Transcript Retention Convention workshop 5x

What makes students feel they
belong at University?
University of Leicester Student Retention
and Success Project
Craig Bartle
Kine Dorum
Martin Pennington
www.le.ac.uk
Workshop plan
1. Background
2. What does ‘belonging’ mean?
3. Overview of research data so far
4. Discussion in context of own
institutions
5. Finish
Background to the project at Leicester
• Leicester has a high retention rate, a high
widening participation rate, and consistently
high scores in the NSS
• Students feel ‘a belonging to the institution
and/or department’ and place importance on
‘the intimacy of the institution and its staff’
• The project aims to identify what lies behind
these statements, and to explore and evaluate
the practices that might foster these responses
Methodology used
• Questionnaire survey of 1st Year students in two
contrasting colleges:
o Medicine, Biological Sciences and
Psychology
o Arts, Humanities and Law
• In-depth follow-up interviews with students
from both colleges
• Examining data from a Student Experience
Project based on students’ own video diaries
What is ‘belonging’?
• That which is connected with a principal or
greater thing; an appendage; an appurtenance
(Websters, 1913)
• Acceptance as a natural member or part
(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language, 2009)
• Happiness felt in a secure relationship (‘…with
his classmates he felt a sense of belonging…’)
(Wordnet, Princeton, 2010)
What do you think?
• Think of three words that you would associate
with belonging in the context of students and
higher education
• Discuss these with your neighbour
• Between you, agree on two words to share with
the rest of the group
Some important concepts
• Persistence
Student-initiated decisions to stay (background;
interaction within institution; environment; attitudes;
intentions)
• Retention
Reporting or tracking indicator from institutional
perspective (student interaction with institution’s
organisational, academic and social systems)
• Engagement
Time and effort students put into study and other activities
(educational, philosophical and pedagogical perspectives)
Quantitative analyses
• 1st year survey (N = 370)
• Four parts
i) Importance of various factors
ii) Attitudes
iii) Satisfaction with choice
iv) Sense of belonging
• Demographic data and social/academic
background
‘Sense of Belonging’?
• Starting point
- What does it mean as a construct?
- Pragmatic approach/definition
- Based on previous scales (e.g. Hagerty &
Patusky, 1995)
• Scale from 0 – 7
Emerging findings
• Three main groups of factors rated as important:
1. Social factors (e.g. friends, family)
2. Academic factors (e.g. department, staff)
3. External factors (e.g. facilities, events)
• Complex pattern of relationships and interactions
between the different factors
- direct effects
- directional relationships (prediction)
Layered model
• Importance factors
(social, academic, external)
• Satisfaction
Attitudes
(social, academic)
• Sense of belonging
Predictions about sense of belonging can be made based on students’
attitudes to social and academic aspects, and also what they view as the
most important aspects of university life
‘Feeding’ into the model
External variables
• Background
(social, academic, cultural)
• Demographic details
(age group, sex, disability)
• Academic
(college, department, mode of study)
• Social/peer groups
(friends from home/university, clubs, online
friends, housemates)
• Other personal details
(finances, dependants, working hours/patterns,
living arrangements)
Persistence
Success
Example: effects and predictions
High: emphasises social aspects
Low: emphasises external aspects
Socio-economic status
Lives on campus
Lives off campus
Starting point:
White 1st year student
Sense of belonging
Attitudes to social and
academic aspects
Satisfaction with choice
of course/university
“I’d looked round a few medical schools and when I
came to Leicester it had what I can only refer to as a
real family feel... Everybody I spoke to was very open
and saying how great the University was. Lots of people
were talking about the great social life and at the same
time I could see that in the league table listings it was
relatively high. It was a combination of all those things
that made Leicester my first choice”
(First year student interviewee)
What factors, people or influences have enabled you to feel settled
(or otherwise) at the University of Leicester? (n=633)
50%
46%
Percentage of Responses
45%
40%
35%
28%
30%
25%
20%
Series1
15%
12%
12%
10%
5%
2%
0%
Social Aspects
Academic & Accommodation External Support Support from
Course Related
University
Influential Areas
Social Aspects
• Making Friends
‘Having a good circle of friends is absolutely crucial to settling in at the
University. In a strange environment away from home it helps you to feel
less isolated and makes the transition away from home so much easier’
(Questionnaire Respondent)
• Socialising
‘Socialising was the key because it helped me make friends and feel more
comfortable in Leicester’
(Questionnaire Respondent)
• Taking part in activities, events, clubs and societies
‘I had a lot of trouble fitting in during the first term going between social
groups. There was nobody here I actually liked or got on with. I found a kind
of reject society that was kind of like me which made all the difference’
(Discussion with Video Diary Participant, Biological Sciences)
Academic and course-related
• Staff and tutors
‘Some of the academic staff are fantastic. One lecturer said if you have any
problems email me or if you want group tuition or even one to one tuition I’m
happy to come in and organise a session... That level of commitment is
fantastic’
(First year student interviewee)
• Course structure and content
‘The amount of structure on my course is very good. The learning resources are
very good. One of my lecturers even records his lectures and podcasts them.
When it comes to revision there are loads of resources to pull on’
(First year student interviewee)
• Induction processes
‘The first few introductory lectures really helped me to settle into what was
going on. Fresher’s week was more the social side of things, dividing people
into clubs they’re going to enjoy’
(First year student interviewee)
Please list up to 3 things you like and 3 things you don't like about
the University of Leicester (n=1439)
Like
Percentage of Responses
30%
Dislike
28%
25%
20%
15%
17%
13%
8%
10%
8%
5%
5%
1%
3%
6%
2%
0%
Academic &
Course Related
Environment
Social Aspects
Accommodation
0%
Support from
University
Areas referred to by comments
2%
Facilities (Non
academic)
2%
0%
University's /
Department's
Reputation
What students like and dislike about academic and course
related issues (n=580)
Like
Dislike
Percentage of responses
30%
24%
25%
20%
24%
25%
19%
15%
10%
5%
4%
3%
0%
Staff and Tutors
Course structure and content
Resources
There are multiple factors influencing students’ satisfaction with
university life which in turn influence their self-reported sense of
belonging
‘I like having a separation between home and campus so I can go home to relax. I
like the fact that the campus is quite small so it’s easy to get around
wherever you need to be and I like the big green bit by the Fielding Johnson
building’
‘If I’m having any problems I can email the lecturers and they will get back to
me the same day which is really helpful and if they can’t help they will
forward the email on to someone who can’
‘The big information book you are sent about the University before starting
details every aspect you need to know about coming’
‘I doubt my work group would have come together if we hadn’t been put
together as we are very different characters so there’s a weird dynamic there
but the forced environment works and that’s really nice’
So what?
• A more complex relationship between
contributory factors and ‘belonging’ than might
be assumed
• Not all interventions will work with all students
- different strokes for different folks
• Which interventions have the greatest impact?
• Which are still worth doing for other reasons
e.g. equality?
What works in your institution?
In groups of about four, discuss:
1. What might be the implications of this
research for your own institution?
2. What does your institution already do to
encourage a sense of belonging in its students?
3. Be prepared to share one or two of the ideas
from 2. with the whole group.
More information about the project
• Project website:
http://www.le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/projects/stud
ent-retention-project
• Project blog:
http://studentretention.wordpress.com
Thank you