Educational level and women’s participation in community based project in Northern Senatorial District of Cross River State

Abstract

This study examined the influence of social and cultural variables on women’s participation in community development projects in Northern Senatorial District of Cross River State Nigeria. Two null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Survey research design was adopted for the study. A sample of four hundred (700) women were randomly drawn from the entire population of 800 women for the study through the stratified random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire codename Women Participation in Community  Projects  Questionnaire (WPCQ). The reliability estimate of the instrument was established through the Cronbach alpha estimate which indicated a high reliability. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and simple regression were the statistical analysis adopted to test the hypotheses. The results of the analysis revealed that level of education  significantly influenced women’s participation in community based projects. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that strategies should be put in place by the government to increase women representation and participation in community based projects by allowing women to be involved in public and development related activities and holding positions at the community level in order to reduced male dominance that hinders women’s active participation in community based projects.

Keywords:  Women Participation, Community based projects, Educational level and Community development.