Influence of Counselling on the Academic and Social Lives of Students in Technical and Non-technical Universities in Southern Ghana

Abstract

This study examined the influence of counselling on the academic and social lives of students in technical and non-technical universities in southern Ghana. A descriptive research design was employed. The researcher used a questionnaire for data collection. The reliability coefficient of the questionnaire, established using the Cronbach’s alpha, yielded a reliability coefficient of .855. A sample of 380 undergraduate final year students was selected from four public universities, consisting of two technical and two non technical universities in southern Ghana through purposive, stratified and simple random sampling procedures. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the research data. The findings of the study revealed significant difference between technical and non-technical university students on the influence of counselling on their academic life but not on social life. Furthermore, the findings of the study revealed significant gender differences between technical and non-technical university students in the influence of counselling on academic life but not on social life. However, on the basis of age and residential status, no significant differences were observed. Arising from the findings, it was recommended that, educational policy makers and heads of institutions should invest time and resources in training counsellors to help students in making informed choices and decisions to solve the problems they face. Counsellors should be sensitized on the challenges students face in technical university so as to review the programmes targeted at helping students adjust smoothly and quickly to their academic and social life.