Exploring disaster preparedness of students at university in Bangladesh

Adequate and effective disaster preparedness in each sector is indispensable to abate disaster impacts and intensify disaster resilience in Bangladesh for achieving sustainable development goals by 2030. Though university students can play a significant role in promoting and strengthening disaster management activities in the community by sharing their knowledge and experience on disasters, very few studies focused on students' disaster preparedness. In this study, we assessed university students' perceived and actual disaster preparedness and explored the factors influencing disaster preparedness of male and female students. The cross-sectional survey method was adopted to collect 704 student respondents' data from the Dhaka University using a structured questionnaire by face-to-face interview. We found that university students perceived that they were moderately prepared for disaster; however, their actual disaster preparedness was relatively low. Disaster likelihood and disaster knowledge significantly influenced students' perceived and actual disaster preparedness. However, no statistically significant mean differences were found between the male and female respondents regarding their perceived and actual disaster preparedness. In addition, students with higher disaster knowledge were more likely to have a higher perceived and actual disaster preparedness. Moreover, gender-segregated multiple linear regression analyses showed that disaster knowledge was significantly associated with the male students' actual and perceived preparedness, and female students' perceived preparedness. Besides, disaster concern and university preparedness were significant predictors of the female students' perceived preparedness, whereas male students' perceived preparedness was significantly influenced by disaster likelihood and university preparedness. Therefore, it is recommended that disaster education should be introduced into the university curricula, including disaster management training, drills, and simulations. The study provides strong evidence of the need for developing a comprehensive disaster plan at the university and has policy implications. However, further research is needed to explore college and school students' disaster preparedness knowledge and practice in Bangladesh.

Automated summary

University students in Bangladesh perceive themselves to be moderately prepared for disasters, but their actual preparedness level is relatively low. Factors such as disaster likelihood and knowledge significantly affect students' preparedness. There are no significant differences in perceived and actual disaster preparedness between male and female students. Further research is needed to explore disaster preparedness among college and school students in Bangladesh.