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Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies Vol. 6, No 4, December 2020
1497
Volume and Issues Obtainable at Center for Sustainability Research and Consultancy
Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies
ISSN: 2519-089X (E): 2519-0326
Volume 6: No. 4, December 2020
Journal homepage: www.publishing.globalcsrc.org/jbsee
Relationship between Time Management Behavior and Academic Performance of
University Students
1Abdur Rashid, 2Ilyas Sharif, 3Shakeel Khan, 4Fazal Malik
1Lecturer, Department of Education, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal Dir Upper, Pakistan
2Lecturer, Quaid-e-Azam College of Commerce, University of Peshawar, Pakistan,
ilyasqacc@uop.edu.pk
3Lecturer Institute of Management Studies, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
4 PhD Scholar, Management Science, Qurtuba University of Science and Technology, Peshawar,
Pakistan
ARTICLE DETAILS
ABSTRACT
History
Revised format: November
2020
Available Online: December
2020
Effective time management leads to greater academic
performance and reduces stress, strain and anxiety among
students, however, students facing difficulties to keep a balance
between their academic life and personal-social life. This study
aims to examine the self-perceptions of undergraduate students’
time management behaviour by using Time Management
Behaviour Scale (TMBS) developed by Macan, Shahani,
Dipboye and Phillips (1990). The scale consisted of 34 rating
items ranges from very often true to seldom true. The population
of the study consisted of all undergraduate students studying in
the academic session 2018-19 at public sector general category
universities in Malakand division. By using stratified sampling
technique a sample of 1050 undergraduate students were selected
from the sampled universities. Students were also asked to
provide their CGPA in their previous semester. Both descriptive
and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. It was
found that prospective teachers have moderate to high level of
time management skills. Significant relationship was found
between undergraduate students’ time management behaviour
and academic performance. It was recommended that university
administration should orient students to enhance their time
management behaviour by arranging seminars, workshops and
conferences to enhance their time management skills.
© 2020 Center for Sustainability Research and Consultancy Pakistan
under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
4.0
Keywords
Time Management Behaviour,
Under Graduate Students,
Public Sector Universities,
CGPA
JEL Classification
M0, M1
Corresponding author’s email address: ilyasqacc@uop.edu.pk
Recommended citation: Rashid, A., Sharif, I, Khan, S. & Malik, F. (2020). Relationship between Time
Management Behavior and Academic Performance of University Students. Journal of Business and
Social Review in Emerging Economies, 6(4), 1497-1504
Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies Vol. 6, No 4, December 2020
1498
1. Introduction
Balduf (2009) recognized that poor time management leads to academic underachievement while Britton
and Tesser (1991) mentioned as good time management guarantees higher academic achievement of
college students. Further, they found that 67% undergraduate students perceived time management as
their most crucial problem. Moreover, they found that self-reported time management predicts academic
achievement and particularly short-range planning predict grade point average of college students.
George, Dixon, Stansal, Gelb and Pheri (2008) recognized that good time management skills may be
proved as key to academic success. They found that time management is a significant predictor of
academic achievement. In addition, they found that time management is the sole predictor of university
students CGPA and also related to academic and personal success. Similarly, Misra and McKean (2000)
stated that strategies adopted by students aimed to improve their effective utilization of time are
recommended as support to increase academic achievement. They also found a negative correlation
between time management and academic stress. Rabin, Fogel and Nutter-Upham (2011) found that 30%
to 60% undergraduate university students regularly post pone their academic tasks. Similarly, Seo
(2012) mentioned that undergraduate university students usually cram and “pulling and nighters” before
an academic task. Hess, Sherman and Goodman (2000) mentioned that procrastination is also predictor
of academic achievement.
Time is one of the precious resources that higher education intuitions students must possess. The way
through which individuals manage their time may influence their academic performance (Claessens, Van
Eerde, Rutte, & Roe, 2004). Effective time management leads to greater academic performance and
reduces stress, strain and anxiety among students, however, students facing difficulties to keep a balance
between their academic life and personal-social life (Adams & Blair 2019). The way through which
students manage their time may influence their academic achievement, personal and social life and
future or employment life (Macan et al., 1990; Britton & Tesser, 1991; Kearns & Gardiner, 2007). Thus
it is very essential for the students to allocate and manage their time and meet the deadlines (Al Khatib,
2014).
Some universities in the world offer time management training programmes for their students during
their studies (Covic, Adamson, Lincoln, & Kench, 2003). The main purpose of such initiatives is to
improve their learning and grades. Grades or marks in the universities depend on the completion of
different varieties of tasks. These tasks may be completed in a given time framework or deadline,
including the length or period of the task and priorities of the task. Grades or marks are given to the
students on the basis of completion of these multiple tasks depending on their quality and effort put in
by the students. Britton and Tesser (1991) rightly pointed that students’ marks or their grade point
average would be expected to be influenced by their time management skills. Thus students need to be
conscious to manage their time effectively and efficiently to obtain high grades. Both Macan et al.,
(1990) and Britton and Tesser (1991) found that students’ time management ability is directly related to
their academic performance. Generally, a student with successful and productive time management skill
would have better grades and experience less stress related to their academic life. Britton and Tesser
(1991) concluded that university students’ time management skills accounted for 36% of the variance
with their grade point average. Macan et al., (1990) concluded that college students with more perceived
control of time found to be more satisfied than those who haven’t control over time. Macan (1994)
claimed that practices like setting goals, scheduling events, making to-do list and preferences for
organization enable an individual to gain mastery over how they utilize their time.
The literature shows mixed findings regarding the relationship between students’ time management
skills and their academic achievement. Many studies have been conducted in different fields and levels
of education including medical, engineering, general college students, business students, school students
and university students but no single study has been conducted in the local setting to find out the
relationship between undergraduate students’ time management on their academic achievement. To fill
this gap in the existing literature, the present study has been sought to seek the answers of the following
Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies Vol. 6, No 4, December 2020
1499
research questions.
1. What is the time management behaviour level of undergraduate students in public sector
universities of Malakand division?
2. What is the extent of relationship between students’ time management behaviour and academic
achievement?
2. Research Methodology
The present study was based on quantitative (descriptive survey) research design. Cross-sectional survey
design was used to collect data from the respondents. As the study focused on seeking undergraduate
students’ time management level level and also finds the relationship between students’ time
management behaviour and their academic achievement, therefore, correlational research design was
used to analyze the data. Thus it was a cross-sectional survey and analytical in nature (Cohen, Manion,
& Morrison, 2007). From scattered population survey is considered the best way to gather information
from the respondents in an analytical study because it allows the researcher to find the relationship that
exist between variables to be studied (Bryman, 2008; Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2013). Therefore, the
researchers adopted the above stated method for collection and analysis of data in this study.
The population of the study consisted of all undergraduate students of three public sector universities of
Malakand division. The sample of the study consisted of 1200 students through non-proportionate
stratified sampling technique. From each university 400 undergraduate students were conveniently
selected. A total number of twelve hundred survey packets (questionnaires) were distributed among
undergraduate students of three public sector universities in Malakand division. Each survey packet was
accompanied by a covering letter inviting participation in the survey, describing purposes of the study
and ensuring confidentiality and anonymity for the institution and students. Twelve hundred filled
questionnaires were received from the respondents as the researchers personally collected the data from
these universities.
This study used Macan et al., (1990) four factors scale which has been widely used by different
researchers in different parts of the world to measure students’ perception about time management
behaviour. There were many reasons of using this scale as it is an easy, understandable, valid, and
reliable and used by dozen of researchers to measure the time management behaviour of the school,
college and university students of different fields like medical, engineering, business, petroleum and
general students. For convenience of the students the scale was translated into Urdu language, so that
students can understand it and would be able to understand the concepts and give exact response. This
scale has four factors related to setting goals and priorities, mechanics of scheduling and planning,
preference for organization, and perceived control of time. The scale consisted of 35 five points Likert
scale ranging from “seldom true” to “very often true”. Out of 34 items 10 items were related to the first
factor setting goals and priorities, 11 were related to the second factor mechanics of scheduling and
planning, 08 items were related to the third factor preferences for organization and 05 items were related
to perceived control of time.
As it was an adopted questionnaire and has been used by different researchers in different fields in
different countries of the world. Therefore, it is a valid questionnaire. The questionnaire was first pilot
tested on students in a university and responses were found satisfactory. Participants were asked to
respond on Five-Point Likert scale ranging from “seldom true” to “very often true” having values of 5,
4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively. The Cronbach alpha value (.83) for the pilot test indicated that the instrument
was highly reliable. The reliability values for TMBS were found more than 0.70 thresholds, which show
satisfactory level of statistical testing for social sciences (Cohen et al., 2007: 506; Tesfaw, 2014).
3. Data Analysis
The researchers analyzed the collected data by using both descriptive and inferential statistical tests. In
descriptive statistics the researchers used mean scores of each dimension and overall scores of students’
Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies Vol. 6, No 4, December 2020
1500
time management behaviour; and standard deviation of each dimension and overall scores of students’
time management behaviour were used. As the data was showing normal curve distribution, therefore,
the researchers used Pearson’s Product-Moment co-efficient correlation (r) was used as inferential
statistics. To interpret the mean scores, the researcher used mean score 3.0 as midpoint mark (Iqbal,
2010; Ghazi, 2004; Nguni, 2005: 125; Hukpati, 2009: 34; Tesfaw, 2014). It was assumed by the
researchers that the item or dimension which has mean score greater than midpoint 3.0 demonstrate the
evidence of students’ time management behaviour. Thus the item or dimension having mean score
greater than the midpoint (M>3), was interpreted as above average level of observance of time
management behaviour. The researchers assumed that the higher the mean score, the greater the
observance of time management behaviour.
The researchers also interpreted the value of Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r) between
students’ time management behaviour scores based on Field’s (2009) interpretation. According to
Field’s (2009), the values of r which lies between .10 to .29 was interpreted as weak relationship; the
value of r lies between .30 to .49 was interpreted as moderate level; and the value of r lies between .50 to
1.0 was interpreted as high or strong relationship. The researchers fed the collected data into data sheet
for analysis in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0.
Table 01: Sample profile of the participants
Demographic Variables
Frequency
Percentage
Gender
Male
732
61
Female
468
39
Age
≤ 20 Years
907
75.58
> 20 Years
293
24.42
Current Semester
2nd
301
25.08
4th
404
33.66
6th
307
25.58
8th
188
15.66
The above table represents the sample profile of the undergraduate students. Among the obtained data of
1200 students, 61 were male and 39 were female, which indicates that more male students has
participated in the study. Among the sample students, 75.58 were less than or equal to the age of 20
while 24.42 have greater than 21 years old. Thus comparatively more students have participated in the
study were of less than 20 years old. Out of 1200 students, 25.08 % students of second semester; 33.66%
students of fourth semester; 25.58% students of sixth semester and 15.66% students of eighth semester
students have participated in the study. The number of fourth semester students was found higher than
that of second, sixth, and eighth semester’s students respectively, who participated in the study.
Table 02: Time management behaviour level of undergraduate students
TMBS Constructs
n
Mean
Standard Deviation
Setting goals and priorities
1200
2.69
0.860
Mechanics of scheduling and planning
1200
2.80
0.654
Preference for organization
1200
2.76
0.689
Perceived control of time
1200
2.81
0.792
Overall TMBS
1200
2.76
0.712
The above table shows the mean and standard deviation scores of the different dimensions of students’
time management behaviour. Perceptions of undergraduate students regarding “perceived control of
time” were observed to have the maximum mean value (2.81) which shows that this dimension has the
maximum level of observance among the four dimensions of time management behaviour. On the other
hand “setting goals and priorities” was observed to have the minimum mean score (2.76) which shows
the lowest level of observance among the four dimensions of time management behaviour. As the mean
Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies Vol. 6, No 4, December 2020
1501
scores for different dimensions of time management behaviour was found less than the midpoint 3.0,
therefore, undergraduate students’ time management behaviour level have below average level of
observance.
Table 03: Relationship between TMBS constructs and Academic Performance of Students
Variables
Relationship
SGP
MTM
PFO
PCT
TMBS
AP
Setting Goals
and Priorities
Pearson
Correlation
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
200
Mechanics of
Time
Management
Pearson
Correlation
.427**
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
N
199
199
Preference for
Organization
Pearson
Correlation
.662**
.505**
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.000
N
440
199
200
Perceived
Control of
Time
Pearson
Correlation
.247**
.329**
.452**
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.000
.000
N
4400
199
200
200
Time
Management
Behavior Scale
Pearson
Correlation
.791**
.716**
.859**
.674**
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.000
.000
.000
N
199
199
199
199
199
Academic
Performance of
Students
Pearson
Correlation
.189**
.294**
.175*
.228**
.289**
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
.007
.000
.013
.001
.000
N
200
199
200
200
199
200
SGP=Setting Goals and Priorities, MTM= Mechanics of Time Management, PFO=Preference for
Organization, PCT=Perceived Control of Time, TMBS=Time Management Behavior Scale and
AP=Academic Performance
The above table revealed the correlation matrix among different dimensions of TMBS and also the
relationship of each dimension with students’ academic performance. The values of co-efficient of
correlation among different dimensions of TMBS were ranging from weak to strong relationship. The
relationship between all dimensions of TMBS and students’ academic performance were found
statistically positive weak significant at the .05 level of significance. It shows that with the increase in
time management behaviour of students accompanies with the increase in academic performance. In
other words, the higher the level of students’ time management behaviour the greater the academic
achievement of the students.
4. Discussion
The present study found that the undergraduate students of universities have below average level of time
management behaviour. The mean scores for different dimensions of the time management behaviour
showed that undergraduate students have below average level of tendencies towards setting goals and
priorities, mechanics of time management, preference for organization and perceived control of time.
The mean score for perceived control of time was found to be greater than that of the other time
management behaviour dimensions while setting goals and priorities has minimum level of observance
among the four dimensions of the time management behaviour scale. This implies that undergraduate
students were generally more conscious about their time use. They tried their best to complete the task
within the allotted period of time. They tried to follow the schedule and do not waste time in
unimportant tasks. They felt difficulty in setting goals and priorities tasks; they can’t plan and manage
their time for short and long term goals. Similarly, they felt difficulty in making to-do list and cannot
priorities the tasks on urgency basis. As a result they failed to have good academic scores. These results
Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies Vol. 6, No 4, December 2020
1502
have been testified by many researchers who found that students would like to be organized but fail to
have any strategies to help themselves (Kelly, 2002; Adams & Blair, 2019). The mean scores of the
different dimensions of time management behaviour scale showed that undergraduate students have
trouble with SGP, MTM, PFO and PCOT. Strategies like keeping a log of activities, keeping an
appointment book, reviewing daily activities, making to-do list will help the students to plan and keep
them on track to feel more in control of their time and more able to estimate the needed time to
accomplish tasks (Adams & Blair, 2019; Pozdeeva, 2019).
The study also finds positive weak significant relationship between different dimensions of time
management behaviour scale and students’ academic achievement. This implies that students having
good time management behaviour tend to have better grades. On the other hand, students have poor time
management behaviour will have low grades. The literature shows mixed findings regarding the
relationship between time management and academic performance. Some researchers found direct
relationship between students’ time management skills and academic achievement while other has
regretted the positive relationships between these two constructs. The findings of the study have been
testified by many other researchers who found that time management was positively related with
students academic performance (Adams & Blair, 2019; Kearns & Gardiner, 2007; Macan et al., 1990;
McKenzie & Gow, 2004; Trueman & Hartley). Thus, it is evident that these times management
behaviour i.e. SGP, MTM, PFO and PCOT lead to an improvement in academic performance of the
students. Students having greater academic performance are better at managing their space and time.
5. Conclusions
Based on the findings, this study concludes that undergraduate students have below average level of
time management behaviour level. Universities students find it difficult to set goals and priorities;
schedule their time for different tasks; have well-organized workplace; make to-do list; feeling in control
of time; being procrastinated and not able to estimate the needed time to accomplish tasks. The study
also confirmed that students’ time management behaviour significantly positively correlated with their
academic performance. Students having better time management behaviour tend to have higher grade
point average.
6. Recommendations
The researchers have recommended that it is the joint responsibility of the teachers, administration and
policy makers to provide students an overview of the main strategies to develop enhance the time
management skills of students particularly the first year students when they newly enter in a higher
education setting and know less about the academic matters. The university students must study the
books related to time management which may lead them to better understanding of the concept of time
management strategies which may be useful to utilize their time more productively. It is suggested that
university administrators must arrange seminars and workshops for students on practical tips on how to
manage time for different activities in order to reduce mental stress and enhance academic performance.
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