TY - JOUR

T1 - Four domains of students’ sense of belonging to university

AU - Ahn, Mi Young

AU - Davis, Howard

N1 - Student’s Sense of Belonging to Bangor University in 2014 was financially supported by Bangor University’s Widening Access Fund (2013–2014).

PY - 2020/3/3

Y1 - 2020/3/3

N2 - Students’ sense of belonging is known to be strongly associated with academic achievement and a successful life at university. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of belonging, this study collected data via the 10 Words Question. Responses from 426 participants were analysed using a sequence of analytic methods including In Vivo coding, systematic coding, clustering, and contingency analysis. The results show that, in addition to academic and social engagement, there are two additional domains of belonging which are often neglected: surroundings and personal space. Surroundings equate to participants’ living space, and geographical and cultural location, while personal spaces refer to life satisfaction, life attitudes, identity and personal interests. Both positive and negative data demonstrate the complex and multi-dimensional character of belonging in higher education. The study concludes that policies for student engagement in higher education should reflect all four domains to support the full range of students’ experiences.

AB - Students’ sense of belonging is known to be strongly associated with academic achievement and a successful life at university. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of belonging, this study collected data via the 10 Words Question. Responses from 426 participants were analysed using a sequence of analytic methods including In Vivo coding, systematic coding, clustering, and contingency analysis. The results show that, in addition to academic and social engagement, there are two additional domains of belonging which are often neglected: surroundings and personal space. Surroundings equate to participants’ living space, and geographical and cultural location, while personal spaces refer to life satisfaction, life attitudes, identity and personal interests. Both positive and negative data demonstrate the complex and multi-dimensional character of belonging in higher education. The study concludes that policies for student engagement in higher education should reflect all four domains to support the full range of students’ experiences.

KW - Sense of belonging

KW - Higher Education

KW - Engagement

KW - 10 words question

KW - Education Policy

U2 - 10.1080/03075079.2018.1564902

DO - 10.1080/03075079.2018.1564902

M3 - Article

VL - 45

SP - 622

EP - 634

JO - Studies in Higher Education

JF - Studies in Higher Education

SN - 0307-5079

IS - 3

ER -