Gender and Age as Determinants of Environmental Perception

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which gender and age account for the variations in the environmental perception of tertiary education students in Enugu Geographical Area, Enugu State. Methodology:  Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a correlational research design. The study was conducted in Enugu Geographical Area, Enugu State. The population of the study comprised 29,364 tertiary education students in Enugu Geographical Area, Enugu State. The sample size of the study was 760 tertiary education students in Enugu Geographical Area of Enugu State. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to draw the sample size. Structured questionnaire developed by the researcher was used for data collection. The instrument was titled "Environmental Perception Scale" The instrument was validated by seven experts. Cronbach Alpha was used to establish the reliability of the instrument. Findings: The instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.77. Data collected were analyzed using mean score and standard deviation for research question one while linear regression was used to answer research questions 1-2. Regression ANOVA was used to test the null hypotheses. Unique Contributor to Theory, Policy and Practice: The findings of the study showed that the tertiary education students have positive perception of their environment in Enugu geographical area; that 46% of variation in students' environmental perception is attributed to students' gender with R value of 0.68 and  value of 0.46 and there is a significant difference between gender and tertiary education students' environmental perception and that 42% of variation in students' environmental perception is attributed to students' age with R value of 0.62 and  value of 0.42 and there is a significant difference between age and tertiary education students' environmental perception. Based on the findings of the study, relevant conclusions were drawn.