Influence of Home and Career on the Academic Performance of Married Distance Learners in South-West, Nigeria

The paper examined the influence of Home and career on academic performance of married Distance Learners in South West, Nigeria. The study employed survey research design, one hundred and four (104) women and one hundred and thirty six (136) men were involved in the study, making a total of two hundred and forty married (240) Distance learners who were involved in the study. The sample for the study was selected using purposive sampling technique. The designed questionnaire was the instrument used with a reliability coefficient of 0.78. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation. The study revealed that distance learners are faced with challenges which differed by gender. These challenges include financial constraints, lack of support from spouse; having too many stresses to cope with, taking care of children among others. The study however, showed that male distance learners receive more support from their spouse compared to female counterpart. Also, the support received by distance learners from their employers is not encouraging. The study recommended that distance learning institutions should improve the quality of learner support services to learners and frequently organize counselling programmes to assist them in overcoming challenges militating against their studies.