Presenters:
Julie Prior – University of Glamorgan
Karen Fitzgibbon – University of Glamorgan
Conference Theme: Students of the Future
The Changing Nature of Students’ Social Engagement with University
Context
Student retention literature emphasises the important part that social integration
plays in persistence. Whilst Tinto’s (1987, 1993) seminal work in this area has been
challenged and revised over time, the importance of academic and social integration
continues to be acknowledged in student retention literature. Crosling et al (2008
173) found that ‘Socially and academically engaged students are more likely to
remain in higher education and to be successful.’ In their study, Rhodes and Nevill
(2004) found that friendliness of other students was a significant factor in satisfaction
with university study. Robinson et al (2007 9) identified a major factor of student
support as ‘friends on the course’ and that friendship support was rated above
support received from family. The National Audit Office (2007 46) report into student
retention commented that whilst students withdraw for a range of reasons, one of
those is the ‘difficulty in fitting in socially’. In a study considering the influence of
personal networks and social support on attainment, Eggens, Werf and Baker (2007)
applied multinomial logistic regression analysis to identify a range of factors affecting
attainment. They found that ‘The extent to which students succeed in
integrating…and also the amount of social support received…possibly determines
part of their academic success or failure.’ (Eggens et al 2007 553)
As a result of several student experience projects at the case study university, it
became apparent that many students continue to attach significant importance to the
social side of their university experience. One project that provided data on students’
views was ‘Early Days’. This was an online learner support tool designed to
encourage students to self assess their orientation and transition into university.
Whilst it was interesting to note that students continued to attach importance to their
social experience, more intriguing was that the results of Early Days highlighted that
students were not attaining this social experience through traditionally expected
ways.
Methods
The Early Days learner support tool comprised a range of carefully designed
questions, which were informed by Yorke and Longden’s (2007) study. The
questions were grouped into the following sets: student profile, approach to studying
in higher education, living and socialising, awareness of campus facilities and early
university experience. Each question had a variety of responses and the option
selected determined which relevant automated feedback students received. Careful
attention was paid to ensure that the automated feedback was informative,
personally relevant and non-judgemental.
Early Days was designed using QuestionMark Perception (QMP), an online survey
tool which allows questions to be constructed in ‘blocks’. By carefully constructing
the question sets, it was possible to include questions that forced a jump to the next
bock, dependent on students’ answers. Therefore, if a student responded that they
did not work during term time, they would not be presented with the remaining
employment related questions. In addition, students could also chose not to answer
questions, so the number of respondents to each question varies and this is indicated
by the ‘number of responses’ in Tables 3 - 6.
Early Days was primarily aimed as first year students, but would be useful for directentry students and those participating in an Erasmus or international exchange
programmes. It was released in week six of the first term and in 2007-08 and made
available via the student portal and the virtual learning environment, BlackBoard; in
2008-09 it was emailed directly to first year students.
Findings and Discussion
To give context to the Early Days findings, the profile of the case study university is
provided below. The university is a post-92 university in the South Wales Valleys
(UK). It has a student population of 21,496 and a long tradition of widening access.
A general profile of the student respondents to Early Days (190 in 2007-8 and 150 in
2008-9) is provided in Table 1, alongside the totals for the University population as a
whole.
Table 1
Age
Under 21
21-24
25-29
30+
Not disclosed
University Total
33.4%
23.2%
12.7%
30.9%
Early Days Respondents
2007-8
2008-9
38.4%
43.3%
25.3%
23.3%
9%
10.7%
24.7%
18.7%
2.6%
4.0%
Gender
Male
Female
Not disclosed
University Total
49%
51%
Early Days Respondents
2007-8
2008-9
36.8%
48%
57.9%
44.7%
5.3%
7.3%
Domicile
UK
Other EC countries
Overseas (non-EC)
Not disclosed
University Total
84.8%
6.9%
8.3%
Early Days Respondents
2007-8
2008-9
85.2%
73.3%
3.2%
9.3%
7.9%
14%
3.7%
3.3%
Student participation in Early Days is given in Table 2, with the majority of
respondents being the target audience of first year students (78% in 2007-8 and 82%
in 2008-9). The high number of partial completions is explained to some extent by
the QMP function of jumping blocks of questions which are not relevant, and the
following findings include data from partial and full completions.
Table 2
Total accessing exercise
Partial completions
Total completions
2007-8
737
648
89
2008-9
398
324
74
The responses analysed for this paper were taken from four questions concerning
social integration.
Supplementary information was also used from students’
comments to three open questions concerning their best and worst experiences, and
one significant thing from their early experience that they would change. The first
question concerned how students felt they were settling into university and the
second, whether they felt part of the university community. The responses to both
questions are given in Tables 3 and 4.
Table 3
How do you feel you are settling into university life?
Number of responses
143
117
Response selected
2007-08
2008-09
Not at all
11.2%
11%
Pretty well – got some friends and settling in
63.6%
65.8%
Really well thanks!
24.5%
21.4%
Not answered
0.7%
1.7%
Table 4
Do you feel part of the university community?
Number of responses
118
Response selected
2007-8
Yes
60.2%
No
38%
Not answered
1.8%
93
2008-9
53.8%
43%
3.2%
It was surprising that only 11% of students (in both years of the study) felt they had
not settled into university life, yet the majority of students felt settled within the first
six weeks of term 1. This contrasts with the next question where a much higher
proportion of students, who despite being settled, did not feeling part of the university
community. The divergence in views may be explained by the high number of
students at the case study university who remain at home for the duration of their
studies, and are likely to feel more aligned to their already established local
communities. Thomas (2002) reports the role of institutional habitus, and the part
that social experience plays in students feeling a sense of belonging, noting that
students of some institutions show high institutional commitment even before they
have actually enrolled.
To understand students views and how they engage socially with the university,
students were asked the questions: ‘Are you a member of any clubs, societies or
formal social groups on campus?’ and ‘Do you enjoy the social side of higher
education?’.
Table 5
Are you a member of any clubs, societies or formal social groups on campus?
Number of responses
118
93
Response selected
2007-8
2008-9
Yes
13.6%
21.5%
No, but I’d like to find out more
39%
43%
No, I’m not interested in joining any
46.6%
34.4%
Not answered
0.9%
1.9%
It was interesting to find that despite students being settled into university and to
some extent feeling part of the community, so few of them (only 13.6% and 21.5%,
Table 5) had signed up to traditionally popular organised social activities.
Furthermore it wasn’t that students had not had time within the first few weeks of
term because 46.6% in 2007-08 and 34.4% in 2008-09 indicated they were not
actually interested in joining any clubs or societies. In addition, responses to the
question in Table 6 demonstrate that one third of students in 2007-8 and almost a
quarter of students in 2008-9 were not actually interested in the social side of higher
education.
An indication of changing student attitudes can be seen from a historical study
carried out by Roberts and Higgins (1992). This showed that 69% of first year
students were a member of a society, and when this was disaggregated by sector the
university figure was actually 87% (with 62% for polytechnic and 54% for college
students). One possible explanation provided by Roberts and Higgins was the high
number of students living on campus and finding their social networks through clubs
and societies. When this is contrasted with the Early Days findings, it suggests a
distinct change in the social experience of students’. Low participation in organised
social activities on campus may be explained by the high proportion of commuting
students who live at home within the local area and maintain already established
social networks. A contributing factor may also be that many of the Early Days
respondents indicated that they have to undertake paid employment in order to fund
their studies (67% in 2007-08 and 63.4% in 2008-09), which would significantly
curtail the time available for them to engage with social activities on campus.
Table 6
Do you enjoy the social side of higher education?
Number of responses
118
Response selected
2007-8
Yes I’m having a great time
47.5%
No, it’s not something I’m interested in
33.1%
No, I want to but I’m not sure where to start
17%
Not answered
2.5%
93
2008-9
51.6%
24.7%
20.4%
3.2%
The primary purpose of Early Days was not to survey students for institutional
information - although this was a useful by-product. Its purpose was to provide
students with the opportunity to self assess their own orientation and integration into
the university, with information, guidance and support provided via the automated
feedback. However, it was important to give students the opportunity to put their
feelings about their early experience into their own words – a methodology seen as
critical to retention success initiatives by Rhodes and Nevill (2004) – and this was
facilitated through the open response questions.
When students were asked about the best aspect of their social experience so far,
46% of the comments in 2007-08 and 41% in 2008-09 related to positive a social
integration. This was significant because these were open response questions and
students were not prompted in any way on how to answer. Examples of students’
comments were:
‘Living the student life out of my parents’ home’
‘Having my own space and meeting a variety of people from different
backgrounds’
‘Meeting new friends and talking with the lecturers, they’re quite human after
all’.
When asked about the worst aspect of their experience to date, there were far less
student comments relating to social integration (only 15% in 2007-08 and 21% in
2008-09). Examples however included:
‘Living with people who aren’t considerate to others’
‘Balancing studies with social life’
‘Moving away from home’.
The final open comment question asked students: ‘If you could make one significant
change to your experience what would it be?’. Very few of the responses related to
social integration with only 3% in 2007-8 and 10% 2008-09. However, the comments
that were made demonstrated that students’ were self-aware and using the Early
Days exercise to be reflective about their experience. Examples of changes
students’ would have made were:
‘Be more sociable and confident’
‘I’d like to move into halls rather than live at home’
‘Start again and make an effort to make more friends’.
Perhaps for the first time, the Early Days learner support tool has provided the
university with reliable data about the student social experience, rather than our
perception of that experience. This research has clearly shown that the majority of
students are having a positive social experience, and whilst they are not joining clubs
and societies, social interaction continues to be important to them. Poor social
experiences were rarely cited in ‘open’ questions, reinforcing the positive nature of
students’ experience at the university. Thus, the authors began to question how the
Early Days respondents were getting such a positive social experience if they were
not participating in traditional activities, such as joining clubs and societies.
A university-wide project concerning student expectations carried out in 2007-08
included a social networking poll, and showed that use of social networking features
heavily in students’ experiences. Students were asked to name the social
networking site they used most often and were also asked where they accessed such
sites. 63% of 1521 voters said they used social networking sites whilst on campus,
14% only use it off campus and 20% didn’t use it at all. Whilst it should not be a
surprise to find such high usage rates of social networking, the authors were
surprised at the distribution of access points. It may be possible that in the world of
the digital native, it is becoming preferable to socialise online rather than face to face.
If this is the case, there will be ongoing repercussions for institutions who are not
aware of, and therefore not addressing the social needs of their students.
Whilst these experiences are drawn from students at one university, they are clearly
not hugely different to the experience in other HEIs since the National Union of
Students (NUS) are making changes to their provision across the UK. It was
reported in 2008 that several university student union bars had closed their doors,
and that others were seeking alternative ways of attracting students - including health
clubs and juice bars (Kemp 2008). Other research found that the NUS made £1.2
million on alcoholic sales ten years ago, and that this has now fallen to £0.6 million.
Inclusivity and diversity, as well as a more health conscious student population, have
brought changes to alcohol-based activities. One university in the Midlands has
converted a disco into an alcohol free social working space where students can hire
laptops and work, drink coffee, and eat sandwiches and snacks. Combining café
culture with suitable working spaces seems to be popular and seen as less intense
that the traditional library environment. There is some evidence that fee paying
students expect more from their Student Union than cheap alcohol and rowdy
Saturday nights (Shepherd 2007).
Conclusion
By developing a learner support tool to encourage students to self-assess their
orientation into their studies, the authors have uncovered a significant change in the
social habits of students. It is clear that this is not confined to one institution and the
challenge for those involved in student retention and achievement will be to monitor
the impact of these changing habits on accepted retention theory. It is possible that
the changes in the way students are interacting socially may lead to a
reconsideration of the impact of social integration on student retention in the digital
age. This in turn may require those in academia to challenge previously accepted
theory. Alternatively, it may be that research recognises that the method by which
students achieve social integration is not important, but that it nevertheless remains
important that they are academically and socially integrated in order to persist with
their studies. A third possibility is that further research may confirm the method of
social interaction is critical and that the balance between online and face to face
social integration does impact on students’ likely success; perhaps there will be a
statistically modeled tipping point in such a blend of socialisation.
In relation to students of the future this early research certainly doesn’t provide all the
answers but it is clear that the literature can not be relied upon in isolation. What is
crucial, is for institutions to have a more comprehensive understanding of their
students’ changing experience and needs, so that these can be better met – or
managed – in the future. Perhaps the remaining challenge is to consider the future
role of universities in providing students with a positive social experience and
whether, in the digital age, such a responsibility falls solely on the university in the
way that it did in the past. The OECD (2002 77) publication ‘Responding to Student
Expectations’ noted:
‘It would be unsurprising if university life appeared to a present day first year
student as more impersonal, less embracing and required less commitment
than it did for students of the past.’
In the seven years that have elapsed since the OECD publication have the digital
natives begun to show universities that they can be detached from the university
community and yet remain firmly socialised and successful in their studies? If this is
the case, the impact on the traditional university community of scholars may be
profound.
References
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