Influencing Factors of Women Enrolment in Higher Education Programmes: A Study at the National Open University of Nigeria

The purpose of the study is to determine the elements that affect the enrollment of women in graduate programs at the National Open University of Nigeria. One in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, about 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school. Only 61 percent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education. In the north of the country, the picture is even bleaker, with a net attendance rate of 53 percent. Getting out-of-school children back into education poses a massive challenge.

The only university in Nigeria that uses completely open and distant learning is the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). In many countries, open and distant learning has become an essential component of the educational system. In this type of learning, the teacher and the student are physically apart for a sizable portion of the course. The student may study whenever and wherever they choose using this kind of instruction. Women now have more access to education as a first or second opportunity thanks to open and distant learning. In order to study for a diploma, a bachelor's degree, or a master's degree, many women in Nigeria have enrolled in the open and distant learning programs of the National Open University of Nigeria. This study is interested in the exposition of the factors that influence the enrolment of women into higher education programmes of the National Open University of Nigeria. The study is a descriptive survey design. Four research questions guided the study. The population comprised of all the women who are either enrolled or have completed a Bachelors or Masters degree in the National Open University of Nigeria. Snowball and purposive sampling procedures were used to identify the women for the study, from the five (5) selected study centres of the university in the South-east geopolitical zone of the country. The sample was made up of four hundred (400) women who have enrolled and those who have gone through the university’s higher education programme. A self-designed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Interviews and focus group discussions were also used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha formula. The reliability was 0.78. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected. The findings revealed that the need to acquire higher qualification for promotion in the workplace, peer influence, flexibility of open and distance learning and the nature of the entry requirements of National Open University of Nigeria were the major personal, socio-economic and institutional factors influencing the enrolment of women. The study also revealed that the women were faced with two major challenges namely; combining their studies with family responsibilities, and lack of adequate computer skills. Suggestions were made on how to ameliorate the challenges, so as to encourage more women to embrace open and distance learning.