‘It’s a bit of a clan really, you either feel part of [it] or you don’t’. Transitioning to university: perceptions of students and staff at a UK university

Transition to university is considered problematic for students and institutions. This has led to examination of the institutionally controlled elements of transition. Despite intervention, students, and universities in the United Kingdom (UK) still experience transition related issues. This, combined with the shifting landscape of UK higher education, presented an opportunity to explore transition through the lived experiences of students in a more embodied manner, beyond the academic setting. This research has explored the empirical nature of ‘transitioning’ as an emergent and dynamic experience, and considered if this theory is the best explanation. This mixed methods case study, explored the experiences of students at a specialist UK university. Twelve undergraduate students provided photo interview accounts of their experience. Interviews were also conducted with five members of university staff and 241 students contributed through a questionnaire. Despite an ecology system model indicating that students encountered similar transitional experiences, photo elicitation interviews and questionnaire results demonstrated students presented unique and individualised experiences. These findings demonstrated the non-homogenous nature of this student population. A key finding was how friendship and sense of community played an important role in university experience, which was concurrently identified as important by staff. Sense of Community theory highlighted the significant, and often polarised, impact of sociocultural and emotional experiences. This included themes of community and how students perceived themselves to either belong, or be alienated, from both the institutional community and social groups. A further significant finding was the role institutional social culture had in enabling or disabling sense of community, and how this influenced many facets of the students’ overall experience, including mental health. Emotionally, students regularly described university as a ‘rollercoaster’ often situated in the sociocultural setting. Cultural challenges were also evident when students entered the workplace, with female students negotiating barriers due to industrial stereotypes. Findings did not support the view that transition is a universal experience, or the narrative that institutions can effectively manage students’ transition through induction activities. Students provided evidence of continuous, overlapping transitions, demonstrating complex embodied movements. University experience was found to be a uniquely individual phenomenon involving multiple settings: academic, personal, sociocultural and emotional. Findings suggested any of these settings can, at any point, impact experience, acting to enable or disable engagement from the course or community. This research has found empirical evidence to support the theory of transitioning.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Ed.D

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wolverhampton

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Bentley, Jon

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Scott, Howard
• Hall, Val

• university
• transition
• transitioning
• experience
• emotion
• specialist

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence

• https://wlv.dspace7.openrepository.com/bitstreams/45bdacf1-bc70-4177-a708-df9a500dde31/download