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VOL. 12, ISSUE 1 (2026)
Prevalence of academic anxiety among research scholars in selected Universities of West Bengal
Authors
Dr. Rima Dutta, Nibedita Roy
Abstract
Academic anxiety among research scholars is
becoming a growing concern in Indian higher education, but there is still very
little solid evidence from West Bengal. This study aimed to understand how
common academic anxiety is and whether there are any differences between male
and female scholars. The research included 220 research scholars; 110 male and
110 female from three universities in West Bengal: the University of Calcutta,
Vidyasagar University, and the University of Burdwan. Academic anxiety was
measured using a standard questionnaire, with scores ranging from 11 to 44.
Based on the scores, anxiety levels were classified as mild (15–20), moderate
(21–29), or high (30–44). The results showed that 51.4% of the scholars had
high academic anxiety, 35.0% had moderate anxiety, and only 13.6% had mild
anxiety. Importantly, not a single scholar fell into the "not
anxious" category. When looking at gender, a slightly higher percentage of
female scholars (53.6%) reported high anxiety compared to male scholars (49.1%).
However, a chi-square test showed that this difference was not statistically
significant (χ² = 0.546, p = 0.761). In other words, gender did not play a
significant role in determining anxiety levels. These findings make it clear
that there is an urgent need for universities to provide mental health support
and anxiety management programs for all research scholars, regardless of gender.
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Pages:457-460
How to cite this article:
Dr. Rima Dutta, Nibedita Roy "Prevalence of academic anxiety among research scholars in selected Universities of West Bengal". International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, Vol 12, Issue 1, 2026, Pages 457-460
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