Sukhdeep Kaur Mann1
Abstract
Higher education has undergone significant changes with emphasis of the researchers to understand the factors influencing personal and academic development of the students. Among these factors, personal and parental factors play a significant role in shaping students motivation, approach towards learning and their performance. So, the current study was planned to examine and compare the personal and parental factors influencing undergraduate student’s academics across six State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) in India. A descriptive and comparative study design was used, with data collected from 600 respondents using a structured interview schedule. In this study, statistical analysis such as mean, standard deviation and Tukey’s test was used. The findings revealed that there was significant variation among the universities in engagement in leisure time activities, participation in extracurricular activities, parental expectation, parental pressure, parental rewards and punishments. Mostly it was seen that students had moderate level of personal and parental factors. CSAUAT and PJTSAU students reported comparatively higher parental pressure, whereas OUAT had a more balanced academic environment. The findings emphasized the need for tailored interventions by educators and policymakers to enhance student support systems and academic outcomes in agricultural education.