Academic Procrastination in Dissertation Writing: Causes, Effects and Strategies to Overcome it

Abstract

The present study investigates the effect of procrastination behaviour on master dissertations writing. It examines the causes of this behaviour in order to plan strategies for overcoming it. To reach our objectives, we adopted both quantitative and qualitative methods. Data were collected using an anonymous online questionnaire administered to a sample of 120 Master 2 students, and a manuscript interview conducted with three teachers, both from the English section of Ibn Khaldoun University, Tiaret. The major findings were that our participant students are caught by the procrastination behaviour during the process of writing their master dissertations, and that the behaviour is affecting their psychological state and academic achievements. Besides, our participants reported that they procrastinate for different causes; mentioning the lack of supervision, fear of failures, lack of motivation and low self-esteem. Finally, the results demonstrated that MA2 students can potentionally overcome procrastination using different efficacious strategies.