School Adjustment:A Comparative Study of Gender Differences among Adolescents

Adjustment is a continuous process by which a person varies his behavior to produce a more harmonious relationship between himself and his environment. It helps to keep balance between one's need and capacity to meet the needs. Adjustment is a major concern at all life stages, especially during adolescence. Since it is a phase of rapid growth and development during which physical, sexual and emotional changes occur, adjustment problems are at their peak. Most adolescents experience adjustment difficulties in emotional, social and/or educational aspects of their lives. School adjustment can be viewed as comprising academic, social and emotional adjustment .It is a continuous process that is geared towards the adaptation of the individual to school life and culture. Overall adjustment plays a vital role in the development of child. The sample of 30 adolescents aged 14-18 years were taken up from the Senior Secondary School in this study. In each group, there were fifteen adolescent girls and fifteen adolescent boys. School Adjustment Inventory for school students developed by Sinha and Singh has been used in the study. The present study aims to examine the gender difference in social, educational and emotional adjustment among the school going adolescents. The findings of the present study indicate that there exist significant differences between the secondary school students when compared on the basis of gender.