American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
ISSN (Online): 2378-7031
DOI: 10.46568/2378-7031
When Commitments Compete with Learning: Exploring Academic Engagement among Highly Involved Students
Affiliation
Davis Brown*, Santo Johansen
Research Group On Methodology, Methods, Models and Outcomes of Health and Social Sciences (M3O), Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare, Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), Vic, 08500, Spain
Citation: Brown D, Johansen S. “When Commitments Compete with Learning: Exploring Academic Engagement among Highly Involved Students”. American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol 11, no. 4, 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Brown D, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The research explores the relationship between students’ involvement in campus life and their academic engagement, with particular attention to the effects of managing multiple commitments. Participation in clubs, organizations, and other university activities can contribute to students’ connection with campus life, yet extensive involvement may also place demands on time, attention, and academic responsibilities. Data were collected from 113 students enrolled at a public university and a private religiously affiliated university. Participants completed measures assessing experiences of excessive involvement and academic engagement in higher education. The findings indicated satisfactory internal consistency for the instruments used in the study. The analysis further showed a negative association between feelings of excessive involvement and academic engagement, suggesting that students who experienced greater difficulty managing their commitments tended to report lower levels of academic engagement. Differences between the two institutional groups were also observed, with students from the private religiously affiliated university reporting comparatively higher engagement. The findings highlight the importance of maintaining a manageable balance between campus participation and academic responsibilities.
Keywords: Student Involvement; Academic Engagement; Campus Participation; Student Commitments; Higher Education; University Students; Extracurricular Activities; Academic Responsibilities; Student Experiences.
