Assessing the Belief in School Guidance and Counselling Effectiveness: Implications for Academic Help-Seeking Behaviour among Undergraduates in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Academic help-seeking behaviour, the deliberate act of seeking assistance from available support structures when facing academic difficulty, is widely recognized as an adaptive strategy associated with improved academic outcomes, yet participation in formal guidance and counselling services within Nigerian tertiary institutions remains comparatively low relative to documented student need. This paper assesses undergraduates' belief in the effectiveness of school guidance and counselling services in Anambra State tertiary institutions and examines the implications of this belief for academic help-seeking behaviour. Drawing on social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behaviour, and a qualitative synthesis of counselling psychology and higher education literature, the paper argues that undergraduates' willingness to seek academic help through formal guidance and counselling channels is substantially predicted by their perceived efficacy of these services, itself shaped by prior personal or vicarious experience, perceived counsellor competence and confidentiality, and broader institutional and cultural attitudes toward help-seeking. The paper finds that where undergraduates hold low expectations of counselling effectiveness, often linked to under-resourced counselling units, perceived stigma associated with seeking psychological or academic support, and limited awareness of available services, help-seeking behaviour is correspondingly suppressed, with students instead relying predominantly on informal peer networks for academic support. The paper concludes with recommendations for strengthening both the actual and perceived effectiveness of guidance and counselling services within Anambra State tertiary institutions, in order to improve academic help-seeking behaviour among the undergraduate population.