The Importance of University Students’ Perceived Ability to Balance Multiple Roles: A Comparison of Students with and without Disabilities

Abstract

Canadian students have academic and non-academic obligations, and their ability to balance them may impact university experience. Involvement in academic and non-academic activities, and the perception of balancing them was compared between students with and without disabilities. Results revealed that both groups of students participated in employment, social activities, and family obligations. Furthermore, perceived ability to balance academic and non-academic activities was associated with higher academic self-efficacy and resourcefulness in all students. Relative to non-disabled peers, students with disabilities spent fewer hours participating in non-academic activities, had fewer course hours, but studied as many hours. Students with disabilities who had difficulties balancing their multiple roles were less adapted to university. The time to access accommodations for learning may act as a barrier to adaptation. Creating university policies around accommodations for learning would benefit students with disabilities, and the incorporation of resourcefulness and time-management into university curriculum would benefit all students.

Shedding light on students with support needs: Comparisons of stress, self-efficacy, and disclosure.

“…Students with AND may encounter additional stressors during their higher educational journey (Hong, 2015; Reed & Kennett, 2017). These can include the demands of meeting attendance requirements, maintaining participation and engagement, substantial time and effort required to achieve, feeling the need to prove themself capable to peers and academic staff, concerns over performance, and for some, managing studies while experiencing symptoms of a health condition or its treatment, including excessive fatigue or impaired concentration (see Grimes et al, 2019b; Hong, 2015; Osborne, 2019).…”

“…These can include the demands of meeting attendance requirements, maintaining participation and engagement, substantial time and effort required to achieve, feeling the need to prove themself capable to peers and academic staff, concerns over performance, and for some, managing studies while experiencing symptoms of a health condition or its treatment, including excessive fatigue or impaired concentration (see Grimes et al, 2019b; Hong, 2015; Osborne, 2019). Stress can also result from insufficient support (Osborne, 2019), yet seeking assistance and preparing for learning accommodations can itself be a stressor (Reed & Kennett, 2017).…”

Scientific Narratives in the Study of Student Time Management: A Critical Review

“…Thus, the actions geared towards the development of the necessary skills for efficient time management are especially aimed at students whose behavior deviates from the mean or norm required. In the case of the school and college, this comprises students suffering from ADHD, dyslexia, cognitive difficulties, developmental disorders and other learning difficulties (Abikoff et al, 2013;Breaux et al, 2019;Davies et al, 2002;Deng & Xuan, 2009;Evans et al, 2016;Giust & Valle-Riesta, 2017;Green et al, 2011;Janeslätt et al, 2014;Keptner & Rogers, 2019;Kirby et al, 2008;LaCount et al, 2018;Langberg et al, 2013;Lewandowski et al, 2013;Martin et al, 2020;Persson et al, 2017;Prevatt et al, 2017;Reed & Jones, 2021;Reed & Kennett, 2017;Sauvé et al, 2016;Siddiqi & Memon, 2016;Solanto & Scheres, 2021). It is also useful for adult university students who have to combine their studies and work or students from ethnic minorities (Keptner & Rogers, 2019;Meeuwisse et al, 2013;Schatzel et al, 2013).…”

Conceptualizing Thriving: An Exploration of Students’ Perceptions of Positive Functioning Within Graduate Education

“…For some, the graduate student experience is a time-intensive struggle of balancing work, life, and the demands of multiple roles (Blanchard and Haccoun, 2020;Lorusso et al, 2020). Students' perceived ability to balance academic and non-academic undertakings can have an impact on their self-efficacy (Yusuf et al, 2020) and resourcefulness (Reed and Kennett, 2017), as well as their mental health (Sprung and Rogers, 2020). Relatedly, access to adequate funding has been shown to impact program completion and students' ability to engage in important academic tasks, such as publishing (Larivière, 2013).…”