PERCEIVED ACADEMIC STRESS AND COPING STRATEGIES: GENDER-BASED ANALYSIS OF MANAGEMENT UNDERGRADUATES OF A STATE UNIVERSITY IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

Ensuring the mental health and psychological well-being of undergraduates has become a significant concern in higher education, with gender differences playing a vital role in the dynamics of stress perception and coping mechanisms. Therefore, this quantitative study aims to examine gender differences in perceived academic stress and the various gendered coping strategies employed to manage it. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 75 women and 75 men enrolled in management degree programs at a selected university in Sri Lanka. The overall mean scores reveal that academic stress is a common experience among students in the faculty, with students reporting relatively moderate to high levels of academic stress. Among the respondents, women reported experiencing more academic stress than men. Although both male and female students encounter academic stress, their experiences and coping strategies differ. Women, despite employing a wider range of coping strategies, both active and passive, still reported higher stress levels, suggesting that the strategies they use may not be sufficient to mitigate the intensity of academic stress. In contrast, men reported using fewer coping strategies, indicating either underreporting of stress or lower emotional engagement with academic stressors. The findings of the research emphasise how management undergraduates experience and manage their overwhelming academic stress. The gender-based differences in academic stress levels and coping mechanisms that were examined indicate that when universities are creating support services or interventions to help students manage academic stress, they should take their gender diversity into account.