The influence of mathematics ability on students’ academic performance in financial accounting

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to find out whether mathematics ability influences Senior High School students’ academic performance in Financial Accounting in the Central Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey design was employed by using quantitative and qualitative methods in obtaining data. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select a sample of 370 Financial Accounting students and 13 Financial Accounting teachers respectively. In-depth interviews, focus group discussions, questionnaires, achievement tests and two terms’ Financial Accounting scores of students were employed to analyse and solicit respondents’ views on how mathematics ability influenced students’ academic performance in Financial Accounting. The results have shown that a positive perception of mathematics and Financial Accounting subsequently leads to better performance in Financial Accounting. Also, teachers’ qualifications, area of specialisation, years’ of experience and mathematics background correlated positively and significantly with students’ mathematics ability whereas teachers’ gender and perception showed no significant relationship with mathematics ability. Again, gender influenced the academic performance of students in mathematics and Financial Accounting with males outperforming females. It was, therefore, recommended that Financial Accounting teachers should teach students reading Financial Accounting relevant mathematics topics to enable them understand the mathematics concepts found in Financial Accounting.