Pa ge 1 Pa ge 21 American Journal of Education and Technology (AJET) The Interest of Undergraduate Students in Co-curricular Activities in Relation to their Leadership Skills Trupti Subhrajyoti1, Rajesh Kumar2*, Pratima Pradhan1, Amulya Kumar Acharya1 Volume 2 Issue 1, Year 2023 ISSN: 2832-9481 (Online) DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajet.v2i1.1140 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Article Information ABSTRACT Received: December 31, 2022 Accepted: January 16, 2022 Published: January 26, 2023 The study explores the levels of interest of Undergraduatestudents in Co-curricular Activities and their level of Leadership skills about their gender, stream of education and locality. The investigator collected data from 160 Undergraduate students from different Degree colleges of Balasore municipality having arts and science as their streams of studies through stratified random sampling technique. The researcher used the self-made Interest Inventory on Co-curricular Activities and Leadership skill Questionnaire to collect data. The students’ responses were analyzed using Frequency and Percentage Analysis, Mean, Standard deviation, t-test, and Karl Pearson’s correlation method. The study reveals that irrespective of the factors like gender, locality and streams of education, majorityof the Undergraduate students have medium levels of interest in Co-curricularActivities and Leadership skills. Gender seems to be associated with the students’ level of interest in Co-curricular Activities and Leadership skills. Female students are better in their interest in Co-curricular Activities and Leadership skills than the Male students. Further, it is observed that level of Leadership skills of the students depends highly on the interest in Co-curricular Activities, higher level of interest in Co-curricular Activities of the Undergraduatestudents leads to higher Leadership skills. Keywords Co-curricular Activity, Leadership Skills, Undergraduate Student 1 Fakir Mohan University, Vyasa Vihar, Balasore, India 2 Radhanath Institute of Advance Studies in Education, Cuttack, India * Corresponding author’s e-mail: coolrajesh.kumar5@gmail.com INTRODUCTION Education is the keyword for a successful world. It implants healthy mind within a sound body, by drawing all round development within the body, mind and spirit. It has spread the sweet fragrance of knowledge and wisdom through different methods and approaches from Vedic to Morden age.With changing times, gradual changes have been marked in the knowledge acquisition field. Continuous reconstruction and revitalization of the older concepts, thoughts and ideas are occurring to give a true shape to the changing society and nation. Under the safe shade of Indian democracy, India has achieved heights of success in education, economy and socialization and wore the outfit of modernization. Previously where the, education was confined in the periphery of curriculum and syllabus, in present context it understands the language of Experiential learning which would be helpful in daily life and maintenance of livelihoods. Priority is given to building an individual’s strong, passionate, persistent and skilled personality. Co-curricular Activities (CCA) are series of activities beyond the subjects for examination and the purpose is to help the individuals for achieving holistic development, which is impossible through textbook reading only (Mehmood et al., 2012). Thegrowth, positive learning and youth development in adolescents are possible through participating in various categories of Co-curricular Activities (CCA) ranging from students’ unionism to academic functions (Burr, 2012). Therefore, to install the ‘all-rounder’ concept among students, CCA is being integrated and appreciated into the college academic curriculum across several countries in the world (Dodke et al., 2022).Students’ interest in CCA fosters strong social ties and capital (Bekomson et al., 2020). Regularinvolvement in structured activities indirectly generates the communication skills, cooperation, co- ordination etc. that are included in leadership skills (Ghani et al., 2020). To face the challengesof social and career problemseffectively and confidently, the University education set goal to build students’ leadership skills (Zada,2021). Strongcommitmentto community found in those students who were more interested in participating in CCA(Marsh and Kleitman,2002). It indirectly forms a bridge between participatory interest and leadership skills of students those who are at the age of taking responsibility.Recently, University Grant Commission (UGC) has designed a curriculum on Life Skills (Jeevan Kaushal) for undergraduates to unlock and discover the true potential and making them socially responsive citizens. This curriculum introduced Leadership Skills as course-3 with 6 hours of teachings. Figure 1: Common aspects of Co-curricular Activities and Leadership https://doi.org/10.54536/ajet.v2i1.1140 mailto:https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet%0D?subject= mailto:coolrajesh.kumar5%40gmail.com?subject= Pa ge 22 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Am. J. Educ. Technol. 2(1) 21-28, 2023 LITERATURE REVIEW Christison (2013)studied on“The benefits of participating in extracurricular activities”.The research resulted that students who participate in extracurricular activities have greater academic success, greater character development, especially in the areas of timemanagement and leadership skills, more positive social development, and greater interest in community involvement. The educational system can use such information to encourage students to participate in activities that will enhance their personal and academic achievements. Esa, Mutallib & Azman (2015)Published their work on“Do extra-curricular activities effect student leadership in institutions: sport?”The basis of the research was to find out whether sport as an extra-curricular activity is helpful only for students’ physical achievement or leadership skills? At the end, it is shown that the extra-curricular activities could affect leadership skills among students in institutions. Family members should encourage the child to join sport schools. Ghania, Awangb, Ajit& Rania (2020)worked on“Participation in co-curriculum activities and students’ leadership skills”.The work explained how active participation in co-curriculum activities enhances students’ leadership skills. The study employed a survey research design involving 237 students aged 16 years from a rural area of Malaysia.The results from this study illustrated a significant relationship between active participation and leadership skills. Zada (2021)studied on“The role of co-curricular activities in leadership skills’ development among university students”.The research aimed to Figure out co-curricular activities among university students, examine the connection between co-curricular activities and students’ leadership skills’ growth, and establish techniques for co-curricular activities at the university levels. According to the findings, participating in co-curricular activities improves students’ leadership skills and plays an important role in the growth of leadership skills among graduates. Statement of the Problem Researcher reviewed many indian and abroad articles and found very less number of studies conducted on Co- curricular Activities having relationship with Ledership skills. As far as researcher’s knowledge is concerned, no studies have been conducted yet, particularly on interest in co-curricular activities in relation to the leadership skills in Odisha. The current study is an attempt to observe the interest towards Co-curricular Activities of Undergraduate students in relation to their Leadership skills in Balasore district of Odishawith respect to gender, stream and locality. Therefore, keeping this in view, the following statement was framed: “Interest of Undergraduate students in co-curricular activities in relation to their leadership skills.” Objectives of the Study 1. To study the levels of interest of Undergraduate students in Co-curricular activities 2. To compare the levels of interest of Undergraduate students in Co-curricular activitieswith reference to their gender, stream and locality. 3. To study the level of Leadership skills of Undergraduate students. 4. To compare the level of Leadership skills of Undergraduate studentsin reference to their gender, streamand locality. 5. To study the relationship between interest of Undergraduate students in Co-curricular Activities and level of their Leadership skills Hypothesis 1. There is no significant difference in their levels of interest in Co-curricular Activities of Undergraduate students in reference to their gender, stream and locality. 2. There is no significant difference in Leadership skills of Undergraduate students in reference to their gender, stream and locality. 3. There is no significant relationship between the level of interest in Co-curricular Activities and the level of Leadership skills of Undergraduate students. METHODOLOGY In the present study,the researcher adopted the descriptive survey method to find the present status of the phenomena under consideration. 160 Undergraduate students from different colleges of Balasore municipality having Arts and Science as their streams of studies were taken as sample for the study which included both male and female students. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the required samples from the population. Table 1: Sample Distribution Location Stream Gender Total Female Male Rural Arts 20 20 40 Science 20 20 40 Urban Arts 20 20 40 Science 20 20 40 Total 80 80 160 Interest Inventory on Co-Curricular Activities and Leadership Skill Questionnaire, two highly reliable researcher made tools having reliability coefficient 0.763 and 0.876 respectively were used for data collection.The dimensions of Leadership skill Questionnaire such as communication skill, decision making, creative thinking, group management skill, problem solving skills, trust, transparency, confidence, humility, creativity, honesty, integrity wereconsidered by the investigators.Responses of the students were finally analysed by using Frequency and Percentage Analysis, Mean, Standard deviation, t-test, Coefficient of correlation as per the objectives and hypothesis. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Analysis of Interest in Co-curricular Activities https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Pa ge 23 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Am. J. Educ. Technol. 2(1) 21-28, 2023 Figure 2: Levels of Interest in Co-curricular Activities of Undergraduate Students Figure 3: Level of Interest in Co-curricular Activities in relation to Gender, Stream & Locality (Graph-1, Graph-2, Graph- 3) Figure. 2 indicates that 16% of Undergraduate students have high level of interest in Co-curricular Activities and 18% of Undergraduate student’s low level of interest in Co-curricular Activities but about 66% of Undergraduate students have medium level of interest in Co-curricular Activities which is highest in number. It may be concluded that the maximum number of students have average interest in Co-curricular Activities. It may be because of Degree colleges do not provide huge opportunity to nurture co-curricular activities among students but activities like NSS, NCC, Youth Red-Cross, Ranger & Rovers, annual sports and cultural meet provides scope to sustain interest in Co-curricular Activities. Figure:3indicates Females contribute more to show higher interest in Co-curricular Activities than that of males. Science undergraduate students contribute more towards average level of interest in Co-curricular Activities than that of Arts students. Similarly, Rural undergraduate students contribute more towards average level of interest in Co-curricular Activities than that of urban students. Table 2: Gender wise N, Mean, SD and t –value of levelofinterest in Co-curricular Activities Variables N Mean SD ‘t’ df Level of Significance Female 80 135.61 13.563 4.305 158 Significant at 0.01 level Male 80 125.40 16.315 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Pa ge 24 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Am. J. Educ. Technol. 2(1) 21-28, 2023 The above table shows that the t-value is 4.305 which is significant at 0.01 level. It shows that mean score of interest in co-curricular activities of Male and Female Undergraduate studentsdiffer significantly. Thus, the null hypothesis as stated that there is no significant difference between interest in Co-curricular Activities of Male and Figure 5: Level of interest in Co-curricular Activities of Arts and Science Undergraduate students Figure 4: Level of interest in Co-curricular Activitiesof Male and Female Undergraduate students curricular Activities of Arts and Science Undergraduate students is not rejected. It is clear that Arts and science undergraduate students are interested in Co-curricular Activities to the same extent. It may be due to that Arts and Science Undergraduate studentsare getting similar exposure towards Co-curricular Activities. Female Undergraduate students is rejected. It is clear that female undergraduate students are more interested in Co- curricular Activities than male students. It may be due to female undergraduate students’ inclination towards art and literary activities acquired from their family and previous school environment. Table 3: Stream wise N, Mean, SD and t –value of level interest in Co-curricular Activities Variables N Mean SD ‘t’ df Level of Significance Arts 80 131.86 16.418 1.086 158 Significant at 0.05 level Science 80 129.15 15.155 The above table shows that the t-value is 1.086 which is not significant at 0.05levels. It shows that mean score of interest in Co-curricular Activities of Arts and ScienceUndergraduate studentsdoes notdiffer significantly. Thus, the null hypothesis as stated that there is no significant difference between interest in Co- Table 4: Localitywise N, Mean, SD and t –value of level of interest in Co-curricular Activities Variables N Mean SD ‘t’ df Level of Significance Rural 80 131.13 15.065 0.494 158 Not significant at 0.05 levelUrban 80 129.89 16.590 Figure 6: Level of interest in Co-curricular Activities of Rural and Urban Undergraduate students https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Pa ge 25 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Am. J. Educ. Technol. 2(1) 21-28, 2023 The above table shows that the t-value is 0.494 which is not significant at 0.05 levels. It shows that mean score of interest in co-curricular activities of Rural and Urban Undergraduate students does not differ significantly. Thus, the null hypothesis as stated that there is no significant difference between interest in Co- curricular Activities of Rural and Urban Undergraduate students is not rejected. It is clear that Rural and Urban Undergraduate students are interested in Co-curricular Activities to the same extent. It may be because of Rural and Urban Undergraduate students are getting similar exposure towards Co-curricular Activities. Analysis of Leadership Skills Cross, Ranger & Rovers, Election and mock parliament provides scope to improve Leadership Skills. Figure:8. indicates Females contribute more to medium level of Leadership Skill than that of Males. Arts undergraduate students contribute more towards average level of Leadership Skill than that of Science students. Urban Undergraduate students contribute more towards average levelof Leadership Skills than that of Rural students. Figure 7: Percentage Analysis of Level of Leadership Skill Scores of students Figure 8: Level of Leadership Skills in relation to Gender, Stream &Locality(Graph-4, Graph-5, Graph- 6) Figure.7 indicates that 18% of Undergraduate students have high level of Leadership Skill and 22% of Undergraduate students’ low level of Leadership Skill, but about 61% of Undergraduate students have medium level of Leadership Skill. It may be concluded that maximum numbers of students have average level of Leadership Skill. It may be due to that Degree colleges do not offer several activities to nurture Leadership Skill among students but activities like NSS, NCC, Youth Red- Table 5: Gender wise N, Mean, SD and t –value of level of their Leadership skills Variables N Mean SD ‘t’ df Level of Significance Female 80 111.80 13.934 2.387 158 Not significant at 0.05 levelMale 80 106.09 16.252 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Pa ge 26 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Am. J. Educ. Technol. 2(1) 21-28, 2023 The above table shows that the t-value is 2.387 which is significant at 0.05 level. It shows that mean level of Leadership Skill of Male and Female Undergraduate students differ significantly. Thus, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the level of Leadership Skill of Male and Female Undergraduate students is rejected. Female undergraduate students have better Leadership Skills than that of Male students. It may be due to that female Undergraduate studentstake part in different cultural functions, involved in decision making related to family management and other affairs in society and community. Figure 9: Level of Leadership skills of Male and Female Undergraduate students Table 6: Gender wise N, Mean, SD and t –value of level of their Leadership skills Variables N Mean SD ‘t’ df Level of Significance Arts 80 110.55 15.337 1.326 158 Not significant at 0.01 levelScience 80 107.34 15.309 Figure 10: Level of Leadership skills of Arts and Science Undergraduate students The above table shows that the t-value is 1.326 which is not significant at 0.01 levels. It shows that mean level of Leadership Skill of Arts and Science Undergraduate students does not differ significantly. Thus, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between thelevel of Leadership skills of Arts and Science Undergraduate students is not rejected. It is clear that Arts and Science undergraduate students have similar level of leadership skills. It may be due to that Arts and Science Undergraduate students are getting similar exposure towards the development of Leadership skills. Table 7: Locality wise N, Mean, SD and t –value of level of their Leadership skills Variables N Mean SD ‘t’ df Level of Significance Rural 80 110.21 14.583 1.045 158 Not significant at 0.05 levelUrban 80 107.68 16.090 Figure 11: Level of Leadership skills of Rural and Urban Undergraduate students https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Pa ge 27 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Am. J. Educ. Technol. 2(1) 21-28, 2023 The above table shows that the t-value is 1.045 which is not significant at 0.05 level. It shows that mean level of Leadership skill of Rural and Urban Undergraduate studentsdoes not differ significantly. Thus, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between thelevel of Leadership skill of Rural and UrbanUndergraduate students is not rejected. It is clear that Rural and Urban Undergraduate students have same level of Leadership Skill. It may be due to that Rural and Urban Undergraduate students are getting similar exposure towards development of Leadership skill. Relationship between Interest in Co-curricular Activities and Leadership skills Table 8 shows that the coefficient of correlation between interest in Co-curricular Activities and Leadership skills is 0.603 which is positive and significant at 0.01 level with df = 318. It shows that interest in Co-curricular Activities and Leadership skillswere positively and significantly correlated. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected. Table 8: Coefficient of Correlation between Interest in Co-curricular Activities and Leadership skills of Undergraduate Students Variable N Mean Coefficient of Correlation Remark Interest in Co-curricular Activities 160 130.51 0.603 Not significant at 0.01 levelLeadership Skill 160 108.94 Discussion of Results From the above analysis, it is observed that most of the Undergraduate student sample lies in the moderate level (66.25%) within the range of 116-146 as far as levels of interest in Co-curricular activities are concerned. A small but significant percentage (17.50%) within the range of 92-115 of students lie in the low level whereas 16.25% of them fall in the high level of interest in Co-curricular Activities having the range 147-160. It means that more than half of the students showed medium level of interest in Co-curricular Activities. About one-quarter of the sample showed high levels of interest in Co-curricular Activities; the rest were in low level.Where as Singh(2017), Rani (2016), Yilmaz (2019), Mulronyee(2017) agreed that majority of the students show their interest towards Co-curricular Activities as they believed Co-curricular Activities affected their study positively with more energetic and efficient concentration power. It is clearly revealed from the Figure. 3 (Graph-1,Graph-2, Graph-3) that the highest percentages of male and female students i.e., 30.63% and 35.63% respectively had medium level of interest in Co-curricular Activities. Comparatively, higher percentage of female students showed medium interest in Co-curricular Activities. In addition, it can also be clearly observed that 10% of females had shown high levels of interest in Co-curricular Activities compared to that of male students (6.25%). Only 4.38% female students showed low interest in Co-curricular Activities in which range of the male were 13.13%.it is contradictory with the work of Yilmaz (2019) as his study revealed male science high school students had a more positive attitude than female students. Still, there was no difference between academic achievements. In the present study, the researcher found that female Undergraduate students are better in their interest in Co-curricular Activities than the male students and also possess higher level of Leadership skills than male Undergraduate students. In case of level of interest in Co-curricular Activities, maximum 34.38% of science students and 31.88% arts students have medium interest and it reversed in case of level of Leadership skill like 32.50% Arts students and 28.13% science students have medium level of Leadership skills.36.25% and 33.13% rural degree students have medium level of interest in Co-curricular Activities and medium level of Leadership skills respectively whereas 30.00% of urban degree students show medium interest in Co-curricular Activities and 27.50% urban students also show medium level of Leadership skills. No such related result found by the researcher from other literatures. In both cases of interest in CCA and Leadership skills, female have more mean score than male Undergraduate students. But Chai (2015) studied no significant difference in leadership qualities was found among student leaders according to gender. No significant difference at 0.05 level and 0.01 level found in mean scores between science and arts students in case of interest in CCA and leadership skills respectively. Also, Rural and urban students have same levels of leadership skills and interest in Co-curricular Activities. Smith & Chenoweth (2015), Ghani (2020), Esa (2015) had revealed a strong and positive relationship between Co- curricular Activities and Leadership skills, suggested that development of student leadership characteristics can be nurtured through their involvement or participation in co- curricular activities. In the present study, the researcher found the coefficient of correlation “r” is 0.603, indicating a positive and substantial relationship between Interest in Co-curricular Activities and Leadership Skills. It implies students with higher interest in Co-curricular activities will have higher level of Leadership skills. CONCLUSION The present study will help stakeholders of Higher Education, which include parents, teachers, students and also the policy makers and administrators etc, to provide resources in colleges, to offer a variety of Co-curricular Activities or extra-curricular activities as per students’ choice, interests or liking related with their career plan or future plan, to cooperate the students to participate in various Co-curricular Activities of their choice that will keep them away from other unsocial activities. In graduate level, participating in Co-curricular Activities https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Pa ge 28 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajet Am. J. Educ. Technol. 2(1) 21-28, 2023 should be given equal importance with academic activities by the students which can provide them immediate and successful adjustment in their working area. REFERENCE Ayoub, F., Fares, Y., & Fares, J. (2015). 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