Assessment of Academic Grit among Biological Sciences Undergraduates in a Nigerian University

Abstract

This study assessed academic grit among Biological Sciences undergraduates in a Nigerian university. A descriptive survey research design was adopted, and simple random technique was used to select a total sample of 1,030 undergraduate students from the Department of Biological Sciences at Tai Solarin Federal University of Education, Ogun State, Nigeria. One research question and two research hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive statistics, including means, frequency counts, and percentages, were used to address the research questions, while inferential statistics, specifically independent t-test and one-way ANOVA, were employed to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that undergraduate Biological Sciences students exhibited high levels of academic grit across the subscales: Determination (21.73 ± 3.24), Resilience (21.71 ± 3.23), Focus (20.71 ± 3.58), and overall (64.15 ± 8.99). Additionally, significant differences in academic grit levels were observed based on students’ academic levels across all subscales and overall (p < .05). Furthermore, significant gender differences in academic grit were found across all subscales and overall (p < .05). Based on these findings, it was recommended that policymakers should organize a variety of events, including seminars, conferences, workshops, orientation programs, and induction sessions to foster academic grit among biology undergraduates. Moreover, activities aimed at enhancing students’ focus should be incorporated.