Student perceptions of belonging at university: a qualitative perspective.

Alison Faith Kelly, Hilda Mary Mulrooney

Abstract


Belonging is multidimensional, personal and geographical in nature. Establishing a sense of belonging benefits students and institutions. This study sought to explore aspects of belonging from the student perspective. Data were collected using open text boxes within a questionnaire and an optional focus group. A total of 617 students participated of whom 85% completed the questionnaire. One focus group with 3 participants was held. Qualitative data highlighted personal and social aspects of belonging, and the benefits of belonging for successful study. The importance of belonging was not agreed universally but most students identified it as important, and felt that they personally belonged. Understanding what belonging means and what influences it is important to enhance student engagement and retention.


Keywords


Belonging; Qualitative; Social; Support; Academic staff

Full Text:

PDF

References


Antonsich, M. (2010) Searching for belonging: an analytical framework. Geography Compass 4(6): 644-659. DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2009.00317.x. Available from: https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/In_search_of_belonging_an_analytical_framework/9481013

Askins, K. (2015) Being together: Everyday geographies and the quiet politics of belonging. ACME: an International E-Journal for Critical Geographies 14(2): 470-478. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282742905_Being_together_Everyday_geographies_and_the_quiet_politics_of_belonging

Baumeister, R.F. & Leary, M.R. (1995) Need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin 117(3): 497-529. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.49. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/15420847_The_Need_to_Belong_Desire_for_Interpersonal_Attachments_as_a_Fundamental_Human_Motivation

Carroll-Meehan, C. & Howells, K. (2018) What really matters to freshers? An evaluation of first year student experience of transition into university. Journal of Further and Higher Education 42(7): 893-907. DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2017.1323194

Caurruthers Thomas, K. (2016) Part-time spaces: rethinking ‘belonging’ in HE. Enduring Inequalities and New Agendas for Widening Participation in Higher Education: Student Access, Mobilities and ‘Success’, 27 July 2016, University of Leeds. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305688809_Part-time_spaces_rethinking_belonging_in_higher_education

Dicker, R., Garcia, M., Kelly, A. & Mulrooney, H. (2018) What does ‘quality’ in higher education mean? Perceptions of staff, students and employers. Studies in Higher Education 44(8): 1425-1441. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2018.1445987

Dicker, R., Garcia, M., Kelly, A., Modabber, P., O’Farrell, A., Pond, A., Pond, N. & Mulrooney, H.M. (2017) Student perceptions of quality in higher education: effect of year of study, gender and ethnicity. New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences 12(1). DOI: 10.29311/ndtps.v0i12.2332 Available from: https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/new-directions/article/view/2332/0

Dowling, R. & Mee, K. (2007) Home and home making. Housing, Theory and Society 24(3): 161-165. DOI: 10.1080/14036090701434276

Fenster, T. (2005) Gender and the city: the different formations of belonging. In: A Companion to Feminist Geography Eds L

Nelson, J Seager (Blackwell Malden MA).

Gale, T. & Parker, S. (2014) Navigating change: a typology of student transition in higher education. Studies in Higher Education 39(5): 734-753. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2012.721351. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262605977_Navigating_change_A_typology_of_student_transition_in_higher_education

Goldring, T., Harper, E., Jassal, R., Joseph, L., Kelly, A., Mulrooney, H., Piper, I. & Walker, H. (2018) Experience and expectations of transition to higher education: a qualitative exploration. New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences 13(1). DOI: 10.29311/ndtps.v0i13.2849. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328892858_Experience_and_expectations_of_transition_to_higher_education_a_qualitative_exploration

Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools 30: 70-90. DOI: 10.1002/1520-6807(199301)30:1<79::AID-PITS2310300113>3.0.CO;2-X

Jacobs, L., Conroy, D. & Parke, A. (2018) Negative experiences of Non-Drinking college students in Great Britain: an interpretive phenomenological analysis. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 16(3): 737-750. DOI: 10.1007/s11469-017-9848-6. Available from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-017-9848-6

Johnson, D.R. (2012) Campus racial climate perceptions and overall sense of belonging among racially diverse women in STEM majors. Journal of College Student Development 53(2): 336–346. Available from: http://muse.jhu.edu/article/469349

Krause, K-L. & Coates, H. (2008) Students’ engagement in first-year university. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 33(5): 493-505. DOI: 10.1080/02602930701698892. Available from: https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/26304/53553_1.pdf?sequence=1

Maunder, R.E., Cunliffe, M., Galvin, J., Mjali, S. & Rogers, J. (2013) Listening to student voices: student researchers exploring undergraduate experiences of university transition. Higher Education 66: 139-152. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-012-9595-3

Mee, K. (2009) A space to care, a space of care: public housing, belonging and care in inner Newcastle, Australia. Environment and Planning A 41: 843-858. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1068/a40197

Mee, K. & Wright, S. (2009) Geographies of belonging. Environment and Planning A 41: 772-779. DOI: 10.1068/a41364

Mountford-Zimdars, A., Sabri, D., Moore, J., Sanders, J., Jones, S. & Higham, L. (2015) Causes of difference in student outcomes. Report to HEFCE by Kings College London, ARC Network and the University of Manchester. HEFCE: London. Available from: https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/23653/1/HEFCE2015_diffout.pdf

Perry, C. & Allard, A. (2003) Making the connections: transition experiences for first-year education students. Journal of Educational Enquiry 4(2): 74-89. Available from: https://www.ojs.unisa.edu.au/index.php/EDEQ/article/view/525/395

Pokorny, H., Holley, D. & Kane, S. (2017) Commuting, transitions and belonging: the experiences of students living at home in their first year at university. Higher Education 74:543-558. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-016-0063-3.

Read, B., Burke, P.J. & Crozier, G. (2018) ‘It is like school sometimes’: friendship and sociality on university campuses and patterns of social inequality. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. DOI: 10.1080/01596306.2018.1457626

Read, B., Archer, L. & Leathwood, C. (2003) Challenging cultures? Student conceptions of ‘belonging’ and ‘isolation’ at a post-1992 university. Studies in Higher Education 28(3): 261-277. DOI: 10.1080/03075070310000113397

Rubin, M. (2012) Working-class students need more friends at university: a cautionary note for Australia’s higher education equity initiative. Higher Education Research and Development 31: 431-433. DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2012.689246. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224960791_Working-class_students_need_more_friends_at_university_A_cautionary_note_for_Australia's_higher_education_equity_initiative

Rubin, M. & Wright, C.L. (2015) Age differences explain social class differences in students’ friendship at university: implications for transition and retention. Higher Education 70: 427-439. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-014-9844-8. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269289955_Age_differences_explain_social_class_differences_in_students'_friendship_at_university_Implications_for_transition_and_retention

Schein, R.H. (2009) Belonging through land/scape. Environment and Planning A 41: 811-826. DOI:10.1068/a41125. Available from: https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v41y2009i4p811-826.html

Stuart, M. (2006) ‘My friends made all the difference’: Getting into and succeeding at university for first-generation entrants. Journal of Access Policy and Practice, 3(2), 162-184. Available from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/89923.pdf

Stuart, M., Lido, C. & Morgan, J. (2009) The Impact of Social Identity and Cultural Capital on Different Ethnic Student Groups at University. ESRC End of Award Report, RES-000-22-2485. Swindon: ESRC. Available from: http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/117410/1/117410.pdf

Tett, L., Cree, V.E. & Christie, H. (2017) From further to higher education: transition as an on-going process. Higher Education 73: 389-406. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-016-0101-1. Available from: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/30277178/Cree_etal_HE_2016_FromFurtherToHigherEducation.pdf

Thomas, K. (2015) Going the extra mile: spaces between rhetoric and experience (0148). SRHE Annual Conference 9-11 November 2015. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kate_Carruthers_Thomas/publication/303523014_Going_the_extra_mile_spaces_between_rhetoric_and_experience/links/5746b3a408ae9ace842441bb/Going-the-extra-mile-spaces-between-rhetoric-and-experience

Thomas, L. (2012a) What works? Student retention and success. Final report. London: Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Available from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/individuals/strategic-priorities/retention/what-works

Thomas, L. (2012b) Building Student engagement and Belonging in higher Education at a time of change. Final Report from the What Works? Student Retention and Success Programme. HEA: York. Available from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/what_works_final_report.pdf

Thomas, L. & Jones, R. (2017). Student engagement in the context of commuter students. London: TSEP. Available from: https://www.lizthomasassociates.co.uk/projects/2018/Commuter%20student%20engagement.pdf

Tinto, V. (1987) Leaving college: rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Trautwein, C. & Bosse, E. (2017) The first year in higher education – critical requirements from the student perspective. Higher Education 73: 371-387. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-016-0098-5.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtps.v0i14.3238

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

New Directions in the Teaching of Natural Sciences

eISSN: 2753-4138

University Home