A Survey of Student's Academic Problems and the Duty and Roles of Counselors in Resolving them

Students are faced with many problems that can be associated with irreversible damage and devastating effects. Psychological pressure is caused by changes in living conditions, separation from family, economic and financial problems, marriage, employment while studying, and consequently educational problems including academic failure, unnecessary transfer and changing of field of study, and lack of scientific competence and dropping out, reduced performance, poor educational achievement. All these show that the authorities have a grave responsibility in recognizing, controlling, and preventing educational damages. Thus the aim of the present study was to identify student's academic problems and the role of lecturers and counselors in resolving these problems from the view of students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. The present research is a cross-sectional study. The data collection tool was a questionnaire consisting of 4 parts; demographic characteristics, the opinion of students about the counseling duties of lecturers, student's problems, and the role of lecturers in reducing problems. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were determined using content validity and test-retest (r = 0.78), respectively. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software. Our findings indicate that of the 500 students studied, 351 were female (70.2%) and 149 (29.8%) male. The average age of the participants was 21.7 years. The mean and standard deviation of the students ' psycho-emotional problems was 14.4 ± 6.29, educational problems 97.11 ± 11.51, social and communicative problems 98.6 ± 7.96, and financial and economic problems 23.4 ± 6.1. Based on the view of students, the mean and standard deviation of the role of counselors in the mentioned academic problems was 98.2 ± 33.46. The majority of the problems expressed by students were related to social and educational issues, which can cause problems for the students in respect to their educational and professional goals. As a result of these problems, students may require guidance and counseling services. Students ' inadequate knowledge of consulting services may be the cause of their lack of use of these services for solving their problems. With careful planning, and updating and expanding counselor's activities and knowledge, more effective steps can be taken to reduce educational problems and promote the academic status of students