Gender Differences in User Responses to Students Housing

This paper examines gender differences in responses to different aspects of students’ housing in two identical single-sex halls of residence in a Nigerian university. A questionnaire survey was used to elicit data from 150 students about their attitudes towards their accommodation, the design, social densities, choices and preferences, use of facilities and coping strategies. Gender differences were found to be most significant with respect to the use of domestic facilities, social densities and design issues. The paper confirms previous studies about gender differences, identifies directions for future research and discusses the implications for design of residence halls.