Gender Issues among Dental Undergraduates in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

OBJECTIVE: In the last two decades, there has been increased activism at International and local levels to improve women’s rights, particularly in the third world countries such as Nigeria. The aim of the present study is to investigate gender issues among dental undergraduates in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. METHOD: All dental undergraduate students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria were included in the study. It is an exploratory study using self-administered, structured questionnaires. The sample size was 180 male and female students in years 1 to 6. RESULTS: Of the 180 questionnaires, 130 were returned giving a response rate of 75.0%. Thirty-two (58.2%) of the female students felt that married female students are not equally favoured as their male counterparts. The respondents also felt that the academic syllabus did not take adequate cognizance of gender issue. Only 21.3% of the respondents felt that gender issues should be incorporated into undergraduate dental admission policy. CONCLUSION: Dental schools should be sensitive to gender issues in structuring their programmes.