What Are the Benefits of First Year Student Extracurricular Engagement: Academic Achievements, Desire to Complete a Degree and Psychological Well-Being
Abstract
Attention to extracurricular activities in higher education is associated with a change in the role of the university, specifically the activation of its additional function, which involves the development of student personality. Despite the support for the development of extracurricular activities in universities, the existing research on the impact of extracurricular activities on students’ educational outcomes is contradictory, revealing both positive and negative effects. The aim of this study is to examine the role of extracurricular activities in shaping the educational outcomes of students in Russian universities, taking into account both the positive and negative effects of these activities. To obtain empirical data, a survey of first-year students enrolled in bachelor’s and specialist programs at Tomsk State University was conducted (N = 1199). The study found a positive relationship between extracurricular activities and students’ educational outcomes, including both objective (academic performance) and subjective (desire to continue education and psychological well-being) indicators. At the same time, it was noted that not only the fact of participating in extracurricular activities matters, but also the type of activity chosen by the student. Specifically, scientific activities, unlike other types of extracurricular activities, are positively associated with all educational outcomes examined in the study.
Downloads
References
Bland H.W., Melton B.F., Welle P., Bigham L. (2012) Stress Tolerance: New Challenges for Millennial College Students. College Student Journal, vol. 46, no 2, pp. 362–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/t39417-000
Bondarenko N.V., Lysova T.S. (2016) Search Models, Recruitment Criteria, Assessment of Professional Qualities and Skills of Graduates of Professional Educational Programs: Employers' Opinion. Monitoring ekonomiki obrazovaniya: informatsionno-analiticheskie materialy po rezul'tatam sotsiologicheskikh obsledovaniy, no 1, pp. 1–7 (In Russian).
Buckley P., Lee P. (2018) The Impact of Extra-Curricular Activity on the Student Experience. Active Learning in Higher Education, vol. 22, no 1, pp. 37–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787418808988
Bungay H., Vella-Burrows T. (2013) The Effects of Participating in Creative Activities on the Health and Well-Being of Children and Young People: A Rapid Review of the Literature. Perspectives in Public Health, vol. 133, no 1, pp. 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913912466946
Chan Y.K. (2016) Investigating the Relationship among Extracurricular Activities, Learning Approach and Academic Outcomes: A Case Study. Active Learning in Higher Education, vol. 17, no 3, pp. 223–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787416654795
Chia Y.M. (2005) Job Offers of Multi-National Accounting Firms: The Effects of Emotional Intelligence, Extra-Curricular Activities, and Academic Performance. Accounting Education: An International Journal, vol. 14, pp. 75–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/0693928042000229707
De Sisto M., Huq A., Dickinson G. (2022) Sense of Belonging in Second-Year Undergraduate Students: The Value of Extracurricular Activities. Higher Education Research & Development, vol. 41, no 5, pp. 1727–1742. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1902951
Dremova O.V., Shcheglova I.A. (2022) Russian Universities’ Third Mission: A Trend towards (Non)Commercialization? University Management: Practice and Analysis, vol. 26, no 2, pp. 27–37 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.15826/ umpa.2022.02.010
Finnerty R., Marshall S.A., Imbault C., Trainor L.J. (2021) Extra-Curricular Activities and Well-Being: Results from a Survey of Undergraduate University Students during COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions. Frontiers in Psychology, vol 12, Article no 647402. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.647402
Fischer N., Steiner C., Theis D. (2020) How Many, How Long, How Diverse? Measuring and Analysing Participation in Extracurricular Activities. International Developments in Research on Extended Education: Perspectives on Extracurricular Activities, After-School Programmes, and All-Day Schools (eds S.H. Bae, J.L. Mahoney, S. Maschke, L. Stecher),
Berlin: Verlag Barbara Budrich, pp. 87–113. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvt1shzn.9
Foreman E.A. Retallick M.S. (2012) Undergraduate Involvement in Extracurricular Activities and Leadership Development in College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Students. Journal of Agricultural Education, vol. 53, no 3, pp. 111–123. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2012.03111
Fredricks J.A., Eccles J.S. (2006) Extracurricular Involvement and Adolescent Adjustment: Impact of Duration, Number of Activities, and Breadth of Participation. Applied Developmental Science, vol. 10, no 3, pp. 132–146. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532480xads1003_3
Grant F., Guille C., Sen S. (2013) Well-Being and the Risk of Depression under Stress. PLOS One, vol. 8, no 7, Article no e67395. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067395
Griffiths T.L., Dickinson J., Day C.J. (2021) Exploring the Relationship between Extracurricular Activities and Student Self-Efficacy within University. Journal of Further and Higher Education, vol. 45, no 9, pp. 1294–1309. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1951687
Gruzdev I.A., Kosaretsky S.G., Ivanov I.Yu., Shcheglova I.A., Dremova O.V., Makarieva A.Yu. (2023) Additional Education and Extracurricular Activities for Skills Development. Moscow: HSE (In Russian).
Guilmette M., Mulvihill K., Villemaire-Krajden R., Barker E.T. (2019) Past and Present Participation in Extracurricular Activities Is Associated with Adaptive Self-Regulation of Goals, Academic Success, and Emotional Wellbeing among University Students. Learning and Individual Differences, vol. 73, pp. 8–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2019.04.006
Ishitani T.T. (2016) Time-Varying Effects of Academic and Social Integration on Student Persistence for First and Second Years in College: National Data Approach. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, vol. 18, no 3, pp. 263–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025115622781
Ivanova G.P., Logvinova G.P. (2017) Extracurricular Activities in a Modern University: Socio-Pedagogical Approach. Bulletin of Nizhnevartovsk State University, no 3, pp. 20–25 (In Russian).
Kerby M.B. (2015) Toward a New Predictive Model of Student Retention in Higher Education: An Application of Classical Sociological Theory. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, vol. 17, no 2, pp. 138–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025115578229
Kondratjeva O., Gorbunova E. Hawley J.D. (2017) Academic Momentum and Undergraduate Student Attrition: Comparative Analysis in US and Russian Universities. Comparative Education Review, vol. 61, no 3, pp. 607–633. https://doi.org/10.1086/692608
Kroenke K., Spitzer R.L., Williams J.B.W. (2003) The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: Validity of a Two-Item Depression Screener. Medical Care, vol. 41, no 11, pp. 1284–1292. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.MLR.0000093487.78664.3C
Kuzminov Ya., Sorokin P., Froumin I. (2019) Generic and Specific Skills as Components of Human Capital: New Challenges for Education Theory and Practice. Foresight and STI Governance, vol. 13, no 2, pp. 19–41 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17323/2500-2597.2019.2.19.41
Lomakina T.Yu., Pisarenko D.A. (2020) Extracurricular Activities of University Students in the Context of Concept of Continuing Education. Otechestvennaya i zarubezhnaya pedagogika, vol. 1, no 65, pp. 20–32 (In Russian).
McInnis E. D. (2006) Nonresponse Bias in Student Assessment Surveys: A Comparison of Respondents and Non-Respondents of the National Survey of Student Engagement at an Independent Comprehensive Catholic University (PhD Thesis), Scranton, PA: Marywood University.
Murtaugh P.A., Burns L.D., Schuster J. (1999) Predicting the Retention of University Students. Research in Higher Education, vol. 40, no 3, pp. 355–371. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018755201899
Pascarella E.T., Seifert T.A., Blaich C. (2010) How Effective Are the NSSE Benchmarks in Predicting Important Educational Outcomes? Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, vol. 42, no 1, pp. 16–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091380903449060
Pascarella E.T., Terenzini P.T. (2005) How College Affects Students. Vol. 2: A Third Decade of Research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Podolskiy O.A., Pogozhina V.A. (2016) Corresponding Expectations of Tomorrow: Searching for the Content of Key Competences and Their Evaluation. Lomonosov Pedagogical Education Journal, no 2, pp. 10–27 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.51314/2073-2635-2016-2-10-27
Pogosova N.V., Dovzhenko T.V., Babin A.G., Kursakov A.A., Vygodin V.A. (2014) The Russian Version of the PHQ-2 and 9 Questionnaires: Sensitivity and Specificity in Detection of Depression in Outpatients General Medical Practice. Cardiovascular Therapy and Prevention, vol. 13, no 3, pp. 18–24 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.15829/1728-8800-2014-3-18-24
Ribeiro N., Malafaia C., Neves T., Menezes I. (2023) The Impact of Extracurricular Activities on University Students’ Academic Success and Employability. European Journal of Higher Education, vol. 14, no 3, pp. 389–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2023.2202874
Roulin N., Bangerter A. (2013) Students’ Use of Extra-Curricular Activities for Positional Advantage in Competitive Job Markets. Journal of Education and Work, vol. 26, no 1, pp. 21–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2011.623122
Russell S.H., Hancock M.P., McCullough J. (2007) Benefits of Undergraduate Research Experiences. Science, vol. 316, no 5824, pp. 548–549. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1140384
Shcheglova I.A. (2019) Can Student Engagement in Extracurricular Activities Facilitate the Development of Their Soft Skills? Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes, no 6, pp. 111–121 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2019.6.07
Shcheglova I.A., Dremova O.V. (2022) Extracurricular Activities as a Factor of Academic Success of Students. Moscow: HSE (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17323/978-5-7598-2671-2
Shcheglova I.A., Dremova O.V., Babaeva J. (2023) The Landscape of Extracurricular Activities of Students of Russian University. Moscow: HSE (In Russian).
Shcheglova I.A., Koreshnikova Yu.N., Parshina O.A. (2019) The Role of Engagement in the Development of Critical Thinking in Undergraduates. Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, no 1, pp. 264–289 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17323/1814-9545-2019-1-264-289
Sizova I.L., Ermilova A.V., Lukin N.S. (2014) Extracurricular Activities and Student Associations. Proceedings of the XIII All-Russian Scientific Conference Dedicated to the Memory of Professor Z.I. Feinburg "Modern Society: Issues of Theory, Methodology, Methods of Social Research" (Perm, 2014, November), vol. 1, pp. 173–180 (In Russian).
Skorynin A.A. (2020) To the Problem of Structure of Psychological Well-Being of Personality. Gumanitarnye issledovaniya. Pedagogika i psikhologiya, no 2, pp. 87–93 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.24411/2712-827X-2020-10210
Stepashkina E.A., Sukhodoev A.K., Gudgelia D.Yu. (2022) The Research on the Essential Range of Soft Skills Enquired by Leading Employers during the Process of Recruitment of University Graduates and Young Professionals. Moscow: HSE (In Russian).
Stiburek S., Vlk A., Švec V. (2017) Study of the Success and Dropout in the Higher Education Policy in Europe and V4 Countries. Hungarian Educational Research Journal, vol. 7, no 1, pp. 43–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.14413/herj.2017.01.04
Strauss L.C., Terenzini P.T. (2007) The Effects of Students’ In and Out-of-Class Experiences on Their Analytical and Group Skills: A Study of Engineering Education. Research in Higher Education, vol. 48, no 8, pp. 967–992. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-007-9057-4
Strogetskaya E.V. (2009) The Idea and Mission of a Modern University. Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, no 4, pp. 67–81 (In Russian).
Stuart M., Lido C., Morgan J., Solomon L., May S. (2011) The Impact of Engagement with Extracurricular Activities on the Student Experience and Graduate Outcomes for Widening Participation Populations. Active Learning in Higher Education, vol. 12, no 3, pp. 203–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787411415081
Wang J., Shiveley J. (2009) The Impact of Extracurricular Activity on Student Academic Performance. Available at: https://www.cair.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/474/2015/07/Wang-Student-Activity-Report-2009.pdf (accessed 24 November 2024).
Zając T.Z., Komendant-Brodowska A. (2018) Premeditated, Dismissed and Disenchanted: Higher Education Dropouts in Poland. Tertiary Education and Management, vol. 25, no 1, pp. 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11233-018-09010-z
.jpg){kind=small}
