Multilevel Variability in Student Engagement across Universities, Departments, Academic Years, and Residential Contexts

Abstract

Student academic success and talent cultivation in higher education is firmly reinforced as a high priority that depends on a multitude of factors: personal, institutional, contextual, and social dimensions. This study intends to investigate multilevel variability in student engagement, streamlining the role of university-type, departments/schools, students’ year of study, and residential status. A causal-comparative research design was employed to collect the data from 617 university students enrolled in three public-sector universities of Sindh province of Pakistan through a questionnaire by applying a stratified random sampling technique. Results reveal startlingly reduced levels of students’ engagement. In academic activities, behavioral engagement was relatively greater, followed by emotional engagement, cognitive engagement, and social engagement. Moreover, multilevel variability in student engagement was found across universities, departments, academic years, and residential contexts. Students from the University of Sindh exhibited substantially greater levels of engagement than the students who belong to the Shah Abdul Latif University and GC University Hyderabad. Department-wise assessments reveal that learners registered in Faculty/Department of Education described superior engagement than the students of Faculty of Natural Science, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Departments of Commerce and Business Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, and Departments of Computer Science, IT, and Mathematics, with the lowermost level of engagement witnessed among the students of Computer Science, IT, and Mathematics Departments. Academic year differences showed that sophomore students were found to experience greater engagement than freshmen, juniors, and seniors. Residence status appeared to be an important element, with learners living off-campus describing greater engagement in comparison to their on-campus counterparts. For student success, numerous initiatives are needed that focus on enhancing the students' academic experiences. The government should develop a framework for quality assurance that monitors student engagement activities, encourages the use of student-oriented and evidence-based pedagogical strategies, improves boarding facilities, and addresses the specific needs and challenges of freshmen and senior students.