Gender Differences In Undergraduates’ Perceived School Support, Self-Esteem, Academic Fatigue, And Engagement In Nigerian Government-owned Universities

Abstract

Various research results show that there are differences in perceived social support, self-esteem, academic fatigue, and academic engagement based on gender. Yet, at this current research location, pre-research data shows the contrary. This study examines undergraduates’ perceived school support, self-esteem, academic fatigue, and engagement in two public Nigerian universities. The cross-sectional quantitative research type of the non-experimental design was utilized for the study through the theory lenses of Self-concordance and Demands-resources. The population of the study was undergraduate students undertaking degree courses at two public universities in Southwest Nigeria (the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, and the Ekiti State University), and these were selected using both the purposive and simple random sampling techniques. An instrument tagged "School Support and Undergraduates' Self-esteem, Academic Engagement, and Fatigue Questionnaire" was used for data collection with Cronbach alpha of 0.78, 0.81, 0.88, 0.89 for the four sections of the scales, respectively. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency counts and percentages), and t-test at a 5% significance level. The study's findings have shown that undergraduates’ gender influences their perceived school support and academic fatigue, with gender differences in favour of males. Still, there was no significant gender difference in undergraduates’ self-esteem and academic engagement. The study recommends that efforts be concentrated on ensuring continued gender equity, equality, and gender-balanced dynamics within the school context. Implications of the study and future research suggestions are proffered.

Keywords

• academic engagement
• academic fatigue
• gender
• self-esteem
• school support