Educational Plans and Aspirations of University Female Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Education in Nigeria is seen as an effective agent in determining the economic and social status of the individual. It provides an opportunity for one to join the respectably employed. The higher the educational attainment, the greater the chances for advancement in places of work. This has led to great demand for education. With the current thinking that the woman's place is not necessarily in the kitchen, and the observation that little substantial information on female students exists in Nigeria,I there is need to consider the educational plans and aspirations of female university students. Results of such studies can be helpful in identifying reasons why females still lag behind males in the pursuit of higher education.2 Intervention programs can then be mounted to bridge the wide gulf between the social status of men and women and to enable women to take more active parts in the affairs of the nation as well as the world at large. Educational goals and aspiration-related studies have yielded varying results. Local circumstances and tradition have been observed to be important in determining aspiration. Studies at the secondary (high) school level have yielded fairly consistent results. Significant