Skills for business

Explore how financial difficulties affect one’s academic performance.

Skills for Business

Research project

Topic: How financial difficulties affect one’s academic performance

Group Members

Norden Mikchan 20916

Ali Haider

Abstract / Purpose

The research is about the financial difficulties faced by UK students as it impacts their

academic performance. This is carried out to explore how financial difficulties affect

one’s academic performance. This was carried out through a report introduction and

literature review, a questionnaire along with answers in the form of a pie chart.

Design/approach

This study was a review conducted in 2023. We used 3 websites to support the study

and to gather information. These websites were useful as they allowed the research to

achieve a broader understanding.

Findings

As a result of the findings, the research shows that there are both positive and negative

impacts of low financial status on education. Difficulties that arise in the situation are
stress and anxiety, reduced access to resources, health issues, increased work hours

and dropouts. Whereas on the other hand, some positive solutions to overcome this

problem includes time management, motivation, resourcefulness and resilience

Value

It has its positives and negatives. With regards to the research, it is important to know

both sides of the reality and to relate and understand how it is for us students as a

whole community.

Literature Review

Financial status and education play a vital role to the majority of people in general, from

international students to those nationwide. It is therefore considered to be

complementary. Financial status and education can complement each other in a

positive feedback loop. Education is often seen as a pathway to improving one's

financial status. Higher education can lead to better job prospects, higher income, and

greater economic mobility. On the other hand, financial status can provide better

opportunities for education. Although it is extremely important to understand that for

some people, their financial situation might act as a barrier to education since they may

lack access to the resources needed to seek educational opportunities. In order to

guarantee that everyone has equal access to education, regardless of their financial

situation, it is mandatory that all students receive support and resources.

In this literature review, the main focus was on college students who are responsible for

meeting financial obligations such as tuition fees, rent, and other important expenses.

Students are not typically responsible for household expenses. The research suggests

that a student's academic performance can be negatively impacted by financial

difficulties, which are often attributed to their parent's income level. Money is a strong

tool, not only because it is a tool for commerce and a way of exchanging goods and

services, but also because it has the capacity to either bring happiness or dependency

in this modern world.

In this research, we will explore the relationship between how financial difficulties affect

one’s academic performance mainly focusing on the problems and difficulties. And will

be discussing a few positive effects and solutions to overcome the problem.

Furthermore, for a more accurate viewpoint, we will be conducting surveys of a few

questions to the public.

Financial difficulties that arise are;

Stress and anxiety

Stress is all around us. Most of the time, multiple factors contribute to stress. Stress

may be brought on by a number of factors acting together such as our health, family,

relationships, personal, social or financial issues.

Financial difficulty can cause poor health, and sadness can lead to distraction, lack of

motivation and anxiety, self-doubt, memory loss as well as difficulties continuing to

pursue a degree or academic performance by making it harder to keep up with the

academic workload.

Reduced access to resources

Furthermore, financial difficulties can limit students' access to resources and

opportunities that are critical for academic success. For example, students who are

struggling financially may not be able to afford textbooks, technology, or other materials

that are necessary for their coursework. They may also be unable to participate in
extracurricular activities or internships that can help them gain valuable experience and

build their professional networks.

Health issues

Financially troubled students might not have access to healthy food, safe housing, or

healthcare, which could raise their risk of developing health issues. For instance,

students who are working multiple jobs or long hours to make a living can have less

time for activities or students who lack access to food may be more at risk for

malnutrition and related health problems, while those who cannot afford healthcare may

be more prone to develop long-term illnesses that may have an impact on their general

health and wellbeing can also result in lifestyle choices that could harm their health.

These health issues can have a direct or indirect impact on academic performance, as

they may cause students to miss classes, fall behind on assignments, or be unable to

focus on their studies.

Increased work hours

When students are having a hard time making a living, they could feel pressured to

work hard and make money as soon as they can to cover their essential expenses like

food, housing, and transportation. Due to their dissatisfaction and frustration, students

may believe that they cannot afford to spend time on learning when they need to earn

money to exist, which might result in them prioritizing work over education.

Dropout

For plenty of reasons, financial issues can cause students to drop their studies. This

can have long-term consequences, as dropping out of school can limit career options

and earning potential. First and foremost, It can lead students to a sense of isolation
and disconnection from the school community and they may feel ashamed or

embarrassed to talk about it with others and might feel like outsiders at school. In most

cases they may not be able to afford the cost of tuition and other educational fees,

hence this will force them to leave school in order to work and support themselves or

their family if they are unable to pay for these costs.

Solutions to overcome this problem

Motivation

Financial difficulties can motivate students to work harder and perform better

academically. Students who face financial challenges may be more motivated to

succeed academically to improve their financial situation and secure better job

prospects after graduation.

Time Management:

Financial difficulties can also help students develop better time management skills.

Students who need to balance work, study, and other responsibilities may become

better at managing their time, which can have a positive impact on academic

performance.

Resilience:

Students who face financial difficulties may develop greater resilience and

determination, which can help them overcome academic challenges and succeed in

their studies.

Resourcefulness:

Financial difficulties can also help students become more resourceful and creative in

finding solutions to academic challenges. For example, they may find alternative
resources for textbooks or academic materials, or develop new study techniques to

overcome limitations.

Research Aim

The research aim of studying the impact of financial difficulties on academic

performance is to have a better understanding of how financial difficulties can affect a

student's academic achievement in order to thoroughly identify the problems that

students encounter, create specific interventions and support services to help them

succeed, and promote fairness and equal opportunity to education for all students. By

addressing financial barriers to education, policymakers can help ensure that all

students, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have an opportunity to succeed

academically and achieve their full potential. By conducting this research, we can

identify the specific ways in how different types of financial aid or support can help

students overcome these challenges

Research Result

A survey was created for this research and the link was sent to the participants who are

fellow students at London South Bank University. With surveys, it was easier to collect

the participants' answers which were answered anytime by the participants when they

had free time. In the survey, there were 10 questions in total asking about the

participant’s gender, age and some other questions regarding how social media had

influenced their behaviours and affected their mental health. Before the survey, all the

participants were given a Consent Form for Data Collection and collection. This consent

form explained to the participants that all the responses answered by them will be

anonymous and that the data collected from this survey will be solely used for
educational purposes and will not be distributed to third parties. Altogether there were

10 participants, 3 women and 7 men who were 18 to 24 years old.

Participants were asked about social media being used as a platform for cyberbullying.

Some of the participants said that social media gives bullies a platform to say whatever

they want, hiding behind their screens without any consequences for what they have

said. So, it is a bad influence for some individuals. One of the participants shared

his/her opinion saying that cyberbullying is a serious matter and social media creates a

platform where anyone can bully anybody. Other participants said that nowadays

cyberbullying is a common occurrence and mostly happened due to individuals being

jobless. It was pointed out that some individuals do not understand how much one hate

comment can affect someone else’s life. So, all the participants did not like the idea of

social media being used as a platform for cyberbullying which can have devastating

effects on people’s mental health.

Nowadays, individuals are addicted to their smartphones using social media. So, the

participants were asked how many hours they spent on social media per day. The pie

chart below shows the result collected from the survey which indicates 50 % of the

participants use social media 5 to 10 hours a day, another 40 % use it for 0 to 5 hours a

day and 10 % of the participants use it for more than 10 hours a day.

Comparison of the Primary Research and Secondary Research

The survey conducted talked about cyberbullying, how social media contribute to feeling

lonely or isolated, how social media affect a person's self-esteem, and its effects on

people's body image. And how good or bad it has affected the world.
The research carried out in the literature review instinctively talks about the use of social

media as simply a virtual way of communication. The literature review interprets that

“being thoughtful involves becoming more conscious of our patterns” In other words,

being mindful of how negative or positive one is being affected by social media, would

make one become conscious of how often they use it. In reference to the survey carried

out, most people feel that the use of social media is helpful in acting as a distraction to

the mind, while some mention that social media act as a method of keeping the

company in a situation where they do not move with a friend or when they are not

sociable this means according to them, they do not see any importance it would make

when they are being conscious of how they use social media because it is being seen

as something that keeps them busy and they find a companion in it.

It is reflected that social media has developed to the extent that it can be used to

compensate for face-to-face connections. In a learn man understanding is confirmed to

be true and about 98% of the candidate agree to this. “I do think It resolves the feeling

of loneliness and isolation. It may help for a short time” was one true response from one

of the survey candidates. Because nothing can beat the physical connection and bond

with family and loved ones but because of how deeply the use of social media has

taken over society, being able to connect with our family and loved ones on social

media alone is now accepted as normal and okay, not realizing the effect it is causing in

reality and how it affect every individual’s mental state.

Social media can only affect us if it has been given the room to. Most people may allow

what they see on social media to affect them by relating the things they see to their own

reality or life. And later act on it depending on how they were influenced by it. The
height of how self-conscious an individual is would determine how well social media can

affect their mental health.

According to the survey carried out, they said the feeling of doubt about oneself is said

to be an effective social media have on the mental health of the most individual, also

every once future and life majorly depend on what they feed their eyes with on social

media because the mental state of every human forms their reality and whatever our

mind contains become our reality.

The result achieved from the survey with regards to body image has more of a positive

approach. For example, it encourages individuals to change their lifestyle for the better

by going to the gym and working out. Social media spreads awareness about body

types which encourages the prevention of body shaming.

The literature review explains the negative and positive effects of social media, it

reveals that social medial can help teen to upgrade their technical skills, and also help

in balancing their healthy lifestyle because we can get educational advice from

therapists and psychiatrists online. All these ideas were introduced into social media to

gain more audience to themselves and use the privilege of people being addicted to

social media to educate them instead which is an interesting idea brought up by

individuals.

https://pjpr.scione.com/cms/fulltext.php?id=360
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1048681.pdf

https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Effects-Of-Financial-Difficulties-On-Students-634350

https://iresearchng.com/education/the-effects-of-financial-stress-on-students-academic-performance/

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