ACHIEVEMENTS DISPARITY AMONG JOB SEEKERS IN A UNIVERSITY SETTING

The study investigated whether (i) the sex of job seeker has any appreciable impact on their performances on an aptitude test; (ii) the certificate obtained by the job seekers influenced their performances on an aptitude test; (iii) the scores of the job seekers in terms of their sex and certificate worth are homogeneous. Two hundred and ten (210) qualified WASC/GCE and OND/NCE job seekers made up of 120 male and 90 female were subjected to a 30 – item aptitude test. Their scores were analysed using a t – test and ANOVA at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that there is a significant difference in the performances of job seekers by sex in favour of the male participants. Also, there is a significant difference in the performances of the job seekers in terms of their certificate worth in favour of the OND/NCE holders. The scores of the job seekers in terms of their sex and certificate worth were found to be significant and homogeneous and this was in favour of the male applicants and the OND/NCE holders. The implication of these findings is that experience in terms of certificate worth and sex of the individuals coupled with determination play significant role in any competitive examination. Employers of labour should always engaged good and qualified candidates for jobs without prejudice to sex and quota system to make room for efficiency.


Introduction
Achievement can be seen as the central theme of every existence and this is the reason why individuals strive to achieve his or her goals and objectives. However, within the existing circle, achievement tests have so many uses among which are for the making of sound educational decisions. Even though the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the classroom teacher in evaluating his students are supplemental to such decision making, however the role of achievement tests cannot be overemphasized. Decisions such as classification of candidates as being 'passed' or 'failed' in accordance with 'a norm or criterion reference selection of applicants for jobs and Http://www.granthaalayah.com ©International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH [2] placement in schools or for position like clerical officers, to mention a few, are more often than not dependent on achievement or aptitude tests.
It is always a matter of interest to know how many members of each subgroup of the population are qualified for one post or another or passed one examination or the other. For instance an analysis of the 2012 -2017 senior school certificate examination results in some selected science subjects revealed a lot about the failure rate and the disparity in male and female performances.
(WAEC, Reports 2012 -2017) The disparity was in favour of the male learners who performed excellently well in the science subjects. This is contrary to Oloyede (2009) who claimed that girls and boys do not differ much in their performance as ability measures is gender independent since opportunities for development are much the same until the school leaving age.
Another issue is the use of quota system in selecting candidates into many states and Federal Government institutions and appointments. By and large brilliant candidates' are schemed out at the expense of quota system or geographical spread. Quota system is synonymous with federal character. In federal, people are engaged and are paid for assumed qualifications like lawyers, doctors etc. because they carry the certificates. However, Atkinson, (2006) and Onibokun, (2012) have shown that due to individual differences, some people tend to achieve more than others. In other words achievement becomes a dominant part of their lives and they organise their lives, time and talent to pursue achievement oriented goals.

Statement of the Problem
For the appointment of job seekers into most of our tertiary institution, especially at the junior level in the Nigerian universities, applicants are subjected to a competitive selection examination. Studies have shown that there are other factors that influence achievement apart from cognitive level. The study wants to determine the extent to which two (qualification and sex) of these other factors influence achievement.

Research Questions
The following questions were raised: 1) What is the effect of sex on the applicant`s achievement on the aptitude test? 2) What is the effect of qualification on the applicant`s achievement on the aptitude test?
3) Are the scores of the job seekers in terms of their sex and qualifications homogeneous?

1)
There is no significant difference in the achievement of male and female applicants in the aptitude test. 2) There is no significant difference in the achievement of applicants in the aptitude test based on their qualifications 3) There is no significant difference in the scores of applicants by sex and qualifications in each of the three sections of the aptitude test. Http://www.granthaalayah.com ©International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH [3]

Methodology
Two hundred and ten (210) qualified WASC/GCE and OND/NCE job seekers made up of 120 male and 90 female made up the sample for the study. The instrument for the study was a 30item aptitude test constructed by the researcher made up of General Paper, Use of English and General Mathematics sections. The instrument was satisfied by two senior management staff in the registry department of the university. It has a testretest reliability of 0.89. The validated instrument was administered for 30 minutes to 217 subjects that were found qualified for the test. Seven (7) candidates who were caught cheating during the test were disqualified. The scores of the remaining 210 candidates were subjected to t-test and one way analysis of variance to test the hypotheses.

Hypothesis 1:
There is no significant difference in the achievement of male and female applicants in the aptitude test.
The scores of the applicants were grouped into female and male, then subjected to a t-test statistics  Table 1 above showed that the mean score for the male applicants on the aptitude test was 23.89 while that of the female applicants was 13.16. There is therefore a statistically significant difference in the achievement of male and females applicants in the aptitude test since (tc = 11.38, df= 208) in achievement for P < 0. 05.

Hypothesis 11: There is no significant difference in the achievement of applicants in the aptitude test based on their qualifications
The scores of the applicants were grouped into two on the basis of WASC/GCE and OND/NCE certificates and then subjected to t-test. A cursory look at Table 2 shows that the mean score for the WASC/GCE applicants on the aptitude test was 18.33 while that of the OND/NCE applicants was 24.11. This clearly shows a statistically Http://www.granthaalayah.com ©International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH [4] significant difference in the achievement of the two groups of applicants in the aptitude test since (tc = 5.56, df= 208) in favour of the OND/NCE holders for P < 0. 05. Thus there is a significant difference in the achievement of the applicants based on qualifications.
3. Hypothesis 111: There is no significant difference in the combined achievement of applicants based on their qualifications and sex in each of the three sections of the aptitude test.
The scores of the applicants on the three sections of the aptitude test were subjected to a oneway analysis of variance to verify the homogeneity of the scores.  (table 3) for the applicants on the three sections of the aptitude tests found to be significant for F (2, 207) = 81.5948 at P<0.05 level. With students Newman Keuls Multiple Range test for comparison between pairs of means, a significant result in favour of the male subjects and OND/NCE holders was also observed for SN-K= 2.81and P<0.05.

Discussion
Findings from Table 1 showed that there is a statistically significant difference in the achievement of male and female participants in favour of the males. In support of this finding Plake & Ansorge (2012) and Plake & Median (2013) found in their studies that differential test performance in male and female subjects on quantitative and qualitative tests is a function of item arrangement, level of difficulty and the ability of the testees. Plake & Median (2013) further argued that male subjects performed at a higher level than their female counterparts in most achievement tests demanding mathematical skills as in the case of the instruments used in this study, while female subjects performed better in most tests involving reading and comprehension.
Findings from Table 2 further showed that the applicants' performances on the aptitude test were well enhanced with their previous academic attainments. This finding is in agreement with the findings of Alonge (2016) which concluded that cognitive entry characteristics and formative evaluation are strong predictors of academic performance. In terms of the homogeneity of the applicants' performance, it is clearly shown on Table 3 that the result is significant in favour of the male applicants and the OND/NCE holders. This might be due to the fact that, that male subjects are more persistent or challenged to continue a sincere testing effort as the positive reinforcement pattern diminishes, whereas female subjects are more receptive to extinction of effort as the positive reinforcement decreases and negative reinforcement increases. (Oloyede & Demide, 2012). In support of these findings Medugu & Oloyede (2014) and Oloyede & Ogunsola (2012) found that boys had an edge over girls in achievement and that this was more of a cultural Http://www.granthaalayah.com ©International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH [5] factor than intellectual factor, considering the attention and care an average African gives to a male child.

Conclusions
From the findings of this study, it could be concluded that: 1) Male applicants achieve higher than their female counterparts.
2) OND/ NCE holders applicants achieve higher than the WASC, GCE applicants 3) Male OND/NCE holders achieve better than their female counterparts.

Recommendations
From the conclusions of the study it is recommended that Employers of labour should always engaged good and qualified candidates for jobs without prejudice to sex and quota system to make room for efficiency.