AN ANALYSIS OF ENROLMENT AND OUT-TURN OF SOUTH-SOUTH WOMEN OF NIGERIA IN NIGERIAN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS
Florence Ettah Essien & Ettah Bassey Essien
Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences
University Of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The paper sought to investigate the enrolment and out-turn profiles of women from South-South region of Nigeria in relation to males in state tertiary institutions (colleges of education, polytechnics and universities) in Nigeria using historical data. The paper adopted comparative analytic and econometric (panel data regression) approaches. The panel data regression was used to investigate the level to which out-turns in state colleges of education, polytechnics and universities have influenced women employment in South-South region of Nigeria. Investigations revealed that, within the period under review, in state colleges of education, females enrolled more than males, however, in out-turn, males consistently outnumbered females. In state polytechnics and universities, males consistently outnumbered females in both enrolment and out-turn. The panel data results from the six states of the South-South zone of Nigeria indicated that female out-turn from the universities affect employment of women in South-South most, followed by colleges of education, and then the polytechnics. All in all, female education in South-South region of Nigeria is relatively low. This probably is attributed to many factors which include (a)married women on programmes, (b)marriage while on programme, (c) negative societal perception of female education at a higher level, and (d) fear of being enrolled on “male-dominated courses”- mathematics, physics, etc. The attendant effect of low female education is usually poor/low female human capital, which engenders low female entrepreneurial earnings, low/poor child human capital accumulation (poor child upbringing) and low female participation in politics and labour force, which result in low economic growth and development. We recommend that more women should be encouraged to enroll on programmes in tertiary institutions, more so on the so–called male’s programmes. This can be done through scholarship awards by governments and individual institutions.
