The Intention-Behaviour Gap in Higher Education: Unpacking the Planning-Execution Paradox in Students' Procrastination Despite Effective Time Management

Abstract

The goal of this research was to explain how much time the students in higher education in Punjab, Pakistan, were managing and how much they were procrastinating academically. The study aimed to achieve three objectives: 1) To describe time management practices being carried out by the higher education students in Punjab, Pakistan. 2) To find out the amount of academic procrastination that higher education students experienced. 3) To reveal the perceptions and attitudes of the students with regard to time management and academic procrastination. A quantitative descriptive survey design was used to collect data from 360 undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in public and private higher education institutions. The sample of the study was selected by using a multistage convenience sampling method, which included convenience sampling and proportionate stratified sampling techniques. For the assessment of students’ awareness regarding time management practices and tendencies for academic procrastination, a structured questionnaire was utilized. The research tool proved to be very reliable (Cronbach’s α = 0.988). Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis, which included frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, and rankings. The findings showed that the students had a time management average of 82.83 (SD = 6.50) and an academic procrastination average of 83.27 (SD = 10.46). A large number of students still stated that they put off academic tasks because of emotional, cognitive, and motivational reasons, even though they were showing very good planning and scheduling skills. The study indicated that universities should provide time-management training and interventions aimed at procrastination and self-regulation to improve students’ academic performance and effectiveness. These results revealed a rise in paradoxical behavior in students’ time management skills and continuous procrastination.