Causes of University Students’ Disaffection: Study of Professional and Non-professional Courses

Abstract

Students’ disaffection from academic institutions is becoming a widespread problem. Academicians and researchers are more concerned about the causes of an increasingly high level of students’ disaffection. The researcher has conducted this empirical investigation to know the causes of students’ disaffection and to measure their perceptual differences among professional and non-professional course students. A sample of 425 students from public universities in Haryana, India, has been drawn to fulfill the study's goal. A Google form has been created and shared in university student groups based on the snowball sampling technique. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has been used to confirm the significant causes of students’ disaffection identified through a review of literature and expert opinions. An independent sample t-test was used to measure the significant difference in students’ disaffection causes among professional and non-professional course students. The results of the study highlighted that delayed administration, academic stress, lack of academic environment, unmet promises, conflict with management, and fellow students’ behavior significantly cause students’ disaffection. The study further highlighted that professional and non-professional course students significantly differ based on delayed administration, lack of academic environment, and unmet promises. The remaining causes: academic stress, conflict with management, and fellow students’ behavior were equally significant in both courses. In the end, the implication of the research has been discussed.