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1 – 10 of over 2000Anju, Amandeep, B.K. Punia, Vandana Punia and Naval Garg
The study focuses on academic stress among the students due to insufficient efforts and intrapersonal conflicts amid the COVID-19 situation. The purpose of this study is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The study focuses on academic stress among the students due to insufficient efforts and intrapersonal conflicts amid the COVID-19 situation. The purpose of this study is to measure the mediating role of academic stress between life dissatisfaction and adequate steps and intrapersonal conflicts.
Design/methodology/approach
The researcher had surveyed 729 students from the two states, including Haryana and Punjab and 716 responses were used for analysis. These respondents were approached in April–May 2020 to explore the impact of COVID-19. The questionnaire was prepared with the help of Google form, including 29 questions. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to validate the research model and for testing the hypothesis.
Findings
The findings indicate that intra-personal conflict and insufficient efforts have a significant positive relation with academic stress. Also, intrapersonal conflict and insufficient efforts have a significant positive relation with life dissatisfaction. It has been reported that academic stress mediates the relationship between life dissatisfaction and intra-personal conflict. The results also reveal that academic stress is positively and significantly associated with life dissatisfaction.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies that explored the mediating role of academic stress between life dissatisfaction and insufficient efforts and intrapersonal conflicts.
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Paul Ratanasiripong, Chiachih DC Wang, Nop Ratanasiripong, Suda Hanklang, Duangrat Kathalae and Pornlert Chumchai
The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychosocial factors that impact the academic performance of nursing students.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychosocial factors that impact the academic performance of nursing students.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional study was conducted with 767 nursing students from three nursing colleges in Thailand. Instruments included Counseling Center Assessment for Psychological Symptoms and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Path model analyses with the maximum likelihood method were utilized to examine the proposed model. Model fit was estimated using multiple indexes, including chi-square/df ratio (χ2/df), comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA).
Findings
Results indicated that family distress, emotional negativity, self-esteem and substance use were factors that related to nursing students' academic performance. Findings of path analyses indicated that the model demonstrated good fit: χ2 (2, N = 767) = 3.11, p = 0.48; χ2/df = 1.56; CFI = 1.00; TLI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.027, (90% CI = [0.000, 0.082], PCLOSE = 0.68).
Originality/value
While prior research has examined some facets leading to academic success for nursing students, psychosocial factors have not received adequate attention. This study presents a model of family and individual psychosocial factors that impact academic performance of nursing students along with recommendations to help improve their well-being.
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Ted Brown, Stephen Isbel, Alexandra Logan and Jamie Etherington
Academic integrity is the application of honest, ethical and responsible behaviours to all facets of students’ scholarly endeavours and is the moral code of academia. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Academic integrity is the application of honest, ethical and responsible behaviours to all facets of students’ scholarly endeavours and is the moral code of academia. The international literature reports the prevalence of academic dishonesty in higher education across many disciplines (including the health sciences), and there is evidence linking academic dishonesty in health professional students with future unprofessional behaviour in the workplace. International students are reported to be a particularly vulnerable group. This paper aims to investigate the factors that may be predictive of academic honesty and performance in domestic and international occupational therapy students.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 701 participants (603 domestic students; 98 international students) were recruited from five Australian universities, and data were collected via a two-part self-report questionnaire. ANOVA and multi-linear regression analyses with bootstrapping were completed.
Findings
Tendency towards cheating and self-perception tendency towards dishonesty in research, gender, age and hours spent in indirect study were found to be statistically significant predictors of academic integrity and performance.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of this study were the use of convenience sampling and self-report scales which can be prone to social desirability bias. Further studies are recommended to explore other potential predictors of academic honesty and performance in occupational therapy students.
Originality/value
A range of predictors of academic honesty and success were found that will assist educators to target vulnerable domestic and international occupational therapy students as well as address deficiencies in academic integrity through proactive strategies.
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Yamini Hariharan, Christopher Meiers, Catherine Robert and Marilee Bresciani Ludvik
The aim of this paper is to explore mindfulness and self-compassion teachings and practices embedded in a leadership course and their outcome on stress regulation of…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to explore mindfulness and self-compassion teachings and practices embedded in a leadership course and their outcome on stress regulation of doctoral-level students.
Design/methodology/approach
Eight valid and reliable pre-and post-assessment inventories were administered prior to the first week of class and following the completion of the doctoral-level class. The test scores were measured for improvement and for differences between various demographic groups.
Findings
The results suggest significant improvement on almost every mindfulness subscale with approximately 5–22% of the variance in subscale scores attributed to participation. Doctoral students over 40 indicated more score improvement than students under 40, and doctoral students of color indicated more significant score increases than White students.
Research limitations/implications
The research involves doctoral-level students which limits generalizability to other levels of education. Based on the findings, scaling analysis should be conducted on other types of students for generalization purposes.
Practical implications
Institutions looking to incorporate wellness practices into curriculum can embed these types of practices into their course design.
Social implications
Faculty can become more intentional in how they engage students in mindful compassion skills within their academic programs.
Originality/value
The paper adds a quantitative study into the literature surrounding efficacy of wellness practices in structured curriculum. Institutions looking to provide more resources to students to improve their wellness may find the model useful on their campuses, particularly for students over 40 and students of color.
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Franca Cantoni, Silvia Platoni and Roberta Virtuani
Frequently the universities' Placement Service is based on the student's hard profile at the expense of soft traits. On the other side, the “person–organization fit” axiom…
Abstract
Purpose
Frequently the universities' Placement Service is based on the student's hard profile at the expense of soft traits. On the other side, the “person–organization fit” axiom suggests firms are looking for profiles with specific soft skills to face the increasing level of environmental turbulence. This research aims to understand if high-resilience students also have high academic achievements and how the three components of resilience (emotional intelligence, positive thinking, planfulness) can have different impact on individual performances.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted on students enrolled on different courses of studies and years in an Economics and Law faculty. A questionnaire was administered during the first exam session (ante-Covid) and the second and third exam sessions (post-Covid). This questionnaire consists of 84 questions related to planfulness, emotional intelligence and positive thinking, whose combination can be considered a measure of resilience. In fact, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried to identify these three new variables (the components) based on the 84 initial ones. Finally, an ordered logit model was implemented to verify whether, and in what direction, planfulness, emotional intelligence, positive thinking and Covid 19 (the independent variables) affected the students' performance (the dependent one).
Findings
While planfulness positively affected academic performance, emotional intelligence affected it negatively. The impact of positive thinking and Covid was not significant, and thus what emerged from the preliminary analysis of the grades is not confirmed.
Research limitations/implications
This is a case study of a university experience that is paying great care in preparing students to satisfy the firms' work demands. To confirm and refine results the sample will be expanded to other faculties and other life/soft skills will be investigated.
Practical implications
This soft trait approach—that studies how various measures of soft skills are related to course grades—has a two-fold significance by crafting universities' placement activities and facilitating firms' onboarding.
Social implications
This is a case study of a university experience; a university that is paying great attention to preparing students ready to satisfy the firms' work demands but also citizens capable of supporting the growth of their nation and society in general.
Originality/value
The research can be considered a first step towards the inclusion of the formal evaluation of the students' life skills in their academic path, creating a link with their achievements.
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Usama ALAlami, Mahaba Salem Saleh Mohammed Al-Saleh and Tofi Rahal
Randah R Hamadeh, Maha AlSabbagh, Afaf Mubarak Bugawa, Adel Kamal, Fuad Ali, Ghada Abdulla Al Bufalasa and Tarik AlShaibani
The study will inform relevant workplace gendered policies at the university and other academic institutions.
Abstract
Purpose
The study will inform relevant workplace gendered policies at the university and other academic institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross -sectional study was conducted on all the Arabian Gulf University full-time employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, in June 2021. A questionnaire was sent to the employees requesting data that included sociodemographic data, living conditions, psychological status, social aspects, work productivity and satisfaction. The generalized anxiety disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) was used to screen for anxiety.
Findings
Gender disparity was noted in the increase of responsibilities at home and towards young children, and in stress and anxiety. Women’s reductions in peer (90.7%) and social (88%) interactions were higher than among males (81.8%, 73%, respectively). There was a narrow gender gap in work productivity and workload. More males reported that the university was concerned about its employees during COVID-19 and were satisfied with the measures taken. There was a gender disparity with respect to superiors periodically checking if the workload was manageable and discussing the mental health and well-being of the employees.
Research limitations/implications
Future research directions may focus on how gender impacts the perception and response to crises in higher education in Arab countries.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies in the region that examined the gendered psychosocial impact of COVID-19 and productivity in the workplace using a higher education institution as an example.
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Karin Seger, Hans Englund and Malin Härström
The purpose of this paper is to describe and theorize the type of hate-love relationship to performance measurement systems (PMSs) that individual researchers tend to develop in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and theorize the type of hate-love relationship to performance measurement systems (PMSs) that individual researchers tend to develop in academia. To this end, the paper draws upon Foucault’s writings on neoliberalism to analyse PMSs as neoliberal technologies holding certain qualities that can be expected to elicit such ambivalent views.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a qualitative interview study of researchers from three Swedish universities, who were asked to reflect upon questions related to three overall themes, namely, what it means to be a researcher in contemporary academia, the existence and use of PMSs at their universities and if/how such PMSs affected them and their work as researchers.
Findings
The empirical findings show that the hate-love relationship can be understood in terms of how PMSs are involved in three central moments of governmentality, where each such moment of governmentality tends to elicit feelings of ambivalence among researchers due to how PMSs rely on: a restricted centrifugal mechanism, normalization rather than normation and a view of individual academics as entrepreneurs of themselves.
Originality/value
Existing literature has provided several important insights into how the introduction and use of PMSs in academia tend to result in both negative and positive experiences and reactions. The current paper adds to this literature through theorizing how and why PMSs may be expected to elicit such ambivalent experiences and reactions among individual researchers.
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Wala Ibrahim AlZahrani and Anitha Oommen
Many researchers have reported that vitamin D can affect brain development as well as brain function. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the Saudi population is 81% and it…
Abstract
Purpose
Many researchers have reported that vitamin D can affect brain development as well as brain function. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the Saudi population is 81% and it is more among women than among men. Though many studies have been done to find out the factors influencing the academic performance of Health sciences students, there is not adequate evidence regarding the influence of vitamin D level on academic performance. Therefore, this study aims to find out the association if any, between the vitamin D level and academic performance of health sciences students.
Design/methodology/approach
After obtaining the ethical committee approval, the data was collected from 86 female medical students, 70 female applied medical sciences students and 57 nursing students of Northern Border University. The detailed questionnaire contained the aim of the study, demographic characteristics and academic performance predictors such as self-efficacy, academic motivation, academic engagement and social engagement. The vitamin D levels were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) machine (BioTek) which is available in the local hospital. The multiple linear regression analysis was used to find out the association between vitamin D levels and academic performance.
Findings
This study showed that vitamin D level had a significant association with the overall performance of the students as well as their self-efficacy.
Research limitations/implications
Since there is a lot of stress among health sciences students due to subject overload and inadequacy of time, the health aspects are often overlooked. This study emphasizes the importance of early screening of vitamin D levels and early intervention in those with low vitamin D levels for better academic performance.
Social implications
There is very little awareness of the impact of vitamin D deficiency on academic motivation, academic engagement, social engagement and self-efficacy among medical and health sciences students. This study can increase awareness.
Originality/value
There are very few studies done to find out the association between Vitamin D level and academic performance. This study is unique as it has highlighted the association between vitamin D level and grade point average (GPA) and also the association between vitamin D level and academic predictors such as self-efficacy, academic motivation, academic engagement and social engagement.
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Katarzyna Górak-Sosnowska and Katarzyna Piwowar-Sulej
The aim of the paper is to theoretically and empirically explore the issue of well-being (WB) of female administrative employees who work on managerial positions at higher…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the paper is to theoretically and empirically explore the issue of well-being (WB) of female administrative employees who work on managerial positions at higher education institutions (HEIs).
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on both literature studies and explorative empirical research conducted in Poland with the use of snowball sampling. It adopted a questionnaire authored by Parker and Hyett and covered 121 respondents.
Findings
Literature studies show that invisibility of work, low level of empowerment, increased stress, workload and expectations, reduced resources, high level of anxiety, fatigue and low level of vitality negatively impact the WB of HEIs’ administrative staff. The presented research provides insight into the internal structure of the administrative staff’s WB. Both the main construct (i.e. employees’ WB) and its subconstructs are on moderate level. Respondents’ age and tasks performed are correlated only with the subconstruct of WB in the form of intrusion of work into private life.
Research limitations/implications
Although the research is not based on large sample, it provides both practical and theoretical implications.
Originality/value
Most of studies discuss the issue of WB of scholars. The paper fills the research gap in terms of examining female administrative employees who work on managerial positions at HEIs.
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