Abstract:
The study examined academic resilience and academic engagement as predictors of academic burnout among postgraduate students of the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. The study was guided by seven objectives which were transformed into three research questions and four hypotheses. The descriptive survey design with a quantitative approach was employed in the conduct of the study. The population of the study comprised regular postgraduate students (Level 800 and 900) at the University of Cape Coast, with a total number of 847. Through the stratified and simple random sampling techniques, 265 respondents participated in the study. Academic Resilience Scale, University Student Engagement Inventory and the Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey were adapted for the collection of data. The data collected were analysed using means and standard deviations, simple linear regression, multiple linear regression analysis and the independent samples t-test. It was found that majority of respondents had lower levels of academic resilience and academic engagement but had a high academic burnout level. Also, it was revealed that academic resilience and academic engagement were significant predictors of academic burnout. The study further found that there were no statistically significant differences in the academic burnout of students with regards to gender and academic levels. It was recommended that management of the University in collaboration with lecturers and counsellors should put in place policies and measures to assist postgraduate students address the issue of academic burnout as it has an effect on them.
