Issues And Challenges of Academic Stress Among First-Year University Students: An Investigative Study

Abstract

During their time in college, students face various problems and difficulties that might negatively impact their academic success if they are not adequately handled. But it does have its share of challenges and growing pains. It takes work to get used to new surroundings. Students from an academic school environment to a university may encounter psychological, intellectual, and social challenges. Continuous learning stress can exhaust a person's resources and lead to several adaptation problems, claim Bedewy and Gabriel (2015). This study sought to understand the problems and obstacles that first-year university students encounter that lead to academic stress and identify strategies or solutions that assist them in managing stress-related problems and obstacles that impact their academic performance during their first year of study. The research included semi-structured interviews to gather data from fifteen second and third-semester students at various institutions in Karachi. The participants were selected based on their backgrounds, including public sector colleges, private colleges, and A-level colleges. Based on the research results, stress is caused by fear of failing, academic workload, instructor behavior, adjustment to a new setting, and assessment and examination routines.