Self-advocacy Awareness among Female University Students during COVID-19 Pandemic:

A Focus Group Interview Survey

Abstract

[Purpose]

  Considering that the concept of self-advocacy (SA) is not well recognized in Japan, this exploratory study aimed to investigate Japanese university students’ current state of SA awareness in their daily lives, focusing on female university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Methods]

  A focus group interview (FGI) survey was conducted among female university students(N = 15) and the qualitative data collected were classified and examined using the TA method. To test the hypotheses, a questionnaire survey was conducted as a triangulation.

[Results]

  Qualitative data analysis yielded four themes, four sub-themes, and 20 sub-themes, highlighting multiple problems related to SA. The questionnaire-based survey revealed that (i) 90.2% (n = 348) of female university students understood “somewhat” or “not at all” the meaning of SA and (ii) 91.7% (n = 355) “did not know much” or “did not know” about SA at all.

[Discussion/Conclusion]

  Most of the female university students had limited SA awareness in their daily lives, which supports the study hypothesis to some extent. Although some students recognized the importance of SAS components, a significant number of them were yet to acquire a complete understanding of the concept and hence continued to face mental difficulties and other challenges in their university lives.