GENDER PERSPECTIVE IN STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN REAL ESTATE EDUCATION: THE CASE OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, OTA NIGERIA

The importance of high quality formal education to the development of any nation is incontrovertible. Education plays a vital role in the development of human capital, creating opportunities for individuals, enhancing their general well-being and that of the nation at large. Tertiary institutions such as colleges, polytechnics and universities are the medium of acquiring formal education for both the male and the female genders. Students’ academic performance is apt in assessing the quality and effectiveness of teaching and training in educational institutions. Measuring students’ academic performance has been the most tasking aspect of academics, and has generated great attention over the years. Little wonder, researcher, educators and trainers have long been interested in investigating variables that impact on the quality of performance of learners. Students’ academic performance is affected by a host of factors of which gender has been identified as one (Eshetu, 2014).

In Nigeria, real estate is taught in Estate Management department of higher institutions. Estate Management is a science-related discipline that can be grouped among the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines with female under- representation. This paper analyzes the differences in academic performance of male and female students in the Estate Management Department of Covenant University, Ota Nigeria. The study examines the students’ performance by gender for the last two sets of graduates and the current year one students (2010/2011- 2014/2015 and 2011/2012 – 2015/2016 session and year one result for 2015/2016 session). Their performances in the major courses offered in Estate Management and their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) at the end of each session were analyzed by gender. From the analysis, it could be seen that female students performed better than their male counterparts in every course across the sessions regardless their being fewer than the males and studying a discipline that is perceived to be dominated by the male gender. Amidst a range of individual and institutional attributes, female students perform better on the average than their male counterparts. The different factors that could be responsible for this are discussed.