IMPACT OF GROUP CONFORMITY ON ACADEMIC COUNSELING:A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BOYS AND GIRLS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THARAKA-NITHI COUNTY,KENYA

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of group conformity on academic counseling by comparing boys and girls in public secondary schools in Tharaka- Nithi County, Kenya. This study was ex- posto research which employed causal- comparative research design. The population of the study was 9,419 form three students from public secondary schools in the county. A sample of 350 respondents, comprising of 175 boys and 175 girls were involved in this study. The desired data was collected through a students’ questionnaire. Validity of the instruments was ensured through judgments of researchexpertsandscholarsintherelatedareaofstudy.Reliabilityoftheresearchinstrumentswasestimatedthroughapilot study in order to determine the internal consistency of the items. Percentages, frequency counts and t- test were adapted for data analysis by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 for windows. A summary was used to analyze qualitative data. The findings of the study indicated no significant differences in the impact of group conformity on academic counseling between boys and girls. Therefore, it was recommended that when secondary school students are counseled on academic matters, teacher counselors should overlook arguments on gender which explain that girls are more prone to group conformity than boys.