What is it about?
Not all students feel that they belong at university - yet developing a sense of "belonging" is regarded as being very important to student success. Students may feel "non-traditional" in their university contexts for reasons relating to their gender, ethnicity, dis/ability status, age, socio-economic background or many other reasons. These students negotiate their identities and claims of studenthood as they navigate the contested landscape of higher education, developing practices which, with repetition, begin to construct a sense of belonging.
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Photo by Paolo Nicolello on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Widening access / widening participation / transformation initiatives have opened up universities to a greater diversity of students. However, the Higher Education system, and most universities, still imagine "the student" as a full-time, native-born, young person transitioning directly from school, from a middle-class background, without disabilities and without caring responsibilities or a job, and structure their provision accordingly. Understanding how "non-traditional" students experience university, and how they construct their sense of "belonging" and "student identity" matters if they are to have a fair chance of success.
Perspectives
The role of space / place and movement in constructing identity and belonging for young people, in particular students, is an exciting area emerging in the intersections of student geographies, higher education studies, studies of student engagement and the student experience and the sociology of higher education.
Dr Vicki Trowler
University of Huddersfield
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Transit and Transition: Student Identity and the Contested Landscape of Higher Education, January 2019, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-96113-2_6.
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