MARITAL STATUS AND OTHER CAUSES OF STRESS AMONG NON-TRADITIONAL FEMALE STUDENTS COMBINING WORK AND STUDY: THE CASE OF A PRIVATE TERTIARY INSTITUTION

Abstract

The past few decades has seen a general increase in the enrollment of non-traditional students in universities. More adult female students are enrolling in universities than males. The need to understand how balancing of the multiple demands and roles of work, school, and family affects such students, particularly, the female non-traditional students, necessitated this research. An exploratory survey was undertaken to find out the factors that caused stress among evening students, especially married ones, and for this, a sample of one hundred (100) undergraduate students were drawn from the Dansoman campus of the Methodist University College. Two-Way ANOVA and T-Test results revealed that demands of jobs, family and schooling made married students more stressed out than their unmarried counterparts. Married students who did not have their own means of transport were more stressed out than those who did and further that married students who had supportive relatives or housemaids experienced lower levels of stress compared to their counterparts who did not have such support. Based on these findings, some recommendations for practical incorporation of non-traditional students in tertiary institutions were made.