Women Access to Tertiary Education in Bende LGA, Abia State Nigeria- Problems and Prospects

The study was on women access to tertiary education in Bende LGA of Abia State ,aimed at identifying those factors that hinder women access to tertiary education. The study raised four research questions and one hypothesis. The study adopted the cross sectional survey design. The sample consisted of 672 women from Bende LGA. Data were obtained using a questionnaire tagged Women Access to Tertiary Education Questionnaire (WATEQ).Analysis of data was by the application of the percentage and the Pearson’s correlation analysis. Results showed that factors that cause poor women access to tertiary education include early marriages, home and HIV/ALDS. Also, the attitude of the Nigerian society towards women education was unfavourable. Similarly, some of the effects of poor women access to education include, lack of skills or training needed for some appointment and dearth of women in some influential positions .Remedies to poor women access to tertiary education include subsidizing the cost of education and abolishment of some harmful religious and cultural practices. Equally, a significant relationship was found between societal attitude towards women education and women access to tertiary education. The study recommended that some harmful cultural and traditional beliefs be abolished. Also, there is need to subsidize the cost of education to encourage women access to tertiary education. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n7p6