Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.5, No.29, 2014 104 The Role of Gender and School Type in Influencing Performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination: Research Findings from Public Secondary Schools in Kakamega County, Kenya. Philip Wanjala Mukonyi 1* Martha Khasandi M’mbasu 2 1. Department of Educational Foundations, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 190 – 50100, Kakamega, Kenya 2. Mukhonje Secondary School. P.O. Box 159 – 50103, Malava, Kenya *E-mail of the corresponding author: pmukonyi@gmail.com Abstract Performance in national examinations is a subject that elicits a lot of emotion and concern among education stakeholders, be they students, parents, teachers, educational administrators or political leaders. This is because performance in the said examinations is the sole criterion used to allocate opportunities for further training and employment. Many studies have been done to explore the factors that influence performance in examinations in Kenya and the world over. This study sought to investigate the relationship between students’ gender and school type (whether boys’, girls’ or mixed) schools and performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E.) examination. The study also attempted to find out whether there are differences in performance in K.C.S.E examination between students of different gender and school type. Three different samples were selected from six public secondary schools in Kakamega County. These were 277 form four students, forty-one form four subject teachers and six careers guidance and counselling masters. Three questionnaires were used in data collection for the different samples selected. The data were then analysed by computer using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Programme. Three statistical techniques were used to test the hypotheses formulated for this study. These were the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient which was used to test for relationships between variables; the Analysis of Variance was used to test for differences between variables and the Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis to test the individual and cumulative effect of Independent Variables on the Dependent Variable. The research design was an ex post facto one. The findings revealed that students’ gender and school type were significantly related to performance in K.C.S.E examination. Statistically significant differences in performance in K.C.S.E examination were discerned between gender and school type. These findings formed the basis for the recommendations that the Ministry of Education should encourage single-sex schools and strengthen career guidance and counselling and mentorship programmes in secondary schools to motivate learners, as a matter of policy. Key Words: Gender, school-type, performance, equity. Introduction and statement of the problem The study sought to find out whether there is a relationship between performance of students in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E) examination and their gender. The study also sought to establish whether there is a relationship between performance in K.C.S.E examination and school type, whether boys’, girls’ or mixed, in public county schools in Kakamega County. The study set out to answer the following questions: a) Is there a relationship between performance in K.C.S.E. examination and the gender of the student? b) Is there a relationship between performance in K.C.S.E examination and the school type attended by the student? c) Is there a difference in performance in K.C.S.E examination between gender? d) Is there a difference in performance in K.C.S.E examination between School type? Research hypotheses The following null research hypotheses were formulated for testing by this study: H01 (a): There is no relationship between performance in K.C.S.E examination and the students’ gender. H01 (b): There is no relationship between performance in K.C.S.E examination and School type.