University Education and the Holistic Empowerment of Female Science Students in Enugu Education Zone, Nigeria

The study investigated the impact of university education on the holistic empowerment of female science students in the Enugu Education Zone, Enugu State, Nigeria. The research was guided by three specific objectives: assessing intellectual empowerment, evaluating financial empowerment, and exploring socio-cultural empowerment among the students. Utilizing a quantitative research paradigm, the study employed a descriptive survey design. A simple random sampling technique was applied to select 480 female science students from the Faculty of Education across three universities. Data were collected using a well-structured questionnaire, validated by two specialists in Science Education and Measurement and Evaluation. The internal consistency of the instrument was confirmed through Cronbach's Alpha. Data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, addressed the research questions, while inferential statistics, specifically an independent t-test, were used to test the hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05. Findings indicated that university education significantly contributes to the intellectual and financial empowerment of female science students but does not substantially enhance their socio-cultural empowerment. This suggests that in the Enugu Education Zone, cultural norms still favour men over women, regardless of educational attainment. The study recommends that female science students be afforded equal opportunities and fair treatment in all aspects of societal life, like their male counterparts