Students’ Attitudes Toward Higher Education: Academic Challenges and Their Impact on Deviant Behavior

Shukrije Rama, & Agron Beka

https://doi.org/10.62271/pjc.16.4.1259.1269

Abstract

It is generally accepted that more than half of all students entering universities are academically unprepared for studies. They usually fail to do well for various reasons: social, psychological, financial, etc. Often, first-year students have difficulty managing their time, lack motivation, are unskilled at higher-level thinking, lack background knowledge, have little experience in the subject they expect to study, etc. Students are usually uninformed at the outset of the new academic year. Though they enrolled in university for an education and to prepare for their future careers, they approach their studies with a lack of seriousness from the very beginning. They are timid, scared, and inexperienced with university environments, especially due to the lack of guidance or counseling. These difficulties may influence students’ academic performance and potential involvement in deviant behavior. This research paper aims to explore how academic challenges in higher education contribute to deviant behavior and to recommend potential interventions using strain and social learning theories. To achieve these results, the literature review was chosen best to determine the students’ attitudes toward higher education, the struggle they can face, which can result in anxiety, stress, and poor academic performance which in some cases may lead to deviant behavior, including abusive actions, such as drug addiction.

Keywords: Higher education, academic preparedness, student challenges, deviant behavior, drug addiction.