UNIVERSITY OF GHANA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

CHALLENGES STUDENTS FACE IN MULTIPLE SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS

(A CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF GHANA STUDENTS)
By

OFORI-ATTA, SYLVESTER (10227501)

A PROJECT PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE IN SOCIOLOGY.

May 2010

DECLARATION I hereby declare that excerpt for the references to other peoples work which have been acknowledged, this long essay is the result of my own research work carried out in the Department of Sociology under the supervision of Prof J .M Assimeng.

.. .. OFORI-ATTA SYLVESTER

. PROF. J.M ASSIMENG

DEDICATION I dedicate this research work to my father.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am most grateful to God for being my strength through this research work. My special appreciation goes to Prof Assimeng who supervised me during this research work. I want to acknowledge the students who responded to the questionnaires; indeed they have made this research work possible. I also want to acknowledge Prince Perry Sarpong and Felix Frimpong of Trinity Baptist Church, Kumasi, for their support and encouragement. My appreciation also goes to Elizabeth Nana Yaa Cobbinah, Joseph Kankam, Fredrick Amponsem, Caroline Elizabeth Marful and Daniel Effah all of the University of Ghana for their help in the data collection and also to Mavis Konadu Agyemang who edited my work for me.

Lastly to my family for their support. ABSTRACT The life of a student has gradually become that of a multifaceted life. Most students find it difficult to balance their academic roles with other social engagements they may find themselves in due to one reason or the other. The educational structure and the economic status of the country compel students to engage in other social engagements outside their academic work. The objectives of this research is to find out why students engage in multiple roles, the challenges they face in engaging in multiple roles, the relationship between multiple roles and stress and finally to offer recommendations. The area of study was the University of Ghana campus situated in Accra. A purposive technique sampling was adopted in the data collection. This research work, examined one hundred and twenty students through a questionnaire given to each respondent. Among the many engagements or activities students may find themselves, the study particularly looked at students in employment, religious activities, students who are in a relationship (boy/girl) or marriage and its accompanying duties like household chores. In the analysis of the research findings, it was observed that many students are engaged in either one or more activities outside their academic calendar. The responses also proved that students in one way or the other had difficulties in combining these duties. At the end of this work, a few recommendations such as students should learn to prioritize their roles were given. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) and the findings were presented with tables and charts.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration..I Dedication..II Acknowledgement..III Abstract...IV

Table of Contents.V List of tablesVI

CHAPTER ONE Introduction...1 1.1 Background Information1 1.2 Problem Statement.2 1.3 Literature Review...2 1.4 Aims and Objectives...3 1.5 Methodology...4 1.6 Justification.4 1.7 Operationalisation of Concepts...5

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW6 2.1 Why students engage in multiple roles...6 2.2 2.3 Stress..9 Challenges students face in multiple engagements12

CHAPTER THREE DATA ANALYSIS .16 3.1 3.2 Introduction...16 Socio demographic background of respondents..17

3.2.1 Age...17

3.2.2 Sex17 3.2.3 Level.18 3.2.4 Residential Status.19 3.2.5 Religious Affiliation.20 3.2.6 Credit Hours..21 3.2.7 3.3 3.3.1 3.3.2 3.3.3 3.4 3.4.1 3.4.2 3.4.3 3.4.4 3.5 3.5.1 3.5.2 3.5.3 3.6 3.6.1 3.6.2 Social Engagements..21 Employment..22 Hours of Work...22 Working hours and its adverse effect on students.....23 Working hours and lectures...24 Religious activities.26 Regularity of Meetings...26 Duration of Meetings..27 Length of religious meeting and lectures27 Relationship between running errands and academics....28 Relationship ............................................................................................................29 Relationship and Academic work............................................................................30 Marriage ..................................................................................................................31 Marital life and Academics......................................................................................32 Stress........................................................................................................................33 Hours of work and Stress..........................................................................................34 Length of religious meetings and Stress...................................................................35

CHAPTER FOUR SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION.................................................36

4.1 Summary.............................................................................................................................36 4.2 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................37 4.3 Recommendation.................................................................................................................39

References.................................................................................................................................41 Appendix...................................................................................................................................44 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Age of Respondents....17 Table 2 Sex of Respondents.....18 Table 3 Religious Affiliation 20 Table 4 Social Engagements .22 Table 5 Number of Working Hours and Effects on Student .24 Table 6 Working Hours and Lectures ...25 Table 7 Length of meetings and lecture periods28 Table 8 Student errands and their lecture periods .29 Table 9 Visit of partners and effects on Academics..31 Table 10 Working hours of students and stress.34 Table 11 Length of religious meetings and stress.36

LIST OF CHARTS. Figure 1 Level of Students ...18 Figure 2 Residential Status ...19 Figure 3 Credit Hours ...21 Figure 4 Hours of Work.23 Figure 5 Regularity of Meeting..26 Figure 6 Duration of Meetings...27

Figure 7 Relationship.30 Figure 8 Marital Status...32 Figure 9 Marital life and Academics.32

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1BACKGROUND INFORMATION In every sphere of the educational level, there are different kinds of students. There are regular students, matured students out of which some are married and others distant learners and there are also part time students. As social beings, students seek to fulfill their safety and security, sense of belonging, self esteem and self fulfillment needs. The drive to fulfill these needs, lead students to study, join social groups such as old students associations, religious groups such as Muslim students movements, Christian fellowships, political groups such as Student Representative Councils, interest groups, entertaining activities such as hall week celebrations. To fulfill their sense of belonging needs others also are caught up in diverse relationships. The life of a student is therefore multifaceted and thus extra demands are placed on them. Nevertheless, the academic life of a student is his sole aim. The nature of the academic work of University of Ghana students/ also entails a lot; deadlines to meet, assignments to do, interim assessments, researches to conduct, preparation for examinations amongst a few. All these and more make his academic life on campus complete. The process of playing these dual rolesmeeting your academic demands and other extracurricular activities could sometimes be demanding.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT The student needs a lot of facilities to make him successively complete every level of his academic pursuit; books, finances, accommodation, residential facilities, feeding. Most developing countries such as Ghana normally lack the facilities and conditions that are needed to facilitate a successful completion of ones courses. Facilities such as libraries are either insufficiently stocked or are not available. The educational structures are also not very strong. The educational systems, allow students to stay at home for quite some time after successful completion of a phase of education sit at home for quite some time before moving on to another level of education. The conditions for financing ones education are also not very favourable. These and many other conditions place high demands on students. Other strains such as having students are engaged in multiple roles. With the aforementioned problems, what thus could be the way forward in addressing this culture of multiple student engagements as they seek to reach the limits of their academic pursuits, knowing well their human attachment to social activities? 1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW I know this topic has been researched by a lot of scholars yet I would like to use this opportunity given me to research upon it once again. Students indeed cannot do away with social engagements. Loretta Seppanen (2007) in her literature presentation on Community and Technical Student noted Student engagements as The connection between academic and social integration and students persistence or success. For Loretta, students have an academic life as well as social life. In her definition, therefore, she

addressed the connection between these two engagements that is the social and academic life of students. The relationship between student engaging in extracurricular activities and the integration of these activities with academics was a focus of the following researchers Debbie Chachra, Helen L. Chen, Deborah Kilgore, and Sheri Sheppard (2009).In their research they outlined some correlations between the extracurricular activities of students and their academic performance.. They made the following observations; students face challenges with the integration of extracurricular activities, and academics however there is evidence linking extracurricular and social involvement to career choices, goals and plans as well as success in future employment and earnings. In their observations, they concluded that increasing students engagement in extracurricular activities is considered a best practice to foster student learning. In agreement with what has been said by these researchers, there is a correlation between the academic life of students and their involvement in various extracurricular activities however to conclude that students engaging in extracurricular activities would foster their learning is disputable.

1.4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This research has the following aims and objectives: 1. To find out why students engage in multiple roles. 1. To identify the challenges students face when they engage in multiple roles. 2. To know the relationship between multiple engagements and stress. 3. To recommend measures necessary in tackling the issue of multiple student engagements.

1.5 METHODOLOGY The study targets the University of Ghana student population which is approximately twenty five thousand on three campuses; Legon (main campus), Accra city and Korle-bu.

The method of data collection will be a well-structured questionnaire. A purposive sampling technique will be adopted. This will be done to capture the types of students that are targeted in this discourse- religious leaders on campus; part-time students; students who are married and are having families; and those who are keeping boyfriends or girlfriends. There may be overlaps because there is the possibility of one student being employed and at the same time being in leadership (religious). The data that will be collected will be evaluated in terms of how the multiple engagements limit the time available for students to study and also as stress involved. The data will then be analyzed using SPSS- specifically using statistical tables and charts to show the relationships between the variables in this research. It should be noted that it is not the aim of this research to find the academic performance of students but to unravel the potential setbacks they (the target group) face in their quest to achieve academic excellence. This may, however, lead other researchers to delve into finding the effects of the challenges on academic performance of the target group of this study. A profile of the campus, concerning activities (religious, and social) will be given through observation. This is done to provide a good context which will provide a framework within which data analysis will be done.

1.6 JUSTIFICATION Findings of this research would be very relevant to the intellectual community at large. Considering the inevitability of students engaging in multiple roles, it is necessary that students would have the knowledge of how to deal with such demands and cope with the stress involved. This research would therefore educate students on the roles they engage in, how to cope with the demands involved in those roles and also primarily, of all how to excel academically. This research is therefore of necessity because the life of a student on campus is multifaceted. It will draw the attention of students on the little things that steal their time and help them to manage their time well. It can also affect educational policy to be sensitive to the needs of the various kinds of students in the designing of timetables at the various levels of academia.

1.7 OPERATIONALISATION OF CONCEPTS Multiple Social Engagements: The various extensions of the academic work of students. These comprises of extracurricular activities, student engagements and the academic life of the student. Extracurricular Activities: These are activities that students engage in which are outside their academic curriculum. Matured Students: These are students who have been out of the education system for quite a number of years (5 years or more) or students with no secondary education. Some of them are married and others distant learners. Part time Students: Students who school less than the usual amount of time associated with the academic system. Regular Students: Students who follow the standard academic format.

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

Students indeed cannot do away with social engagements. Seppanen (2007) in her literature presentation on Community and Technical Student noted Student engagements as the connection between academic and social integration and student persistence or success. For Loretta, students do have an academic life as well as social life. In her definition therefore she addressed the connection between these two engagements that is the social and academic life of students. In a research conducted by Dr Timothy Moss and Dr Sharon Pittaway (2003), they found out that, it is important that universities address the range of issues which present potential challenges to students academic, social, and personal engagement in study not only within the first year, but also within the initial transition to tertiary study. The issue of student engagement with higher education is therefore of crucial importance in ensuring that students are successful in integrating with their new community of study. The above writers therefore bring to light that the life of a student on campus is not just academic oriented but also socially oriented due to his engagements in multiple activities or for the purpose of this study, multiple social engagements.

2.1 WHY STUDENTS ENGAGE IN MULTIPLE ROLES According to Abraham Maslows theory of needs, he ranked human needs into five categories: the physiological, safety and security, love and belonging, self fulfillment and self actualization respectively. Relating this study of Maslows findings to this research it is worthy to note that on our campuses students depend on each other for their survival. Sometimes in the form of group associations, network of friendships, group studies, relationships and a few others. This therefore accounts for the various roles they indulge in aside that of academics. The fore-mentioned drives are therefore one of the things that accounts for the multiple engagements of a student. Extracurricular activities, broadly defined, are organized activities that take place outside of the classroom setting. They typically include organizational supports or structure in physical and psychological safety, supportive relationships, opportunities to belong, positive social norms, support for efficacy and mattering, opportunities for skill building, and the integration of family,

school, and community efforts (Eccles & Gootman 2002). Jason J.Wong (2009) I argue, offer an opportunity for students to develop skills, abilities, and social networks that supplement their education within the classroom setting. In support of Jason J. Wong (2009) a student who engages in extracurricular activities becomes educated in various aspects of his life. He gains a holistic education that trains his physical, mental and social abilities. According to Debbie Chachra, Helen L. Chen, Deborah Kilgore, and Sheri Sheppard (2009), Student engagement in extracurricular activities, and the integration of these activities with academics can be critical factors influencing student persistence. In their observations, they concluded that, there is evidence linking extracurricular and social involvement to career choices, goals and plans as well as success in future employment and earnings. They further concluded that increasing students engagement in extracurricular activities is considered a best practice to foster student learning. To add to these findings, many students find themselves in leadership roles as they join various groups on their campuses be it social, political, religious amongst a few. In the process, their success and failures in these diverse roles become a contributing factor to the roles and jobs they perceive they can occupy and perform effectively in the job market when they graduate from school. Some also in the process realize and develop some useful talents, thus most students find it expedient to partake in these various extensions of the academic curriculum. To further buttress the research findings of Debbie Chachra et al (2009), increasing student engagement in extracurricular activities could therefore be a good platform for training students to meet the job market in addition to the knowledge acquired from their respective academic fields. However, to conclude that increasing student engagement in extracurricular activities is the best practice for fostering student learning as stated in the research is quite indisputable. In an article by Joan Inong on Should students work part-time during the school year? He was of the view that it is sometimes mandatory that students contribute to the family finances. In many cases, there is a family business to run or excess bills that need to be paid. In the current

economy it is not such a bad thing for teens to understand the value of hard work and what it takes to run a home under the current financial conditions. In the case where a student must work during the year, it's important for the school and home to work as partners to ensure academic success. In agreement with Joan, due to the increasing demands that come with education, it has become very necessary and quite common for students to double their academic roles with particularly a part time job that can generate some income to assist both them and their families. This is particularly very common in the developing and underdeveloped countries where welfare policies that support education are quite minimal. One of the main concerns in the recruitment and retention of students is the escalating cost of tuition. In order to meet the increasing tuition costs, many students have to be employed in a fulltime or part-time job in order to meet the financial needs. This is further prompted by the fact that many parents can no longer support or bear the full financial costs of a college education. In addition, the limited number of scholarships is highly competitive and student loans are not sufficient to cover all the expenses. The result is an increased prevalence of students who are employed during their college careers. Rothbard (2001) conducted a study where he examined the relationship between work and family. The findings suggested that students may find work as both instrumental and emotional in achieving their goal of acquiring a college education. Incidentally, these findings also paralleled the study of Lucas & Lamont (1998) where they investigated the effects of combining work and study in university students. They concluded that economic reasons drive a student to work and this is often necessary. Working as they also mentioned is also an emotional experience that aids in the social development of students. Lucas and Lamont educate us on one of the emotional reasons for engaging in some social engagements. Work just as other social engagements sometimes act as a means of escape from certain emotional challenges that students face. Working, partaking in social events such as excursions, students week celebrations,

holding student leadership positions, forming relationships and so on creates a door of escape for students when they are faced with emotional and psychological traumas.

2.2 STRESS Stress is defined as a response to a demand that is placed upon you. Without some stress, people would not get a lot done. That extra burst of adrenaline that helps you finish your final paper, perform well in sports, or meet any challenge is termed as positive stress. Stress when positive, can result in more energy, enthusiasm and motivation (Denisi A. S., Grifin W. R. [2008]. Where the excessive demands that are placed on the individual poses a threat to his psychological and physical well-being, then stress can be termed as negative. As students increasingly engage in paid work, college administrators and educators are concerned that a students motivation to engage in schoolwork will wane. The resulting role conflict between school and work can be a source of stress, absenteeism and even turnover. However, few studies have focused on the student-work relationship and inter-role conflict. Buda and Lenaghan (2005) conducted a study that directly investigated this relationship. The findings in their study indicated that the work/student relationship produced strain or stress that negatively affected well-being. As an employee, there are certain demands that are placed on you by your employers; there are dead lines to meet, training seminars to attend and duties to perform. Same can be said of the life of a student. Primarily as a student, you are expected to fulfill your academic roles and excel in it despite your diverse social engagements. A dilemma therefore rises as to which demand to meet first and how to meet both demands and excel. For example, though as a student you need to acquire good grades, as a worker you also need to satisfy you work demands so as to get paid. After all it is the money that sustains you in school. The dilemma that rises from meeting both demands and the actual task of doing so could be very stressful for a student. Therefore, Buda and Lengaghan were right to conclude that student-work relationship could generate stress which can adversely affect a student. In their findings however,

they failed to identify the positive stress that student also face as they combine their academic and work roles. Although working a large number of hours can be detrimental to students academic success, part time jobs can be very beneficial in many ways. Working a moderate number of hours sometimes correlates with higher GPAS because these jobs help students to be more effective and organized. Student workers normally spend less time engaging in nonprofitable ventures because they realize they do not have much time to spare. They are relatively more focused, studious and hard working. This can however not be said of every student worker. Also a journal by Beth Johnson, Abigail, S Batia and Jolie Haun on the (2002), discussed a perceived stress among graduate students with regard to roles, responsibilities, and social support. Twelve graduate students responded to interview questions regarding personal and academic responsibilities, stress levels, and coping strategies. This qualitative study proved that the participants experienced role conflict between academic and personal responsibilities. Difficulty balancing these responsibilities resulted in increased stress levels. Changes in graduate students' levels of social support that is support from parents upon entering graduate school prevented them from using it as a means to cope with stress. Stress results from conflicting roles in an individual's life that produce competing demands over time (Hudd, Dumlao, Erdmann-Sager, Murray, Phan, Soukas, & Yokozuka, 2000). Conflict emerges when responsibilities and expectations of one role conflict with the expectations of another role .The study conducted by Beth Johnson et al (2008) is quite evident on our campuses. Most graduate students often experience inter-role conflict between their personal and academic roles. Some graduate students find themselves working, others are married and some are also engaged in political and social groups. The expectations and responsibilities of these roles sometimes clashes with the academic performance of most of the graduate students thus they do encounter some level of stress. A frequently reported source of stress that most graduate students experience is receiving a lower grade than they expected (grade pressure) (Ratana Saipanish, 2003; Evans & Fitzgibbon, 1992; Kohn &Frazer, 1986). Too much stress can interfere with

students preparation, concentration, and performance, however positive stress can be helpful to students by motivating them to increase performance (Pfeiffer, 2001). Academic stress pervades the life of students, and tends to impact adversely their mental and physical health and their ability to perform schoolwork effectively (Clark & Rieker, 1986; Felsten & Wilcox, 2.3 CHALLENGES THEY FACE IN BALANCING THEIR ACADEMIC AND MULTIPLE ROLES. Moreover, students face challenges in balancing their academic and other roles. In an article by Joan Inong on "Should students work part-time during their school year?Joan found out that Working requires almost the same responsibilities as schooling, but in a different way. Schooling requires that students be timely, attentive, and focused on their schoolwork. So, a person who has to do both school and work at the same time has a huge burden on his or her shoulders. This is why even adult students have a difficult time in school, especially if they are working too. Although work can be a great addition to a student's repertoire of skills and experience, it can lead to lowered grades, stress, anxiety, and sometimes depression. Roles are set of norms specifying the rights and obligations associated with status (David B. Brinkerhoff et al , 2007) the student life is multifaceted such that he is involved in many roles and these roles could be conflicting at times. Role conflict is when incompatible roles develop because of multiple statuses Also; role strain is when incompatible demands develop within a single status. Buda and Lenaghan (2005) also found out that role-balance was an important issue for University students. In their study, they further stated that students perceived greater roleconflict when there was a lack of role balance in their lives. Opposing pressures arise from engaging in multiple roles, and these pressures can be incompatible by requiring different roles to compete for a person's limited time resources as well as the strains associated with one or more roles (Kopelman, Greenhaus and Connolly, 1983; Rothbard, 2001). Multiple roles could compete for a person's time where time spent on activities within one role could not be devoted

to activities within another role (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). They bring to light therefore that time invested in one role can deplete time devoted to another. In this case therefore either the academic role of the student deteriorates or his commitment to another role declines. In a presentation by Dosh et al (2008) on Juggling academics and Romantic Relationships., they noted that for some students, being in a romantic relationship is effective in helping them cope with the stress and demands of academic life. They further stated that there are times, however, when juggling academics and romantic relationships becomes a bit too hard for students considering the number of reports they have to prepare and papers they have to write and the number of late nights spent working on school demands and requirements. These observations and conclusions were also made by Dr. Ben Mbam a Nigerian (2009): Love (or relationship) and academic activities on the campus should complement each other for success in your life. Thus, there should never be a "tug and pull" in love relationships and academics. Relationships ought to serve as an inspirational tool for students to excel in academic pursuits and general success in life. A relationship must have the power to motivate students to persist, achieve, and succeed academically. This makes relationships flourish and meaningful on the campuses of our universities. More often, students get too focused on getting the best grades and forget their relationships with their loved ones. On the other hand, some of the students dont even care about what marks or grades they get in the school, because we think our interaction with others is what is more important. If you truly want to succeed in life, you need to find a balance between your academics and social life. Both Dosh(2008) and Dr. Ben Mbam(2009) made a critical analysis on balancing relationships and academics. Not only did they focus on the adverse effects of balancing ones love life and that of academics but they also brought to light the benefits derived from it. Dr. Mbam particularly was right to state that Love (or relationship) and academic activities on the campus should complement each other for success in your life. Academic activities should propel a student to succeed in his or her relationship and the vice versa. A successful blend of the two

trains a student to succeed in his future career and marriage. However, as clearly argued out by the above writers, students face a great deal of challenges in balancing these two roles. Some invest too much time on one at the expense of the other. This evidently proves that some students face some challenges in balancing their academics with other social engagements. In the research study Adult learners Emotions in Online Learning, Michalinos Zembylas(2008) speaking about learners observed that, when an adult decides to return to school or goes to school for the first time it is an immense decision. They must realize the consequences and sacrifices that will be required in order to accomplish the task. The adult learner may need to develop new skills, such as using a computer or other technology they havent used in the past. They will also need to be aware of the time commitment. Many of these issues are difficult to approach from outside the course or program. Many adult learners also have the challenge of balancing their lives, which can include career, family, culture and many other responsibilities. As we have discussed their lives dont change as a result of enrolling in a course, they just add one more thing into their lives. Adult learners energy is dispersed among many things. They are usually not able to be fulltime students and also not 100% committed to their studies. Away from the other writers, Michalinos Zembylas addresses the challenges that distance and adult learners face in combining their multifaceted lives with meeting their academic goals and achieving academic excellence. Taken these two categories of students into consideration ( distance and adult learners), it is important to note that before they assume the roles of a students, they already have other multiple roles such as marriage, parenting, working full-time or part-time jobs. Others later in the various institutions of studies assume other leadership roles, thus accounting for their multifaceted lives. Many in the quest to succeed in these diverse roles face challenges such as stress, illnesses and many more due to the demands that are placed on them. Michalinos was therefore right to state that for an adult learner to enroll into an academic institution is a sacrifice and has various consequences. However, in his elaboration on the consequences, he failed to address the positive consequences they face in this challenge. Adult learners who take upon

themselves this challenge are able to gain some good planning and time management skills which no job could have given them. Most of them also become more matured, organized, skillful and educated than before.

CHAPTER 3 DATA ANALYSIS

This chapter analyses the data collected through the questionnaires. It comprises of statistical analysis in the form of pie charts, cross tabulations, tables and graphs. Before each graphical representation of the analysed data, there is also a written analysis of the data. 3.1 INTRODUCTION One hundred and twenty students were sampled at the University of Ghana. Considering the nature of study, purposive sampling was used, where only those who meet the criteria were given questionnaires to answer. Questionnaires were used to collect data and most of the questions were close-ended. The questionnaire was divided into sections and each respondent filled the section which is applicable to him/her. After coding the answered questionnaire, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyze the data collected below. The data below has been analyzed based on the aims and objectives outlined in chapter one. The sections were grouped and discussed under the following headings; Socio-Demographic Background of Respondents Employment Religious Activities Relationship/Marriage Stress

3.2

SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND OF RESPONDENTS

This chapter examines the socio-demographic background of the respondents. To have an adequate understanding of the research findings, it is important to investigate the backgrounds of the respondents. 3.2.1 Age

From the table below, 34.2% of the respondents which form the majority are between the ages of 30 and above and the minority of the respondents are those between the ages of 26 to 29 thus about 10.8%. It can therefore be deduced that majority of students who are engaged in multiple activities are matured students. Table 1
Age range 18-21 22-25 26-29 30 or above Total

AGE OF RESPONDENTS
Frequency 34 32 13 41 120 Percent 28.3 26.7 10.8 34.2 100.0 Cumulative Percent 28.3 55.0 65.8 100.0

3.2.2

Sex

The gender of students is very significant. From the table below the number of males outweighed the number of females; males were 62 representing 51.7% and 58 females representing 48.3%.This shows how both sexes are involved in other social engagements and how each of the sexes try to balance their involvement with their academic work.

Table 2.
Sex Male Female Total Frequency 62 58 120

SEX OF RESPONDENTS
Percent 51.7 48.3 100.0 Cumulative Percent 51.7 100.0

3.2.3 Level It can be deduced from the chart below that the level 300 students had the largest sample, 29.2% as against students in level 200 (23.3%), level 400 (21.7%), level 100 (15%) and those pursuing their masters degree program who were only 13 representing 10.8%. From the chart, it can be seen that both undergraduate and post graduate students were sampled and no one was left out.

This makes the data a good representation (sample) of the entire student population of University of Ghana, Legon. Figure 1

3.2.4

Residential status

The pie chart below shows the number of students who reside on campus and those that reside outside campus. Analysis of the residential status of respondents reveals that 62.5% of the respondents are non-residents. This may be so because the other engagements they are involved in do not make them live on campus. Figure 2

3.2.5

Religious Affiliation.

Religion plays an important role in defining the weight of responsibilities of people in the society. The more religious a person is, the greater the social commitment is expected to be. The study revealed that, 85.5% were Christians, 11.7% were Muslims and 2.5% of the respondents are in other religions.

Table 3 RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION

Religious Affiliation Christian Muslims Others Total Frequency 103 14 3 120 Percent 85.8 11.7 2.5 100.0 Cumulative Percent 85.8 11.7 2.5

3.2.6

Credit hours.

The number of credit hours shows the number of hours of each course of a student. This is very significant as it shows how 57 of the respondents representing 47.5% do 15-18 credit hours. This section shows that students are primarily in school because of academic work and the intensity of each students academic work varies with the number of credit hours offered by each student. Figure3.

3.2.7

Social Engagements

This section shows the various activities the respondents are involved in addition to their academic work. From the table below, it can be deduced that 5.8% of the respondents are involved solely in employment, 28.3% in religious activities, and 5.0% in relationship. It is interesting to note that 31.7% are involved in all the activities listed below.

Table 4 Employment
7

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS
5.8 5.8

3.3 EMPLOYMENT 3.3.1 Hours of Work

This chart shows the number of working hours of the respondents in a week. 47% of the students work between 31 and 40 hours irrespective of their academic work whiles 26% of the students work for 20 or less hours a week.

3.3.2 Working hours and its adverse effect on students. From the table below, it can be ascertained that there is a positive correlation between the number of working hours and how it adversely affects their academic work. As the number of working hours increase from 20 hours,43.8% of the respondents claim it adversely affect their academic work, 52.9% also report that working between 21-30 hours affects their academics adversely and finally 73.3% of the students claim that when they work between 31-40 hours, it affects their academics. As outlined in my objectives to find out challenges a student who engages in multiple role face and looking at the findings on the field, its really a challenge for students who work to balance it with their academic lives. As they work for more hours, the

more it becomes a challenge to them with respect to their academic work.

Table 5 A CROSS TABULATION BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF WORKING HOURS AND ITS ADVERSE EFFECTS ON STUDENTS.
ADVERSE EFFECTS STUDENTS WORKING HOURS ON

Total

Yes 43.8% 52.9% 73.3% 60.3%

No 56.2% 47.1% 26.7% 39.7% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

20 or less 21- 30 31- 40 Total

3.3.3 Working hours and lectures This relationship shows the number of working hours and how it affects some respondents. Out of a percentage of 100, 20% claim that working between 31-40 hours has no adverse effects on their lecture schedules. On the contrary, 80% representing the greater percentage responded that working between 31-40 hours, causes them to miss some of their lectures. Thus their engagement in multiple roles that is both as a student and as an employee is a challenge to them. From the analysis therefore, it can be concluded that as students work for more hours in. a week, they find it difficult to balance it with their lecture schedules whilst they are able to combine the two effectively if they work less hours a week. Any engagement in extracurricular work can be a

challenge to the student and balancing the two effectively depends on time apportionment. Table 6 Ever lecture? WORKING HOURS 20 or less 21 - 30 31 - 40 Total Yes 50.0% 76.5% 80.0% 71.4% No 50.0% 23.5% 20.0% 28.6% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% missed Total

A CROSS TABULATION BETWEEN WORKING HOURS AND STUDENTS LECTURE PERIODS.

3.4 RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES This section is about students who are involved in religious activities and tabulations, showing how they are able to balance this engagement with their academic work.

3.4.1 Regularity of Meetings From the chart below, the highest percentage of respondents which is 48%, attend religious meetings twice a week whilst 3% people attend religious meetings 5 or more times in a week. It can be deduced that most students engage in religious activities aside their busy academic calendar. Figure 5

3.4.2

Duration of Meetings

Out of the total number of respondents, 40% who engage in religious activities spend averagely between 1 and 2 hours religious duties and 2.5% of the respondents spend averagely 4 hours.

Figure 6

3.4.3

Length of religious meetings and lecture

From the chart below, out of the respondents who answered this section, those who attend religious meetings 3 times a week respond not to have ever missed 52.2% of their lectures whiles 78.6% of the respondents representing those who attend religious meetings once a week claim they have never missed their lectures. It can be concluded that students who engage in multiple roles such as being involved in religious activities as well as academic activities do not face much challenge balancing the two. Whether students miss their lecture schedules or not depend on the length of the religious meetings. Those who do not spend more time on religious activities do not miss their lectures hence; they are able to get time for their academic work. It can be concluded that even though students engage in religious activities, yet it doesnt really affect their academic work.

Table 7. A CROSS TABULATION OF THE LENGTH OF RELIGIOUS MEETINGS AND LECTURE LECTURE PERIODS. PERIODS Ever Length religious Once 2 times 3 times 4 times 5 times Total of Yes 21.4% 31.9% 52.2% 46.2% 50.0% 37.4% No lectures? 78.6% 68.1% 47.8% 53.8% 50.0% 62.6% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% missed Total

3.4.4

Relationship between running errands and academic work.

From the cross tabulation, which shows the relationship between how often the respondents run errands due to their positions and whether it affects their academic work, it can be deduced that 71.4% respondents who run errands 3 times a week often claim that errands running affect their academics. From this data it can be realized that most of the respondents run these errands due to their involvement and commitment to their religious affiliations. It can also be deduced that the students who run more errands are faced with academic challenges as they miss more of their

lectures. Table 8 A CROSS TABULATION BETWEEN HOW OFTEN STUDENTS RUN ERRANDS AND THEIR LECTURE PERIODS.
HOW OFTEN THEY EVER LECTURES? Yes Once 2 times 3 times 4 times Total 17.8% 40.9% 71.4% 50.0% 37.8% No 82.2% 59.1% 28.6% 50.0% 62.2% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% MISSED

RUN ERRANDS

3.5 Relationship Majority of the students were recorded to be in relationships (boy/girl). 42% of the respondents were recorded to be in relationships whilst 58% were not.

Figure 7

3.5.1

Relationship and Academic work.

This section shows the cross tabulation between how often students who are in relationships visit their partners either less often, often or very often and how it affects their academics. From the table it can be deduced that 26.7% of students who visit their partners very often agree and also strongly agree to the fact that, their relationships affect their academic work but 88.9% of students who often visit their partners disagree to the fact that their relationships do not affect their academics. Relating this to the objectives therefore, it can be observed that there exist an inverse correlation between the academics of the students and their involvement in relationships. This is evident in the fact that more than 50% of the respondents agree that the more time they dedicate to their relationships the more time they dedicate to their academic work. Just a few disagree to this.

Table 9

A CROSS TABULATION OF HOW OFTEN STUDENTS VISIT THEIR PARTNERS AND ITS EFFECT ON THEIR ACADEMIC WORK. HOW EFFECT OFTEN(VI ON THEIR SIT) ACADEM IC WORK Total Strongly Agree Less Often 15.0% Often 11.1% Agree 10.0% .0% 26.7% 13.6% Disagree 60.0% 88.9% 33.3% 56.8%

Strongly Disagree 15.0% .0% 13.3% 11.4% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Very Often 26.7% Total 18.2%

3.5.2 Marriage It is a fact that needs not be overemphasized that marriage increases a persons responsibility. Out of the respondents who answered this section of the questionnaire, 42% of the students are married and 58% are not married.

3.5.3

Marital Life and Academics

To gain a fair knowledge of respondents view on whether their marital lives affect their academic work, respondents were asked question: does my marital life affect my academics? About 11.7% of respondents claimed their marital life does affect their academic work, 5% indicated that their marital life strongly affects their academic work, 12.5% said that they strongly disagree and finally 2.5 still said they strongly disagree.

Figure 9

3.6

STRESS

One of the objectives of this research work is to find out whether students who engage in other activities are stressed out or not and if they are how they are able to cope with it. This section therefore tries to find out this objective.

3.6.1

Hours of work and Stress

To check the stress level, it was found out from students whether the number of working hours they work in a week stresses them out or not. From the cross tabulation below, it was deduced that 58.8% of students who work between 21 and 30 hours a week rather experience headaches sometimes than those who work between 31 and 40 hours a week which represents 46.7% of the students. Moreover, 56.2% of the students who work between 20 hours or less a week claim that they are stressed out. From the data, it can be deduced that there exist a relationship in their

hours of work and the stress they experience. However in this relationship, though all are affected by their number of working hours, yet those who work for longer durations experience less stress than those who work for lesser hours. Table 10 A CROSS TABULATION SHOWING THE WORKING HOURS OF STUDENTS AND STRESS Total WORKING yes no HOURS 20 or less 56.2% 21- 30 58.8% 31 - 40
46.7% 53.3% 100.0%

43.8%

100.0%

41.2%

100.0%

Total 52.4% 47.6% 100.0%

3.6.2 Length of religious meetings and Stress This table shows the relationship between the average length of meetings by the respondents who engage in religious activities and whether they are stressed out. It can be concluded that, irrespective of the minutes or hours they do spend in meetings, they all feel tired. Thus, the numbers of hours they spend on their various meetings really affect them. Deducing from this

data, a strong positive correlation is seen to exist between the multiple engagements of students and stress as tiredness is an element of stress. Table 11 A CROSS TABULATION BETWEEN THE LENGTH OF TIME OF RELIGIOUS MEETINGS AND STRESS. LENGTH RELIGIOUS MEETINGS Between 30mins and 1hr Between 1hr and 2hrs Between 2hrs and 3hrs Between 3hrs and 4hrs 4hrs or more TOTAL Yes 92.9% 85.4% 87.0% 100.0% 100.0% 89.2% No 7.1% 14.6% 13.0% .0% .0% 10.8% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% OF Stressed? Total

CHAPTER 4 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION This chapter is divided into three parts. One part; the summary, as the name suggests,

summarises the whole research work that is the literature review, the research findings and the data analysed. The second part which is the conclusion, winds up the responses of the respondents. It gives a conclusion to the information deduced from the data analysed. Finally in the recommendations which is the final part, the researcher, gives some suggestions to students on how to approach the challenges they face in their multiple social roles and it further explains the relevance of this research topic to whoever it may concern. 4.1 SUMMARY Students everywhere are most of the time engaged in various activities alongside with their academic work. Some are involved in religious activities, employment, relationship, sports, student politics and other numerous extracurricular activities one can think of. In this study of the challenges students face in multiple social engagements, the various student engagements were limited to students who are employed, students who are engaged in religious activities and finally students who are in a relationship(boy/girl) or marriage. This work has been researched out in other academic works that scholars have done all over the world because its not the first time this work is being researched upon. From the literature review in chapter two, it can however be suggested that students are involved in all or some of these activities because of financial difficulties. When it comes to the issue of employment it can be inferred from other research work that students work alongside schooling because of the economic hardships they go through. Others are also involved in boy/girl relationship because of peer influence whilst others are still involved in religious activities because of their religious upbringing. Thus, they may be involved in other engagements not only by choice but also by the situation they may find themselves in. In summary this research sets out to establish among other things how the student is able to balance his/her other engagements with his academic work and the effects thereof. Also it is to check whether they are stressed out in their quest of balancing their multiple engagements. The data collection that was used was random sampling and students were given questionnaires to

fill. Almost all the students who filled the questionnaires claimed that they are engaged in either one or more extracurricular activities either being employment, relationship or religious activities. One hundred and twenty students were sampled from the University of Ghana

comprising of undergraduate students, matured students and graduate students. Most of the students who responded to the questionnaire were of the view that these engagements really do affect their academics as they find it difficult to balance the two. Whilst others were also of the view that it does not really affect them in any way. Students were also of the view that they are most often stressed out whenever they try to balance these academics with these extracurricular activities with their academic work.

4.2 CONCLUSION From the research work, Challenges Students Face In Multiple Social Engagements, it can be concluded that majority of students are engaged in one or more activities as well as their academic work. The students sole aim in school is to pursue his/her academic work but they may find themselves in either one or more other engagements. It is important to note that these other engagements other than academic work are very much helpful as it helps the student to know other things which may be significant in life and yet are not taught in schools. Also, looking at both this research work and other works that have been done by various scholars, it is important to note that balancing the two that is both the social engagements and academic work is not easy and it is a big task. As part of the work, the research discovered that students engagements increase a students responsibility and may lead to role strain. Role strain results when an individual has more than one role to perform. Everyone who is in this position that is who performs more than one role would love to be successful in accomplishing all his roles, so it is with students who are involved with one or more roles but it is quite interesting that their target may not be achieved. However, they continue to engage in it due to the status or position in which they may find themselves. Some of the findings of this research work were

quite surprising as some of the students were of the view that though they are involved in one or two things outside their academic work, it does not really affect them and they are able to balance the engagements very well. Some even went further to say they are not stressed out though they may be engaged in multiple roles. To sum up, out of the three main social engagements that was researched on that is students in employment, religious activities and relationship/marriage, it can be concluded that most students in employment are stressed out more often than any other engagement that was researched on whilst some of the students who are involved in religious activities were also of the view that they are able to balance their religious activities with their academic work effectively. Among the three engagements, it is the religious activities that most of the respondents of the questionnaire are involved in as many believe that, their involvement in religion is an inevitable necessity. Also, students who were married and those in relationships (that is boy/girl), also claimed that they are able to balance the two engagements slightly.

4.3 RECOMMENDATIONS. Based on the findings of the research, the following suggestions should be considered to readers. Students who are involved in social engagements aside their academic work should apportion their time very well as it cannot be suggested that they should not engage themselves in other activities or extracurricular activities because it is necessary and it has its own advantages and benefits. From the research findings, most of the students claimed that they are able to balance their involvement in other activities with their academic work and they are not stressed out. It is therefore possible for a student to combine all engagements with his/her academic work. Time management cannot be overemphasized because the student who prioritizes these engagements would know what to do at a particular time and do so without any role conflicting with the other.

It can also be suggested that students in multiple social engagements, should try not to allow their interest to go ahead of them as it is likely that some would focus more on a particular engagement than the other and this would not reflect a true balance of the two engagements. Thus there may always be an imbalance in their roles. The student should therefore be pragmatic in the prioritization of their roles and not intuitive or partial. Furthermore, though I advise students to be versatile, judging from the research findings, it is recommended that a student should not engage in more than three very hectic roles at a time. A student who may do so is likely to experience high levels of stress and succeed in one role to the detriment of the other. Moreover, since it may be impossible for some students to quit working and solely focus on their academics due to some financial predicaments they may find themselves in, it is suggested that students try to limit their number of working hours or go in for jobs with more flexible working hours so that they can focus more on their academics and also experience relatively lower levels of stress.

REFERENCES

B.Batia,Abigail S Haun.( 2008). Perceived Stress among Graduate Students: Roles,

Responsibilities, and Social Support. Vahperd Journal, Spring, findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7093/is_3_29/ai_n28539315 Brinkerhoff, D., White, L., Ortega, S., Weitz, R., (2007). Essentials of Sociology (Paperback) Wadsworth Publishing; 7TH Ed. USA. Retrieved from http//:www.ecampus.com/book/9780534451868 Buda, R. and Lenaghan, (2005). J.A. Engagement in Multiple Roles: An Investigation of the Student-Work Relationship. The Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management.; 6(3), 211-224. Clark, E.J. and Rieker (1986). P.P. Gender Differences in Relationships and Stress of Medical and Law Students. Journal of Medical Education; 61, 32-40.

Dosh Article (2008). Juggling Academics and Romantic Relationship www.sampleadmissionessay.com. Eccles, J., and Gootman, J. (2002). Community Programs to promote youth development. National Academy Press, Washington D.C., Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.cydjournal.org/2005Fall/editor_note.html Erskine, J.(2000). Surveying the UNIPREP Orientation Program at the University of New South Wales: The Beginning of the Transition Process into University. Journal Of The Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association; 16, 43-54. Evans, E.J and Fitzgibbon(1992). G.H. The Dissecting Room: Reaction of First Year Medical Students. Clinic Anatomy; 5, 311-320. Felsten, G. and Wilcox, K.(1992). Influences of Stress and Situation-Specific Mastery Beliefs and Satisfaction with Social Support on Well-Being and Academic Performance. Psychological Reports; 70,291-303. Greenhaus, J. H. & Beutell (1985). N.J. Sources of Conflict Between Work &Family Roles. Academy of Management Review; 10, 76-88. Grifin W. R and A.Denisi(2008), Stress: Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management;12-15 Hudd,S.S.,Dumlao,J.,ErdmannSager,D.,Murray,D.,Phan,E.,Soukas,N and Yokosuka(2000).Stress at College: Effects on Health Habits, Health Status and Self-Esteem. College Journal, 34,217228. Inong J. (2009). Should Students Work Part-Time During The School Year? Helium (EducationSecondary School Issues). Retrieved from http:// www.helium.com Kohn, J.P. and Frazer, G.H (1986). An Academic Stress Scale: Identification and Rated Importance of Academic Stressors. Psychological Reports. 59, 415-426.

Kopelman, R. E., Greenhaus(1983). J.H. and Connolly, T.F. A Model of Work, Family and Interrole Conflict A Construct Validation Study. Organizational Behavior &Human Performance; 32, 198-215. Lucas, R. and Lammont, N.(1998). Combining Work and Study an Empirical Study of Full-time Students in School, College and University. Journal of Education and Work; 11, 41-56. MacDonald, G.(1995). What Do New Students Gain From a One Week Orientation Program? Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association; 5, 4-13. Mbam, A.B. (2009) How to Combine Your Love Relationship on Campus. Retrieved from htpp:.www.articledashboard.com/...Combine-Your...Love-Relationships...Campus/1231840 Maslow Abraham (2008)." Microsoft Encarta 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Pittaway, S., Moss T, (2005). Contextualising student engagement: Orientation and Beyond in Teacher Education .Cite Journal; 8(2).1528-5804. Pfeiffer, D. (2001). Academic And Environmental Stress among Undergraduate and Graduate College Students: a literature review. Retrieved from http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2001/2001pfeifferd.pdf 10 Rothbard, N. P.(2001). Enriching or Depleting? The Dynamics of Engagement in Work & Family Roles. Administrative Science Quarterl; 46, 655-68. Seppanen, L.(2007). Summary of Empirically-Tested Theoretical Perspectives in the Literature on Community and Technical College Student Persistence/Success. Journal of College Student Development; 50(4), 1543-3382. Sheppard, S,Chachra D,Chen H,Kilgore D (2009 )."Outside the Classroom:Gender Difference in Extracurricular Activities" In American Society of Engineering. 39th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference. San Antonio, TX. Wong, J. J. (2009).Extracurricular Education Improving Education Outcomes by Supporting Experiential Learning. Retrieved from http:// www.scribd.com School Work Essays & Theses Zembylas, M. Adult Learners' Emotions in Online Learning. Distance Education.2008; 29(1), 71.

APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE

The purpose of this questionnaire is to interview students to find out the challenges they face in balancing their academic work with other social engagements they may be involved in. The information is strictly for academic purpose. You are hereby assured of the fact that any information you give will be confidential and will be used for no other purpose other than academic. Thanks for your cooperation. Personal information 1. Age a) 18-21 b) 22-25 2. Sex a) Male [ ] 3. Course 4. Level a) 100 b) 200 c) 300 d) 400 e) 600 or more b) Female [ ] c) 26-29 d) 30 or more

5. Residential status a) Resident 6. Religious affiliation a) Christian b) Muslim c) Others 7. How many credit hours do you do in a semester? a) 15-18 b) 19-21 c) d) 22-24 24 or more b) Non-Resident

8. Which of the following are you involved in? a) Employment b) Religious activities c) Relationship d) A & B Kindly answer any of the sections applicable to you About Employment 9. How many hours do you work in a week? a) 20 or less c) 31-40 10. Have you, on any occasion, missed a lecture because you were working? Yes/No 11. Do you think working adversely affects your academics? Yes/No 12. Does it have to do with the little time you have to learn or fatigue? Answer if you answered yes to question 11. b) 21-30 e) B&C

f) A & C g) all the above

Religious activities 13. How often do you attend religious meetings in a week? a) Once b) 2 times c) 3 times 14. What is the average length of every meeting? a) between 30 mins and 1 hr b) between 1 hr and 2 hrs c) between 2 hrs and 3hrs 15. How often do you run errands because of your position? a) b) Rarely Sometimes c) Often d) Very often d) between 3hrs and 4hrs e) 4hrs and above d) 4 times e) 5 or more

16. Have you missed any lecture because of your involvement in religious meetings? Yes/No About Relationship 17. Are you in a relationship (boyfriend/girlfriend)? Yes/No 18. How often do you visit your partner? a) Sometimes b) Often c) Very often 19. Do you do midnight calls? Yes/No

20. How often do you make midnight calls? a) Once a week b) 2 or 3 times in a week c) 4 or 5 times in a week d) More than 5 times in a week

21. How long does each midnight call normally last?

a) Less than 1 hr b) 2 to 3 hrs 22. My relationship affects my academics. a) Agree b) Strongly agree 23. Are you married? Yes/No 24. Do you have children? Yes/No

c) 4-5 hrs d) More than 5 hrs

c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

25. Are you responsible for some household chores like cooking for your family? Yes/No 26. How much time do you spend on household chores? [answer if you answered yes for 25] a) Less than 1 hr daily b) 2 to 3hrs daily c) 4 hrs or more daily 27. How many hours of sleep do you normally have in a day? a) Less than 2 hrs b) 2 to 3 hrs c) 4 to 5 hrs 28. My marital life affects my academics. a) Agree b) Strongly agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree d) 5 to 6 hrs e) 6 hrs or more

Concerning Stress 29. Do you find yourself sleeping in class or absent-minded? Yes/No 30. How often is that [if yes to 29]? a) Rarely b) Often c) Very often

31. Do you often experience headaches? Yes/No 32. Do you sometimes feel tired? Yes/No 33. Do you sometimes find difficulty in sleeping? Yes/No