Gender, Disability Type, and Academic Performance: An Intersectional Analysis of Special School Students in South West Nigeria

This study conducts an intersectional analysis of the effects of gender and disability type on academic performance among students in special schools across South West Nigeria. Intersectional analysis, which examines how multiple identity dimensions combine to produce unique experiences rather than simply adding together, represents a methodological advance over single-variable approaches in special education research. In Nigeria, where gender inequality in education overlaps with differential stigmatisation and support provision across disability categories, the intersection of gender and disability type may produce distinct academic outcome patterns that conventional research designs obscure. Using an ex-post facto comparative design, the study analyses academic performance records of four hundred students with various disability types from special schools across Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti States. Performance is measured across five core curriculum areas using standardised score equivalents. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance with gender and disability type as independent variables is employed, supplemented by interaction effect analyses and effect size estimations. The study examines how social support structures, teacher expectations, and institutional practices differentially affect gender-disability subgroups. Findings are expected to reveal significant interaction effects, with girls with certain disability types experiencing compounded performance disadvantages. Recommendations include gender-disability intersectional data collection in Nigerian special education reporting and targeted support for underperforming gender-disability subgroups. Keywords: intersectionality, gender, disability type, academic performance, South West Nigeria.