Gender enrolment status in higher education courses : a situation assessment and analysis of a South Eastern Federal University
For two decades now, there has been a heightened interest on gender equity in educational access. This interest is stimulated by the realization that one of the most effective strategies for promoting economic and social development in developing countries is education for all. In recognition of the positive impact of girl-child education, various organizations (UNICEF, UNESCO, CEDAW, CIDA, FAWEN) have mounted many intervention programs and campaigns aimed at closing the wide gender gap in access to and achievement in education in Africa. A situation assessment and analysis on gender enrolment status in different countries by UNICEF in 2003 indicated that significant gender disparities still exist in many African countries. Though Nigeria made meaningful progress in ensuring gender equity in this area at the primary education level with a gender gap ratio of only 5 percent, however, being a highly patriarchal society, home and societal roles are still gender stereotyped. This is reflected in the admissions into different higher education courses in the universities. This paper assesses the gender status in enrolment into different faculties in a south eastern university in Nigeria. Enrolment status by male and female students into arts and science based courses offered in this university from 2008 to 2011 was assessed. Four research questions guided the study. Results indicated that in spite of the profuse efforts made so far to bridge the gender gap in education access in Nigeria, many higher education courses are still being construed as either masculine or feminine. Evidence of this gender gap, it is hoped, will sensitize the government, educational institutions and the general public on the current gender situation in human capital empowerment for necessary interventions.
Analysis of Candidates’ Performance in Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) and Post-UTME in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria
A major criterion for determining the eligibility of candidates for admission into Nigerian Universities was their performance in UTME and Post-UTME before the scrap of the Post-UTME in 2016. This study was therefore aimed at investigating the performance of students in UTME conducted by Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Post-UTME conducted by the University of Ibadan from 2012/2013 to 2015/2016 with emphasis on gender and age-group performance in the two examinations. The secondary data used for this research comprised of the records of all 100 Level students admitted into the University from 2012/2013 to 2015/2016 academic sessions through UTME and Post-UTME. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient r. The results [(2012/13: 49.3%; 50.7%); (2013/14: 53.5%;46.5%); (2014/15: 53%;47%) and (2015/16: 53.3%;46.7%)], for male and female respectively showed that more male candidates were admitted compared to their female counterpart in each academic session except the 2012/2013 session that Original Research Article Otekunrin et al.; JSRR, 14(5): 1-8, 2017; Article no.JSRR.34322 2 had higher female enrolment. More than 80% of the students were in the 16-20 age group. The independent t-test, for UTME and Post-UTME respectively, showed that the males had higher mean scores than the females and these mean scores were significant in all the sessions except in the 2015/16 session [(2012/13: P = .00; .04); (2013/14: P = .00; .03); (2014/15: P = .00; .00); (2015/16: P = .32; .29)]. The independent t-test for Post-UTME showed that the 16-20 age group had higher mean scores in the Post-UTME than the 21 & above age group in all the sessions but the only significant Post-UTME mean score for this group was in the 2012/13 session (P = .00). Also, the independent t-test for UTME showed that the 21 & above age group had higher mean scores in the UTME than the 16-20 age group in all the sessions except the 2015/16 session but the only significant UTME mean score for this group was in the 2013/14 session (P = .03). The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient r was 0.306, -0.351, 0.456 and 0.641 for 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 respectively. All the r values were positively significant at 5% level except the value of r which was negatively significant for 2013/2014 session. The progressive and significant positive increase in the value of r in all the sessions except the 2013/2014 academic session suggested tacit support for the scrapping of the Post-UTME in the Nigerian University system.
Content strategy in LibGuides: An exploratory study
Abstract Since its inception in 2007, Springshare's LibGuides has become a popular content management system (CMS) with academic libraries. The challenges of managing LibGuides content through a cohesive content strategy have not been well documented. The researchers conducted a survey of academic libraries that were using the LibGuides platform in Fall 2019 to determine how institutions are managing content challenges. Of 120 respondents, only 53% of the respondents indicated that their institutions had content guidelines that LibGuides authors were expected to follow. The top three most observed elements of these content guidelines were page design (80%), content reuse policies (77%), naming conventions (73%), and navigation (3%). 15% of respondents' institutions did not review guides once they were published. Of those that reviewed guides post-publication, authors (84%) most frequently reviewed their own guides. These findings imply that LibGuides are largely cared for on an honour system. Guidelines tend towards quantifiable elements and omit more abstract concepts.