that the way in which a teacher relates to learners greatly influences the learners’ responses and attitudes in relation to a subject. This finding was made by Akintade (2012) after establishing that the attitude and relationship that the teacher had with his/her pupils impacted significantly on the attitude that the students had towards the subject. It is therefore important that a teacher should be scholastically eloquent in his area of specialisation because the response and attitude of his /her students towards his/her subject is determined by the way he/she relates to the students and passes across his/her instructions. For this reason, a teacher should be well trained, encouraged and motivated. Abrantes et al. (2007) conclude that higher learning performance will be a consequence of a higher level of congeniality. It is however unfortunate that all these factors having been considered, generally teachers have inferior expectations for the educational accomplishment of girls than they do for boys (Scantlebury, 2009).
26 2.2.3.1. Parental support
Scholars studying the significance of family support when a student selects a major have concluded that parental support is very crucial. Imperative as the parental support may be, the influence that the parents wielded over the student’s decision, the studies disclosed, was variable.
Walmsely, Wilson and Morgan (2010) conducted a study on influences on a college student’s major and concluded that the support or non-support of family members, especially parents, was very important when a student decided what subject to pursue or not pursue as a major. Malgwi et al. (2005) observed that the likelihood of parents influencing the students when deciding on a major than guidance counsellors or teachers is much higher. Likewise, when parents think that a child is likely to excel in a class they are very likely to influence the child to take that class (Waugh 2011). As a result, when fathers in particular perceive a class to be difficult, they will likely dissuade their daughters especially, from taking that class (Waugh, 2011). Walmsley et al.
(2010) further pointed out that parents would bear so strong an influence on a student’s choice of subject major that they would sometimes pose a challenge for some students when the students felt “pushed” by parents towards a certain major. According to Walmsley et al. (2010) some parents would push so strongly as to make the student get to the point of feeling shoved towards or away from a major. This led one student, particularly, to refer to parents as “forceful motivators on the major someone’s picking” (Walmsley et al., 2010, p.32). Likewise, in Kenya, Kochung and Migunade (2011) found that children may select majors that their parents desire, but this time, only to please them. The aforementioned has sometimes led to students choosing majors they otherwise would not have chosen.
Other scholars have however, clarified that family relationships will not have an equal influence on a student’s choice of major. Wildman and Torres (2001), for instance, argue that though family members have an influence, it is variable, and family members exert an unequal influence on a student’s decision to pursue a major. Certain family members, for varying reasons, may exert a stronger influence on the student than others. For instance, Esters and Bowen (2005) point out that while studying the factors influencing enrolment in urban Agricultural programs, they noted that that it was the female relations (mother and/or female guardian) who had a more profound influence on the decision taken by a student to take or not to take a major. The stronger
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influence of the female relatives was conceded by Hashim and Embong (2015) after conducting a study on students selecting accounts as their major in Malaysian schools. The purpose of the study was to investigate who had the stronger influence between parents and peers. Results of the same study similarly revealed that mothers in particular, exerted a stronger influence, especially on secondary school students.
2.2.3.2. Friends and peers
Other studies have revealed that notwithstanding the strong influence of parents in a student’s choice of major, the influence of peers should also not be underestimated. Comments from siblings, friends and peers likewise have an impact on whether students enrol for a class or not.
Peer influence was found to be weighty in the choice of Christian Religious Education (Walaba
& Kiboss, 2013) and Accounts (Hashim & Embong, 2015) in studies carried out in Kenya and Malaysia respectively. According to Beggs et al. (2008) a class that is supported by the student’s social network is the one that the student is more likely to enrol in.
In addition, Walmsley et al. (2010) after conducting a study with the purpose of understanding what influences the selection of a major by college students found that parents, family members and friends play the dual role of acting as sources of support and information brokers for the students. Waugh (2011) points out that, students are likely to be influenced by the views and opinions of their peers and to make their decisions on those estimations rather than their own thoughts. Malgwi et al. (2005), further elucidate that students will more likely take advice from their peers before they heed to their educators, counsellors or members of the family.
Siblings also play an important role through directly or indirectly acting as information brokers (Walmsley et al., 2010). Through siblings a student may get a “sense of a major’s landscape”
because of the experiences of the sibling (Walmsley et al., 2010, p.33). Comments from siblings may also serve as motivation for a student to pursue a major (Walmsley et al., 2010).
Noteworthy is that, according to Waugh (2011), females are more predisposed to peer influence.
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The arguments above reveal that in the process of choosing a subject as an area of specialisation social interactions also play a pivotal role. It can be either be parents, sibling or peers or even a combination of any of these above mentioned groups, but evidence from studies carried out, point to those around an individual as being most likely to influence the choice that one makes when selecting a subject area to pursue.