Page 29 - EDUCON 2022 Book of Abstracts

ensure anonymity, confidentiality, and utilisation; improve
accessibility to online surveys and provide.
Keywords: evaluation, feedback, learning, lecturers, teaching, online,
students, university

18. Sheyapo, M., Equity in diversity: support needs of students from
marginalised backgrounds in higher education
Background: Counselling services ease and guide the transition
process and assist students in coping with the demand and pressure of
academic and social life. Despite the counselling services, dropout
rates remain higher with poor academic success rates in university.
This seems to suggest a mismatch between students’ needs and the
available counselling services.
Aim: The objective was to understand how counselling services are
perceived in meeting the diverse needs of students from marginalised
backgrounds in institutions of higher education.
Methodology: The study used a mixed methods design to collect and
analyse data. The narratives were presented as original excerpts.
Results: Findings indicate that despite the financial support and the
prevalence of counselling support services, students from
marginalised backgrounds in HEIs struggle with economic,
physiological, psychological, and academic distress.
Recommendations: It is recommended that institutional
coordinators/mediators facilitate students' internal and external
financial issues of students. The study suggests further research on
best practices to develop and implement the student assistance and
support.
Conclusion: Despite the availability of counselling services and
student funding, forms of exclusion and inequity remain persistent and
the barriers to academic success among students in institutions of
higher learning.

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