GENDER AND PARENTS’ EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS ON ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS R. Tobi-David, O. Adekeye, A. Adebayo Covenant University (NIGERIA) Abstract Achievement motivation level among university students varies. Some are highly motivated and achieve success while others are lowly motivated and experience little success. This study examined the influence of gender and parents’ educational qualifications on achievement motivation level of Covenant University students. The scope was limited to undergraduate students of the four Colleges in Covenant University, namely - College of Business and Social Sciences, Engineering, Science and Technology, and Leadership Development Studies. To achieve the objective of this study, two research questions and four hypotheses were raised and formulated respectively to guide the investigation of the study. The sample of the study consisted of three hundred (300) students comprising 206 males and 94 females randomly selected. Questionnaire forms were used for data collection. The study made use of the ex-post factor method which consists of survey and descriptive designs. Results show that female students’ achievement motivation level is stronger than that of the males at 1% level of significance (0.626). There is no significant correlation between father’s highest educational qualification and students’ achievement motivation level for both males and females at (0.064). However, there was a significant relationship between mother’s highest educational qualification and students’ achievement motivation level. (0.105). Based on the findings, it was recommended that male students should be given the same level of attention as the females by parents. In addition, the university should introduce sustainable mentorship programmes with faculty as role models to motivate the male students. Keywords: Achievement, Motivation, Gender, Parents Education Qualifications. 1 INTRODUCTION Education is the catalyst for economic and social development of any nation. It is an instrument which can be used to train the future generations for the acquisition of knowledge and skills. For learning to occur some necessary factors have to be in place that will stimulate the individual. One of the important factor that leads individuals to their goal is drive. The drive is motivation which is also the underlying reason for human behavior. Achievement Motivation has been the research focus of many scholars in recent times. Many individuals set goals that they want to accomplish in life and within a time frame. The ability to accomplish these goals will depend on the motivating force within the individual. It is the drive and determination with a kind of burning desire that leads one to persevere to reach greater heights in all sphere of life no matter the obstacles. This drive may come from internal or external sources. The factors that motivate an individual may change over time and may keep changing as one climb the ladder in one’s personal or professional life. Motivation refers to the dynamic and pulling forces which result in persistent behaviour directed toward a particular goal. In order to accomplish something, an individual need to have a strong force which is referred to as motivation. Muola (2010) noted that motivation is one of the factors that contribute to academic success that parents and educators should strive to understand the importance of promoting and encouraging academic motivation early in life. Encouraging students in higher education to learn is a topic of great concern for educationist today and inspiring students so that they can succeed is one of the greatest challenges of the century (Awan, Noureen and Nas 2011). According to Atkinson and Feather (1966 cited in R. K Adsul and V. Kamble) “Accomplishment is considered as a talent personality which is manifested in obvious performance as instrumental to a sense of personal accomplishment.” Highly motivated individuals are at their best when they can maintain a high level of involvement in ensuring the excellence of activities under their coordination or control. However, they do relatively less well when required to manage excessive tasks or to function in highly stressful environments. Gender has been identified to play a prominent role in the motivation Proceedings of ICERI2018 Conference 12th-14th November 2018, Seville, Spain ISBN: 978-84-09-05948-5 2556