Understanding academic stress and its relationship with academic performance among senior secondary students in the district of Ujjain, India: An explanatory sequential mixed methods study

• Main Author: George, Saijumon
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: Stress (Psychology); Academic achievement > Psychological aspects; High school students > Mental health; Educational Leadership; Secondary Education
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_elmd/28; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdm_elmd/article/1035/viewcontent/UNDERSTANDING_ACADEMIC_STRESS_AND_ITS_RELATIONSHIP_WITH_ACADEMIC_Redacted.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The present study aims to determine the relationship between academic stress and performance among higher secondary students. It used mixed methods to address the questions raised and achieve its purpose in two phases. Phase I used a self-constructed structured questionnaire relationship between academic stress and academic performance among senior high school students selected by using a simple random sampling technique. Phase II used interviews and focus group discussions to achieve a more in-depth understanding of the survey data results. Finally, the proponent integrated the quantitative and qualitative data to determine if they converged on a single interpretation of the subjects under study. The present study revealed that higher secondary students have moderate academic stress, and irrespective of sub-samples, the higher secondary students have moderate academic stress. The quantitative results showed that academic-related stress is primarily due to socioeconomic (71%) pressure from the caste system (42%), workload (57.50%), peer pressure (49.50%), and parenting (3.50%). These also revealed a strong relationship between academic stress and academic performance and academic stress and attendance of the students. What has also been discovered was a significant difference in students’ stress levels in terms of gender, their parent’s levels of income, and educational attainment. Thus, it can be hypothesized that male students’ academic stress is higher than female students. Urban students' academic stress is higher than rural students. The students whose parents' education literate level of academic stress is higher than their counterparts. The outcomes of this research will help teachers and educators better understand the challenges and stressors that students confront regularly and how those stressors affect their ability to perform academically, as in the case of students from Ujjain District. Hence, administrators, educators, families, and society can modify their educational system, family atmosphere, and social system to reduce students’ academic stress and support them in accomplishing higher academic performance. Keywords: Academic stress, academic performance, stressors, socioeconomic status, caste system, workload