Factors Affecting Undergraduates’ Adaptation to the University Life: Study of Undergraduates in the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Abstract

University students are fit in the university institutional setup, students will have to require adapting their behavior and values to fit with those of the institution. The purpose of this study was to analysis of the factors affecting the undergraduates’ adaptation to university life. This was carried out as a cross-sectional field study, in which the researchers’ interference with the study sample was minimal. This study is carried out as quantitative research work. The final sample consists of 247 respondents selected randomly from the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected through a survey questionnaire developed based on the standard measurement scale, which was administered to the respondents directly via online mode, as a google form. Data analysis was done with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Excel. To test the relationship between variables Pearson correlation technique analysis was used. Simple regression analysis was used to identify the degree of the impact of the independent variable on the dependent variable was analyzed by using the R square value. And it was found to be that there is a strong positive relationship between university adaptation and academic adaptation, university adaptation and social adaptation, university adaptation, and personal-emotional adaptation and findings revealed a significant impact of academic adaptation, social adaptation, and personal emotional adaptation on university adaptation in Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Insights and conclusions of the present study are useful for the academia and administrators of university education to make decisions on what methods should use to adapt university students.