Parental Socio-Economic Factors and Discipline among Public University Students in Akwa Ibom State
Author
Effiong, Uwana Dominic
Abstract
This study investigated the influence of parental socio-economic factors on discipline among public university students in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The study specifically examined the influence of parental educational level, family income, parental occupation, family structure, and family residential location on students' discipline. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 12,318 Level 200 undergraduate students from the University of Uyo and Akwa Ibom State University. A sample of 400 respondents was selected using a multistage sampling procedure, while 391 properly completed questionnaires were used for data analysis. Data were collected using the Socio-economic Factors and Discipline Questionnaire (SFDQ), which was validated by experts and yielded a Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.703. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that parental educational level was perceived to influence students' discipline; however, no statistically significant difference was found. Conversely, family income, parental occupation, family structure, and family residential location significantly influenced students' discipline. The study concluded that parental socio-economic conditions remain important determinants of students' disciplinary behaviour even at the university level. It was recommended that universities, parents, government, and other stakeholders should strengthen collaborative efforts aimed at promoting students' discipline through improved parental involvement, financial support programmes, and effective counselling services.
Keywords
Parental socio-economic factors, discipline, public universities, students, family income, parental occupation, Akwa Ibom State.
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