The Determination of Academic Stress Levels by Gender and Year of Study. A Case of Kenyan University Students

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to determine the influence of gender, type of university, year of study and age on the level of stress among university students in Kenya. The study was conducted among Bachelor of Education students in universities located in western Kenya. The sample was 410 students with an equivalent number of male and female students. The study adopted a quantitative research design. Academic Stress Level (ASL) questionnaire was the main instrument used in collecting data. Data was analysed using t-test for the level of stress based on gender. One way ANOVA was used to determine the differences of stress level based on the year of study. The findings revealed a significant dissimilarity in the level of academic stress between male and female students. Female students were found to have higher stress level than the male students. The levels of stress also differed on the basis of the year of study with student in year three having higher levels of academic stress than those in the other years of study. Age and the type of university did not evident any significant influence on academic stress level. The study concluded that gender and the year of study significantly determined the level of academic stress among university students in Kenya. This study recommended that female students require more academic mentorship and be equipped with more stress coping mechanisms.

Academic stress among students of Van Lang University, Vietnam

“…Research results confirm that gender (β = -0.088, p=0.65>0.05 and year of study (β = 0.085, p=0.162>0.05) do not affect students' academic stress. These findings quite similar to previous research results of Hạnh (2018) [14] , Gao et al (2020) [12] , Laigong & Shikuku (2020) [19] , Ekka (2022) [9] .…”

Sources of Academic Stress and Coping Strategies of Sandwich Students in a Nigerian University: A Quantitative Study of a Minority Student Population

“…Our findings show that male students had a significantly higher mean score in perceived academic stressors than their female counterparts, indicating that male students might be more stressed than their female counterparts. Over the years, researchers have tried to understand how students differ in their perception of stressors based on gender Calaguas, 2011;Chemutai, Mulambula, 2020). The finding of this study that male students have a significantly higher mean score in perceived sources of academic stress contradicts the findings of Calaguas (2011) and Chemutai and Mulambula (2020).…”

“…Over the years, researchers have tried to understand how students differ in their perception of stressors based on gender Calaguas, 2011;Chemutai, Mulambula, 2020). The finding of this study that male students have a significantly higher mean score in perceived sources of academic stress contradicts the findings of Calaguas (2011) and Chemutai and Mulambula (2020). They found that female students were more prone to stressors.…”

“…Researchers have noted that in circumstances where there is stress, understanding how people cope with the stress becomes critical (Lembas et al, 2017). Consequently, how students cope with stress will have significant consequences on their mental health and academic success (Deasy et al, 2014). Recently, coping has been viewed as the "stabilisation viewpoint", enabling an individual to overcome a stressful event (Amponsah, 2020: 2).…”