Abstract

There has been a growing belief that the rate of admission of candidates into universities in Nigeria through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been tilted in favour of the males. This apparent anomaly has resulted in the production of fewer female graduates especially in universities in Nigeria. As a result, the needed female manpower is not sufficiently available in almost all production industries that could provide the needed change in the political and economic spheres for a sustainable development in Nigeria. This is the thrust of this paper which examined the admission rates of females from the South-south zone into universities in Nigeria. Data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics. It was found that the rate of female admission into universities from the south-south has been increasing but has remained comparatively low. Strategies were proffered to deliberately favour comparative increase in the rate of admission of females into universities in Nigeria to ensure adequate representation of female graduates in the professions and the production sector.

Key words: Gender access, gender equity, university admission, university education, sustainable development.