• Sudha. P
• Dr. T. Mythili

Abstract Background: Self-esteem indicates an individual’s negative or positive perception of themselves, and is found to be a significant component among students and their mental health (1). It is at college that students expand their capabilities and gain self-esteem and confidence. But COVID 19 has drastic impact all through the globe, causing major twists and turns to adolescent students’ college life. The students were recommended online classes as compared to the usual live campus life, taking a toll on their mental health. As different streams of college courses pose distinct challenges, it is likely that students also show varying degrees of self-esteem. Aim: This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to assess the self-esteem of students in arts and science and engineering courses, amidst COVID pandemic with onlins classes, with respect to their socio-demographic variables (age, gender, stream of education, father’s education, father’s occupation, monthly family income, mother’s qualification, status of mother, and family type). Methods: Random sampling was used to gather 96 arts and science students, and 180 engineering students from a private arts and science and engineering college in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, respectively. All students in the sample were in their first year of college. A self-developed socio-demographic questionnaire and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were sent to the 276 students using Google Forms. Their responses were studied and inferred using descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent t test, ANOVA, and Post Hoc test). Results: There were 276 students included in the study, out of which 93 were female and 183 were male. A higher self-esteem was evident among females, students with post-graduate fathers, graduate mothers, non-working mothers, fathers working in other domains or being self-employed, and among those living in nuclear families. Family income was also found to be statistically significant in terms of self-esteem. Although students ≤18 years of age had higher self-esteem scores, there was no statistical significance. Conclusion: self-esteem was found to be higher among arts and science students than engineering students. Furthermore, a statistically significant difference was observed in the self-esteem of the students, their gender, parent education levels, father occupation, working status of mother, family income, and family type. the study emphasises the critical need for life skills intervention to face the pandemic and academic challenges. Further research is required to understand the difference in level of life skills and self-esteem between students of different academic streams.

Keywords: Self-esteem, Mental health, COVID 19, Life skills.

"Self-Esteem among Adolescents in Different Educational Streams through the COVID 19 Pandemic – The Critical Need for Life Skills Intervention to face the New Challenge", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 2, page no.d433-d442, February-2022, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2202361.pdf

"Self-Esteem among Adolescents in Different Educational Streams through the COVID 19 Pandemic – The Critical Need for Life Skills Intervention to face the New Challenge", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 2, page no. ppd433-d442, February-2022, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2202361.pdf