The statistical analysis of academic performance in higher learning institutions from a gender perspective in Tanzania: a case study of undergraduate students at the University of Dar es Salaam

Education is one of the critical sources to the alleviation of poverty. Higher education is one of the centers of excellence for producing human resources necessary for socioeconomic development of a country. The main objective of this study was to analyze the determinants of degree academic performance in higher learning institutions from a gender perspective in Tanzania, a case study of University of Dar es Salaam. Secondary data of 505 students were used from the College of Arts and Social Sciences. Marital status, sex and residence with performance of the students and logistic regression analysis with the help of SPSS package. The result obtained give us significant evidence to conclude that the most important determinants of student’s performance in higher institutions are age, marital status, and hall of residence especially for female students who are more vulnerable to social constraints. The study recommends that attention should be made for the students’ academic performances at higher learning institutions. Increase residence near to the University and increasing library facilities may also contribute to the students’ performances. Other implementations of the findings and policy recommendations are also discussed in this study.