A STUDY ON THE DISPARITY IN ATTITUDE OF HIGHER SECONDARY STUDENTS TOWARDS MODERNIZATION WITH RESPECT TO GENDER AND MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

The main objective of the study was to examine and compare the attitude of higher secondary male and female students towards modernization with respect to seven dimensions. Apart from this their attitude was compared with respect to medium of instruction too. The sample consisted of 712 students, of which 339 were female and 373 were male students studying in XI std. The samples were drawn from 15 higher secondary schools from Pune city. A standardized questionnaire–Comprehensive Modernization Inventory (CMI-AK) developed by Dr.S.P.Ahluwalia and Dr.A.K.Kalia was used for the purpose of studying the attitude of adolescents towards modernization. The findings revealed that, majority of respondents had an extremely modernized attitude towards politics and status of women. However, significant differences were noticed in modernization on the four dimensions with respect to gender and five dimensions with respect to the medium of instruction classified for the study. Further, the study revealed that there is a positive and significant difference found between male and female with regard to education, politics and marriage aspects. Whereas, positive and significant differences were noticed in education, parent-child relation and status of women aspects of modernization with respect to their medium of instruction