Assessing the Level of Cultural Factors and Academic Motivation among Female Secondary School Students in District Quetta, Balochistan

Abstract

Aim of the Study: The present study assessed the level of cultural factors (family culture, school culture, and community and social values) and the level of academic motivation among female students of Grades 9 and 10 in government girls’ higher secondary schools in District Quetta, Balochistan. Methodology: Using quantitative, cross-sectional survey design, targeted population of 7,254 female students enrolled in Grades 9 and 10 across 72 government girls’ higher secondary schools in District Quetta. A sample of 364 students was drawn through a multistage sampling procedure, with the sample size determined from the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table. Data were collected using a self-developed 40-item questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale, validated through expert review and pilot testing (overall Cronbach’s α = .905). Findings: Students rated all three dimensions of cultural factors at a high level, with an overall mean of 3.87 (SD = 0.39). Academic motivation was also high (M = 4.00, SD = 0.52), reflecting perseverance, curiosity, classroom participation and commitment to improving academic performance. Family culture recorded the highest mean among the cultural dimensions (M = 3.95, SD = 0.49), followed by school culture (M = 3.86, SD = 0.47) and community and social values (M = 3.78, SD = 0.55), indicating that the family is the most immediate and strongly perceived cultural influence on these students’ education. Conclusion: The study indicates that the cultural foundations of educational motivation are already present among female secondary school students in District Quetta. They point to the value of sustaining and strengthening culturally supportive family, school and community environments in order to maintain positive educational attitudes among adolescent girls in a socio-culturally diverse and resource-constrained provincial context.