Since the Wonkhe and Pearson research report on student belonging was published in 2022, it has remained a high-profile topic of conversation in higher education, both in the UK and internationally.
Ample research has connected students’ sense of belonging to successful outcomes, which has led more institutions to try and develop approaches to measure and better understand the concept.
Given the difficult financial times that most universities find themselves in, there is also an increasing pressure to evidence impact on any student success efforts. Simply being able to argue that initiatives or strategies are theoretically linked to improving students’ sense of belonging is likely not enough when budgets are increasingly tight.
There’s been some big progress in the sector around measuring student belonging via surveys through Professor Harriet Dunbar-Morris’s work on the Being, Belonging and Becoming survey.
Giving universities a way to benchmark their students’ perceptions of belonging through this validated survey provides a great opportunity to compare across different institutional contexts and measure student belonging at scale.
A nuanced understanding
However, there are also an increasing number of innovative qualitative approaches that universities are developing to ensure that they can capture the rich variety of experiences and perceptions around student belonging.
As part of a cross-institutional research group set up by Louise Banahene, Director of Educational Engagement and Student Success at the University of Leeds, a project was established to bring together case studies of innovative qualitative methods being used in universities to understand student belonging.
We have just completed this research project and compiled a report featuring four case studies of such innovative methods in UK universities. The project was led by Sophie Connor, a Graduate Intern at the University of Leeds during the academic year 2023-24. She interviewed researchers who used these innovative methods in order to compile an accessible report on their implementation, strengths and challenges.
The hope with this report is that each of the methods can be made more accessible, so that others – whether they be researchers, evaluation leads or student voice practitioners – can replicate these approaches to better understanding student belonging in their own contexts.
Rachael O’Connor at Leeds University has implemented reverse mentoring projects where students from under-represented backgrounds mentor university staff across various levels. This approach aims to shift the traditional power dynamic, giving staff insight into the experiences of Widening Participation students, whose voices are often overlooked in higher education.
Developed by Emma Heron and Helen Parkin, the listening rooms project involves two students engaging in an hour-long recorded discussion about specific themes in a casual setting.
This “friendship method” fosters open dialogue, allowing students to candidly share their experiences. The recorded sessions are later transcribed and discussed with key stakeholders, ultimately leading to actionable recommendations that enhance student policy and promote a greater sense of belonging.
David Gilani’s online diaries project invites first-year undergraduates from Middlesex and the University of Southampton to document their sense of belonging through regular diary entries. Students submitted written, video, or voice entries every three weeks across the academic year, providing rich data about their changes in belonging, whilst also providing participants with an opportunity for regular structured reflection.
Overseeing a research project involving 13 postgraduate taught students, Liz Thomas, Michelle May and Claudia Cojocaru at the University of York utilised various qualitative methods, such as mind maps, card sorting activities, and video discussions. These innovative techniques encouraged students, primarily international participants, to share their belonging journeys and connect with each other.
Making qualitative research more accessible
Utilising qualitative methods may be more daunting for those in universities who do not consider themselves to have a research background. However, integrating such approaches into institutional student voice methods can add a lot to balance to what are otherwise often very survey-intensive approaches.
The report takes a case study approach, so that the practical challenges in replicating such methods – such as recruiting and incentivising participants – is spelled out clearly. Reflections from each of the researchers are included on the strengths and more challenging aspects of using the methods.
Utilising such rich, qualitative methods provide a structured and often supportive way for students to reflect on their own sense of belonging at university, which may in itself contribute to positive development of belonging levels.
If nothing else, this is a clear argument for the benefits of considering how to maintain a variety of methods in our student voice approaches.
If you’re interested in learning more about innovative qualitative methods around student belonging – or want a chance to contribute learnings from your own experiences – then sign up to the cross-institutional belonging research group.
