Abstract:

The tendency to postpone the completion of academic tasks is a common behavior among high school students. Research studies has shown a general tendency to procrastinate among high school and college students. This study aims to characterize the procrastination analysing the gender differences between boys and girls, as well as differences between high school students engaged in the different sections : Arts, Sciences, Technology, Social Sciences and Humanities. To do this, we begin by defining the concept of procrastination, then introduce the objectives and hypotheses, the analytical tools that have been developed for assessing procrastionation, and finally, the results, conclusions and recommendations for high school students and teachers.

Procrastination is defined as the tendency to delay an action to a future moment. The procrastinator can be anyone regardless of age, profession or gender. Academic Procrastination is defined as the tendency to postpone indefinitely intentional important work related to their studies. This is replaced by other, more satisfactory activities, such as the use of social networks like Facebook, watching TV or hanging out with friends. According to Clariana [2] there are different degrees of procrastination among the students. Different researches claim that between 80% and 95% students usually procrastinate on academic tasks. 75% of students consider themselves procrastinators and finally there is a 50% of the population of students who admit to always procrastinate and that this behavior is problematic and harming their academic achievement.

The study raises two main hypotheses. Firstly, (H1) boys will show a higher procrastination than girls in High school. Secondly, (H2) Art section bachelors show a higher procrastination than other students’ engaged in the other sections.

To analyze the degree of procrastination of High School students we adapted the Academic Delay Scale of Clariana, integrating specific questions for secondary education, related to the causes of procrastination and the temporal perspectives of the students. A six-point scale measured to degree of procrastination; the higher the score the greater the procrastination.

The sample is constituted by 180 students of an Spanish High School, having students enrolled in Arts, Ssciences, Technology, Social Sciences and Humanities sections. Participants are students of the 1st and 2nd course, including 68 boys and 112 girls. Participants responded to the Procrastination Survey during their school hours.

The results allowed to accept the first hypothesis (H1), stating that boys procrastinate more than girls. The results are statistically significant (t (178) = 0.905, p = 0.001, α = 0.05), boys (M = 5, SD = 1.83) procrastinate more than girls (M = 4.2, SD = 1.83 ).

Contrary to the second hypothesis, the comparison between the degree of procrastination among different high schools sections has revealed that students who procrastinate more are those enrolled in the Technology section (M = 4.78, SD = 1.86), followed by the Arts (M = 4.68, SD = 1.83), the Social Sciences (M = 4:37, SD = 2.03), the Humainities (M = 4:36, SD = 1.36), and finally, those who procrastinate the less are the Science section (M = 4.29 , SD = 2.1).

It would be necessary to examine in future studies the causes that lead boys in High School to procrastinate more than girls, and help them to better manage their learning times.

Keywords:

Procrastination, Time Management, Secondary Education, High School, Gender studies.