Effect of Life skills Training on New Entrant Female students in three Universities in Ethiopia

Abstract

University students who are efficient in life skills will acquire knowledge,
skills, and attitudes they need to succeed in their university education and beyond. The
overall goal of life skill trainings was to see retention and completion of university
education of female students in the sampled universities. The main focus of the
intervention was to enhance students’ life skills in eleven variables: Self-esteem,
Communication Skills, Study Skills, Stress Management, Substance Abuse, Women’s/
girls right, Reproductive Health, HIV, Leadership Skill, Job, profession and Career
and Mentorship. The objectives of the intervention project were to achieve these goals
through improving capacity of female students to succeed in university and through
improving capacity of partner universities to support female students. As a result, before
life skill training was launched, pre training assessment was conducted in the sampled
three universities, sampling a total of 750 female students (250 from each), and then
post training assessment was carried out at the end of the training program, only for 494
female students. The training was conducted using university instructors as trainers.
The assessment was designed to be a single group comparison of pre-training baseline
vs. post- training changes. The quantitative data was used to compare the pre-training
assessment with post-training assessment, to measure the achieved results of the life
skills of the female students with the eleven variables. The qualitative data were used
to independently describe the changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of female
university students and was directly used to complement the quantitative data. The
cumulative result shows that the Life skills training have brought significant changes
in the life skills of the sampled female students. Students’ dropout and dismissal will be
reduced; retention and graduation rate will be increased.