Malviya National Institute of Technology

JLN Marg, Jhalana Gram, Jaipur

Research Proposal
Submitted To -: Dr. Ritika Mahajan
Submitted By -: Trishika Nigam
ID -: 2019PBM5535

ABSTRACT

Academic Stress: A qualitative inquiry into the current state

of the students at MNIT Jaipur
Purpose: Academic stress is defined as the body’s response to academic-related demands
that exceed adaptive capabilities of students. It is estimated that 10–30% of students
experience some degree of academic stress during their academic career. According to
MHRD, 2060 students dropped out from IITs and 2352 students dropped out from NITs
during 2012-13 and 2014-15 year due to academic stress. According to the report of MHRD
for 2019 in which 81 students have committed suicide from IITs and NITs due to academic
stress. The suicide cases reported were 90 % of B. Tech level and 10% of Postgraduate level.
The purpose of this paper is to find out how the students deal with the academic stress after
being exposed to high-pressure environment in MNIT Jaipur. When a student enters into
college after passing the competitive exam, they feel that they will bag a salary package in
crores or lakhs but after certain point they deal with the harsh realities and due to excess
competition that they face over in the classes, during sessions, lead them towards the stress
of not doing anything in life. This paper will also provide an assistance to the college in
order to deal with several dropouts that happen because of the academic stress.
Research Questions -:
1. How students deal with the high-pressure environment at MNIT Jaipur? Is academic
stress more in B. Tech than Masters in MNIT Jaipur?
2. What is the reason behind the creation of academic stress in a student’s life? How it
leads the student towards suicide and dropout situations?
 3. What sort of problems students are facing during their classroom sessions at MNIT
Jaipur?

Methodology: In order to find answers for the research problem there would be interviews
conducted with the 20 students of B. Tech level and 20 students of Postgraduate level of
MNIT Jaipur to know their way of dealing with the stress or any suggestion they want to
give to the management. The source of information would be primary data.
Findings: This study helped us to understand the reason for academic stress is lack of
communication between professors and students. Due to high standard of qualification of the
professors the students could not cope up with their standard and due to lack of interest of
professors towards student’s problem a gap is been developed between them. Academic
stress also takes place due to overload of work upon the students and poor results due to
increase in degree of competition.
Keywords: stress, students, professors, college life, academics, interviews etc.
Research Problem -: What is the reason behind academic stress in top IITs and NITs.
This study is done to find out how a college management could work upon policies to
combat academic stress in students which has nowadays become a main reason for increased
number of suicide cases among them. Students after passing the competitive exams jump
into their desired or undesired colleges and feel the change in their life. That change leads
some students to higher peaks whereas for some students it become a reason for suicide or
college dropout. Is there a problem in our system or students are not exposed to harsh
realities related to top institutes?
Environmental Context -: This study is conducted at MNIT Jaipur which is ranked as
No.5 in Ranking of Best NITs. The reason for conducting this study here is it operates both
undergraduate course and postgraduate course and as per the data the suicide cases due to
academic stress is in both the courses and though being a student here itself will help me in
gathering more realistic figures for my research.
Contribution towards existing literature -: The number of suicide cases and
dropouts are increasing day-by-day in such colleges which results in losing the students with
good potential. The research which have been conducted so far deals with the relation
between motivation and academic stress, stress in academic life but no reason is found for
such disheartening situation at premier institutes. It will contribute towards literature by
adding the findings of this study for IITs and NITs in order to deal with such situation.
It will help MHRD to incorporate some changes in the current operating system of IITs and
NITs so that student doesn’t have to face a high-pressure environment. It will increase the
knowledge towards the neuro system of the students. This will also add up to the knowledge
about the system being followed by the top-notch educational institutes.
Potential Managerial/Policy Implications -: In this study policy implication will
take place. After this study is conducted it would be recommending various policies that the
management can bring to action. The results will be decreasing the communication gap
between professors and the students. These policies will create an environment in which the
student will be given right to speak up himself/herself directly to the management in case
he/she is experiencing any kind of pressure related to the class environment.
These policy implications will give an upfront to the student where college management will
guide them related anything. No doubt college management has already provided the
counsellor inside the campus but there are only few students who go up for them as shown in
the responses of the candidates during the interviews. There is a hierarchical structure
followed in our college if in case a student seeks help but it will be less strict so that a
student could share his/her problems without any hesitation and any difficulty.

Study Goals-:
1. To know the ability of students of MNIT Jaipur in handling life and career problems.
2. To know the amount of pressure students are handling during their college life at
MNIT Jaipur.
3. To know the approach and reaction of today’s student towards the problems they face
in day-to-day life.
4. To know how a student of MNIT Jaipur combat academic stress at their own end if
they turned to face one.

Literature Review -: Reddy et al. (2018) in their study concludes that stream wise
difference in stress does exist in students. It is important to deal with stress at personal,
social and institutional level. Remedies such as feedback, yoga, life skills training,
mindfulness, meditation and psychotherapy have been found useful to deal with stress. To
identify the main reason of stress is the key to deal with it. Professionals can develop tailor
made strategies to deal with stress. The integrated well-being of the students is important not
only for the individual but for the institute as well.
Dimitrov (2017) in his study claimed that stress can be addressed by ensuring that the
students give utmost importance to their welfare. Food, exercise, work, recreation are some
of the areas to focus on. He also concluded that the education system is more to do with the
academic qualifications and does not contribute enough to the holistic development of
students. Students are usually conditioned in a way that makes them fearful to take up
upcoming challenges as the focus is only the academics and not the development of a go
getter mentally. There are not many choices for the medium of education. English being the
only option available can pose as a hindrance for the students from rural background. There
are not many courses available that are employment centric. Fresh graduates need more
communication skills development for better placements.
Kaur (2014) acknowledged that mental health of teenagers gets affected due to the academic
stress. Girls with academic stress were found to have poor mental health as compared to the
boys. This was accounted on the study that parents at times put pressure and strain on
students that leads to deteriorated mental health.
Bataineh (2013) in his study measured the academic stressors experienced by students at
university. The result of the analyses showed that there is an unreasonable academic
overload, not enough time to study due to the vast course content being covered, high family
expectations and low motivation levels are some of the reasons for the stress. Fear of failure
is also the prime reason for stress. There was no significant difference found amongst the
students from different of specializations.
Nandamuri and Gowthami (2011) studied the stress among students of professional studies
and claimed that curriculum and instructions parameters were most responsible for stress
with 86 percent, followed by 63 percent for placement related issues, assessment and team
work issues accounted for 41 percent and 24 percent respectively. The study further
identified various micro issues responsible for stress, and listed twelve sub issues related to
curriculum and instruction. Once the sub issues of each parameter are identified, it provided
improved vision to the academic administrators for initiating efforts to reduce the gravity of
academic stress.
Radcliff and Lester (2003) studied the anticipated stress among final year undergraduate
students and acknowledged that class assignments, not enough guidance, pressure to mingle
and to get associated were the reasons for the stress to build up. McKean et al. (2000) argue
that undergraduate students experience higher stress at expected times in each semester.
Academic engagements, financial pressures and lack of time management skills lead to
building up of stress. Excessive stress can affect well-being, emotional attitude and academic
performance. There upon it becomes essential that undergraduate students establish methods
to deal with stressful situations.
The previous researches deal with the area in which they related academic stress to
undergraduate student. In India most of the parents and students think that if their child made
up to any IITs or NITs than their career is set. According to the data reported by CBSE 11.86
Lakh students appeared for 12th in 2018 out of which 9.65 lakh students appeared for JEE
Entrance 2019. Out of which total number of seats in IITs and NITs are 29,246. The
following data can easily show up the priorities of parents. But this research paper will
bridge the gap between the knowledge related to academic stress in top-notch educational
institutes. And will also help students to face the harsh realities related to such institutes
instead of living in an unrealistic world.
The students in such institutes face a high-pressure environment which lead them to
academic stress. We can see from the above data given that there is no plan for the remaining
9 lakhs 35000 students. And when these 29,246 students join the premier institutes, harsh
realities hit them hard which provokes them towards suicide or dropout.
Research Method -:
Theory -: Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or
thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. Stress is your body's reaction to a
challenge or demand. The environment which exercises under a lot of pressure always gives
rise to the stress. In short bursts, stress can be positive, such as when it helps you avoid
danger or meet a deadline. GAS is the three-stage process that describes the physiological
changes the body goes through when under stress. Hans Selye Trusted Source, a medical
doctor and researcher, came up with the theory of GAS.
With additional research, Selye concluded that these changes were not an isolated case, but
rather the typical response to stress. Selye identified these stages as alarm, resistance, and
exhaustion. General adaptation syndrome stages are-:
1. Alarm reaction stage
The alarm reaction stage refers to the initial symptoms the body experiences when under
stress. You may be familiar with the “fight-or-flight” response, which is a physiological
response to stress. This natural reaction prepares you to either flee or protect yourself in
dangerous situations. Your heart rate increases, your adrenal gland releases cortisol (a stress
hormone), and you receive a boost of adrenaline, which increases energy. This fight-or-flight
response occurs in the alarm reaction stage.
2. Resistance stage
After the initial shock of a stressful event and having a fight-or-flight response, the body
begins to repair itself. It releases a lower amount of cortisol, and your heart rate and blood
pressure begin to normalize. Although your body enters this recovery phase, it remains on
high alert for a while. During this alert whole body and mind stays active on high scale. If
you overcome stress and the situation is no longer an issue, your body continues to repair
itself until your hormone levels, heart rate, and blood pressure reach a pre-stress state.
3. Exhaustion stage
This stage is the result of prolonged or chronic stress. Struggling with stress for long periods
can drain your physical, emotional, and mental resources to the point where your body no
longer has strength to fight stress. You may give up or feel your situation is hopeless. The
physical effects of this stage also weaken your immune system and put you at risk for stress-
related illnesses.

Key Concepts -:
Stress-: Stress is defined by Douglas (1992) as bodily ormental tension resulting from
factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium. It relates to both an individual’s perception
of the demands beingmade on them and to their perception of their capability to meet those
demands. A mismatch will mean that an individual may be stressed.
Master’s student -: If someone taking a ‘second-cycle’ qualification after undergraduate
programme (First- cycle)
Academic stress -: “Academic stress is a mental distress with respect to some anticipated
frustration associated with academic failure or even awareness of the possibility of such
failure”. (Gupta and Khan, 1987)

Conceptual Framework -: In this research framework teaching style of faculties acts as

an independent variable as it varies from person to person and not controlled by any other
variable. Pressure acts as an intervening variable as it is not directly observable but links the
independent and dependant variable. The pressure differs from batch to batch and from
faculty to faculty. Academic stress acts as a dependant variable as it depends on the degree
of pressure been modified by the teaching style of faculties.
The previous researches have brought light upon the academic stress that has been created
between the undergraduates because of the high-pressure environment of the colleges. But
due to the increase of number of suicide cases of students in top-notch institutes, the
government started to organise motivational seminars in colleges. Previous researches
revealed a gap relating high-pressure environment with the increasing number of suicide
cases of students. This is precisely the gap in knowledge that this study seeks to bridge.

Data Collection Methods -: The data to be used is primary data. The data used is to be
collected through interviews of students of MNIT Jaipur. The sampling frame is students of
B. Tech of all departments and students of Master’s of all departments. Under the sampling
frame all 920 students of B. Tech and 360 students of Master’s will be included. The strategy
to be followed is simple random sampling.
In a simple random sample, every member of the population has an equal chance of being
selected. The sampling frame includes the whole population. To conduct this type of
sampling, you can use tools like random number generators or other techniques that are
based entirely on chance.

The respondents are between the age of 19 to 35. The level of education of respondents is
50% of total respondents is undergraduate whereas remaining 47% are postgraduate and
other 35 respondents hold more than 1 degree. In which 50% of total respondents are male
and the other 50% are females. The number of students interviewed are 40 in which 20 are
from B. Tech and 20 are from Postgraduate level.
The study site in the research is Malviya National Institute of Technology in Jaipur. This
is an institute of national importance which conducts various educational courses. In this
institute total 8 branches of B. tech are operated and 20 streams for MTech are operated. It
also provides MBA degree. This institute also offers PhD programmes. It holds a total
number of 1619 of students. It holds 5th position in the list of best NITs in India.
The empirical method proposed for this research is Qualitative. This study is done in
qualitative form as it includes the inductive approach in which data is collected and patterns
of the data is to be analysed according to that the theory is being developed. The
participation of the researcher is more in this study as he/she has to interact with the students
in order to know their mental state regarding this. The researcher needs to take interviews of
the students to get to know their part very closely. In this study our sample is only of 40
peoples and the selection of the sample is done on the basis of random sampling.
Through this empirical method we can get to know how students overcome high-pressure
environment by listening their experiences and approach towards it. We can get to know the
student’s life very closely in order to know how a college administration can play part in
this. Through this we can see how a faculty can play role in this all scenario and how they
can help the management to overcome it.
Expected Results -:
 The study will help the MHRD to combat the number of suicide cases of students in
India due to academic stress.
 Institutes could also change the policies in order to decrease the pressure upon the
students related to academics.
 Faculties in the colleges will become the forefront helping hand for the students in
career or life related problems.
 Management of the Institute can provide directions to the faculties regarding the
teaching pattern and doubt clearing sessions.
 Institutes can provide relaxation to students in terms of exams conducted or
assignments.
 The students in these colleges work so hard that they could not take healthy sleep and
when they did not get the expected academic position after so much hard work they
get frustrated so; the college can promote many such activities which should also be
considered as an evaluation part in academics.
 Institute can also provide relaxation in the percentage of attendance required for the
eligibility in exams because it creates a pressure on the students to attend the classes
even if they are not interested. When a student does work according to their interest,
they can achieve much better results when compared to the forced one.
 Institute should keep a lecture in a week for the counsellor. So that a counsellor can
interact with the students personally to understand their mental level.
 The students should be motivated to consult with the counsellor and the one who make
mockery of it should be punished.
 Every department should have their respective counsellors so that a student could
consult them if he/she faces any such problem.
 Institute should keep a reward ceremony for such students who have done excellent in
their interest fields apart from academics.
 This will help the student to combat the stress on its own. A student feels less empowered
when he/she notices than only academics is considered and rewarded and any other thing
is not recognised. Every student is special in their own way and not every person is
presentable in papers some are presentable in real lives also so the college management
should take care of such students also and should encourage towards what their doing and
not discourage them by quoting it as a waste of time.

Policy Implications -: The policy which will be introduced will have their practise at the
institute level only. At first it will be tested that whether the policy is fruitful for the reason it
has been introduced or not. If not, we will further make changes in it and will revise its
operations.
If this policy can reduce the academic stress among the students of MNIT Jaipur than it will
be proposed to the MHRD for taking further action on it and then it will be regulated at the
national level to combat such disheartening situation among the top-notch institutes of India.

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Annexure-Questions for Interviewee

1. Which stream are you from and from which year?

2. What difficulties you have faced while mixing up with the college environment.?

3. What sort of difficulties you have faced while maintaining a position among your
classmates?

4. Do you get time for yourself amid college work?

5. Do you get stressed sometimes due to all the academic activities that takes place in
your classroom sessions?

6. Do you find an increment in the stress year over year? (If in 2nd year, 3rd year or 4th
year)

7. How you combat from the stress whenever you feel it?

8. Have you ever thought of hurting yourself due to poor results in academic activities?
9. How is your relation with your faculties?

10.Do they help you or counsel you regarding your problems when you go to seek help?

11.Do you think that the one who takes advices from counsellor is suffering from mental
illness?