Gender Variations in Coping Strategies for Challenges Faced by University Students

Abstract

The present study endeavors to cast a glance at gender differences in university
 students’ coping strategies. For young people, stepping into university represents a
 time of transformation. Students experience this phase, encounter a wide variety of
 new challenges, and suffer several psychosocial and mental health problems. To address
 issues and make an effort to overcome challenges, university students use different
 strategies for coping. In this study, challenges were identified through open-ended
 questions, and coping strategies were assessed through a brief COPE inventory (Carver,
 1997). A total of 50 undergraduate students were selected from a state university through
 purposeful sampling. Interesting findings showed that there were considerable gender
 disparities in terms of coping strategies. Further analysis was done domain-wise by
 using the mean, standard deviation, and t-test, and strong gender differences emerged
 in five domains: humor, emotional support, venting, instrumental support, and religion.
 This study would act as a base to plan interventions in universities for developing
 adaptive coping strategies in students.