Perception of undergraduate students on the impact of social studies education in achieving the sustainable development goal 5 in Kogi State, Nigeria

The researchers investigated the perception of undergraduate students on the impact of social studies education in achieving the sustainable development goal 5 in Kogi State, Nigeria. With gender inequality persisting as a significant challenge globally, understanding the effectiveness of educational interventions like social studies education becomes paramount. This study utilized a descriptive survey design to elicit information from a target population of 583 undergraduate social studies students across two universities in Kogi State. Taro Yamane’s (1967) sampling formula was used to select a sample size of 237 students, but was increased to 267 in order to account for possible attrition with data collection. Two research questions were raised and two hypotheses were formulated and tested. The instrument for data collection was the SSEASDGGE which was validated and the reliability index of 0.855 was obtained using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the research questions while the chi-square test of goodness-of-fit tested the null hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. This study revealed amongst others that female social studies students demonstrated higher knowledge and positive attitude regarding gender roles and equality more than their male counterparts. However, the respondents reported a limited engagement in gender equality related activities outside the classroom and expressed a perceived need for improved access to educational resources and activities on gender equality. It was recommended amongst others that social studies teacher training programmes should establish partnerships with local communities and NGOs to provide students with opportunities for hands-on learning and community engagement in gender equality advocacy. This study contributes to the growing body of literature at the nexus of education and sustainable development with implications for policy, practice, and future research aimed at fostering gender equality in Kogi State and beyond.