article · BMC Medical Education
Disparities between student enrolment and graduation rates prompted an investigation into the factors influencing academic achievement in Southern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey gathered data from 659 university students across multiple academic fields in late 2020. Overall, 66 per cent of surveyed students demonstrated good academic performance. Statistical analysis revealed that smoking status, student age, and the field of study significantly correlated with academic outcomes. Students who did not smoke cigarettes were more than three times as likely to achieve good grades compared to smokers. Furthermore, students enrolled in medical and health faculties were more than twice as likely to perform well. Conversely, students aged between 20 and 24 years showed lower odds of good performance. The findings indicate that health behaviours and student age profiles play important roles in higher education achievement.
University completion rates directly influence the availability of qualified professionals needed for economic and social development. Identifying specific personal and environmental factors that hinder academic success allows university leadership to develop targeted support programmes. In particular, understanding the negative relationship between smoking and academic grades highlights an opportunity for campus health initiatives to improve educational retention and reduce readmission rates.
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BACKGROUND: Education plays a pivotal role in producing qualified human power that accelerates economic development and solves the real problems of a community. Students are also expected to spend much of their time on their education and need to graduate with good academic results. However, the trend of graduating students is not proportional to the trend of enrolled students and an increasing number of students commit readmission, suggesting that they did not perform well in their academics. Thus, the study aimed to identify the determinants of academic performance among university students in Southern Ethiopia. METHOD: Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from December 1 to 28, 2020. A total of 659 students were enrolled and data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. A multistage sampling technique was applied to select study participants. Data were cleaned and entered into Epi-Data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25 software for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable data analysis were computed and a p-value of ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Smoking, age, and field of study were significantly associated with academic performance. RESULT: Four hundred six (66%) of students had a good academic performance. Students aged between 20 and 24 years (AOR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.22-0.91), and medical/ health faculty (AOR = 2.46, 95% CI = 1.45-4.20) were significant associates of good academic performance. Students who didn't smoke cigarettes were three times more likely to score good academic grades compared to those who smoke (AOR = 3.15, 95% CI = 1.21-7.30). CONCLUSION: In this study, increased odds of good academic performance were observed among students reported to be non-smokers, adults, and medical/health science students. Reduction or discontinuation of smoking is of high importance for good academic achievement among these target groups. The academic environment in the class may be improved if older students are invited to share their views and particularly their ways of reasoning.
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DOI: 10.1186/s12909-022-03461-0
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