“Peering through the window looking in”: postgraduate experiences of non-belonging and belonging in relation to mental health and wellbeing

Morris, Charlotte

doi:10.1108/sgpe-07-2020-0055

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Homeworking can create challenges for organizational belonging [24]. Both social identity [25,26] and sense of belonging [27] can impact on mental wellbeing indicating that these changes to academic working could affect mental wellbeing in staff.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case Study Investigating Mental Wellbeing of University Academics during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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COVID-19 has impacted Higher Education worldwide. While several studies have examined the effects of the pandemic on students, few have addressed its impact on academic staff. Here, we present both survey (n = 89) and interview (n = 12) data highlighting the pandemic-induced effects on academics from various disciplines and career stages. Data was collected between May and September 2020, aiming to capture and understand the immediate effects of the U.K. lockdown on the academics examining demographic and employment factors, digital abilities and confidence, and mental wellbeing. Analyses revealed that most academics were satisfied with the support they received from the university and colleagues, and they had adequate equipment and space at home to work. However, half incurred additional financial costs to maintain access to technology and many felt an altered relationship with the university. There were discrepancies in digital abilities and confidence according to employment status, age, faculty, and social identity as an academic. Teaching workload did not increase across the board, rather seniority predicted increases. Levels of wellbeing were low but were not significantly predicted by workload increase or abilities and confidence in working digitally as might have been expected. Stronger social identity as an academic may predict higher mental wellbeing with qualitative data suggesting teamwork and collegiate activities helped. Furthermore, interviewees identified several positive aspects to working remotely. These findings suggest universities should consider carefully how to support all staff to work digitally and consider flexible working post-pandemic.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case Study Investigating Mental Wellbeing of University Academics during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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“…This article extends existing literature on PhD students' emotion work (Collins & Brown, 2020;Johansson et al, 2014) and belonging (e.g., Mewburn, 2011;Morris, 2021), by offering a new dimension to understand how belonging and confidence is developed amongst PhD students. Specifically doctoral identity work and the development of doctoral capital can be seen as at least in part contingent upon PhD students' work, activities, and self-presentation being validated in different domains (e.g., doctoral communities, in supervision and by themselves).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Validation in Doctoral Education: Exploring PhD Students’ Perceptions of Belonging to Scaffold Doctoral Identity Work

Collins

2021

IJDS

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Aim/Purpose: The aim of this article is to make a case of the role of validation in doctoral education. The purpose is to detail findings from three studies which explore PhD students’ experiences and perceptions of belonging in one UK university-ty, in order to hypothesise how validation and self-validation could make a difference in doctoral education, and what practices might support this. Background: The article draws on research into doctoral identity and work on ‘doctoral capital’ to explore how PhD students’ perceptions and experiences of not belonging to doctoral communities negatively impacts on their wellbeing. It extends this research by incorporating theories from Education and Psychology to build a theory of validation in doctoral education. Methodology: The article reports on three studies on PhD journeys and communities undertaken at one UK university. It draws on interview data from thirty doctoral candidates, which was thematically analysed using NVivo 12. Taking a qualitative approach to provide a rich and holistic focus on participant ‘meaning making’, the studies explore how PhD students understand belonging, where they receive validation and feel they need validation, and where self-validation can make a difference to their positivity about the PhD. Taking this approach to understand processes of ‘meaning-making’ paves the way to scaffold solutions through ‘reframing’ processes such as coaching and mentoring. Contribution: Thinking about PhD students’ belonging through the dimension of validation allows for practical support for developing belonging to be scaffolded, specifically through creating spaces to draw coaching skills into supervisory training and PhD student support (e.g., peer mentoring). This is significant as scholarship has shown that coaching has positive effects on wellbeing. This article contributes to understanding of where and how validation and self-validation manifest in doctoral education for PhD students. This contribution identifies ways in which external validation can help to scaffold internal self-validation; thus, offering a way of potentially mitigating risk factors to PhD students’ wellbeing. Specifically, validation can be understood as a ‘reserve’ that can be drawn on for ‘self-validation’. Validation is a solutions-focused theory. As a conceptual apparatus to understand doctoral students’ perceptions, validation theory also provides a frame for scaffolding practical ways for PhD students to build doctoral identity. Findings: The article focuses on challenges to PhD students building communities, supervisory relations and self-validation. It finds that supervisory feedback is a key area where PhD students seek validation. Two arguments are offered. First, that validation is a crucial process in (positive) doctoral identity work. Second, the argument is offered that making spaces for coaching skills to support PhD students can increase opportunities for validation (e.g., via supervisory training) and self-validation (e.g., via peer mentoring). Recommendations for Practitioners: Those who support doctoral researchers can potentially support the development of validation skills and self-validation skills. Some recommendations are included around supporting supervisory training in feedback and listening skills, peer mentoring as a way to foster a transition between external validation and internal self-validation for PhD students, and a worksheet for students’ self-validation is included as an appendix. Recommendation for Researchers: This article extends existing literature on PhD students’ emotion work by offering a new dimension to understand how belonging is developed amongst PhD students. Thinking about belonging through the dimension of validation shifts work on belonging towards possibilities of practical support. Impact on Society: Whilst the term ‘validation’ has been used in undergraduate educational research, and in Psychology (in theory and in clinical contexts) drawing these terms together to create a theory to understand doctoral identity work in higher education has larger potential applications. ‘Validation’ could potentially prove useful within doctoral education context to understand and scaffold PhD students’ development as they navigate transitioning identity positions during candidature. Thus, although the studies are limited in scope to the UK context, the findings could be more widely applied to other higher education contexts. Future Research: Two areas for future research are identified. First, to understand whether and how different groups of doctoral candidates (e.g., such as international students, LGBTQ+ students, etc.) have different validation needs and priorities in their doctoral identity work. The second is to understand the possible impact of using coaching with PhDs in different contexts (e.g., through peer mentoring schemes, supervision, and self-validation).

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“…These findings for implications for universities, as we show how green spaces could be used to improve sense of belonging. As higher sense of belonging is linked to lower attrition rates (Meeuwisse et al , 2010; Morris, 2021), universities would benefit from a focus on the improvement of sense of belonging via green spaces on campus. As place attachment is associated with sense of belonging, lower students’ sense of belonging throughout the COVID-19 pandemic (Mulrooney and Kelly, 2020a) may be explained by lower campus place attachment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This matters because sense of belonging is related to student outcomes in the literature. For example, some scholars have identified how a sense of belonging is associated with increased risk of non-completion, feelings of dejection, lack of motivation and poorer well-being (Meeuwisse et al , 2010; Morris, 2021; Pittman and Richmond, 2007; Russell and Jarvis, 2019; Thomas, 2012), a finding confirmed by Ahn and Davis (2020a), who report a correlation between student retention, well-being and sense of belonging using factor analysis. Pedler et al (2022), in a survey of 578 students, report that sense of belonging is important for student enjoyment, motivation and, hence, attainment and continuation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Is the grass always greener? Access to campus green spaces can boost students’ sense of belonging

Thompson

Pownall

Harris

et al. 2023

IJSHE

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Purpose An important facet of student’s sense of belonging is students’ relationships with, and time spent in, the university campus. The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion that access to campus “green space”, including parks, fields and gardens, may bolster students’ sense of belonging, improve well-being feelings and promote place attachment. Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed students in different locations (including three green and one non-green campus spaces) across a large UK campus-based Northern institution. 146 students participated in the study in one of the four campus locations. The authors investigated how being in green spaces on campus may impact students’ sense of belonging, well-being and place attachment. The authors also qualitatively explored students’ perceptions of campus spaces through Ahn’s (2017) 10 Words Question measure. Findings Analyses demonstrate that students surveyed in green spaces reported significantly more positive sense of belonging, compared to students surveyed in non-green campus spaces. Campus location did not impact well-being, however. Students associated green spaces on campus with “calm”, “positive emotion” and “nature” words and non-green spaces with “busy”, “social” and “students”. Practical implications Taken together, the results of this paper suggest that access to green spaces can be important for campus sense of belonging. Thus, efforts should be made to ensure the sustainability of these important spaces across university campuses. Originality/value This study crucially examines how occupying green spaces on university campuses may impact students’ feelings of belongingness. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that uses field-based methods to understand students’ feelings whilst occupying green spaces.

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“Peering through the window looking in”: postgraduate experiences of non-belonging and belonging in relation to mental health and wellbeing

Cited by 21 publications

References 29 publications

A Case Study Investigating Mental Wellbeing of University Academics during the COVID-19 Pandemic

A Case Study Investigating Mental Wellbeing of University Academics during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Validation in Doctoral Education: Exploring PhD Students’ Perceptions of Belonging to Scaffold Doctoral Identity Work

Is the grass always greener? Access to campus green spaces can boost students’ sense of belonging

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