Commuting, transitions and belonging: the experiences of students living at home in their first year at university

Abstract

In this study, our cross-case analysis of students' lives challenges the conventional home-university model of transition and highlights the importance of acknowledging the influence of this complex symbiotic relationship for students who attend university and live at home. We argue that as with stay-at-home holidays, or ''staycations'', which are of such crucial importance to the tourism industry, so stay-at-home students or commuter students are vital to higher education and the term utilised here is ''stayeducation''. Through the narratives of ''stayeducation'' students, we see how family and community aspects of students' lives are far more significant than previously realised, and our study suggests that these heavily influence the development of a student sense of belonging. Drawing upon biographical narrative method, this paper introduces three firstyear Business and Economics students enrolled at different universities in London and explores their journeys through their transition through home, school and early university life. Ways in which key themes play out in the transition stories of our students and the challenges and obstacles for the individual are drawn out through the cross-case analysis. Findings support the existing literature around gender, class and identity; however, new insights into the importance, for these students, of family, friendships and community are presented. Our work has implications for academic staff, those writing institutional policies, and argues for the creation of different spaces within which students can integrate into their new environment.

Student perceptions of belonging at university: a qualitative perspective.

“…Our qualitative data suggested that timing of social events around commutes, as well as start times of lectures and availability of suitable space on campus, were all important to students. This is in broad agreement with what others have found (Thomas & Jones, 2017), and is not unique to this institution; the difficulties for traditionally atypical students have been recognised in the literature (Read et al, 2018;Pokorny et al, 2017;Carruthers Thomas, 2016;Rubin & Wright, 2015;Read et al, 2003).…”

Being-in-motion: the everyday (gendered and classed) embodied mobilities for UK university students who commute

“…These adapting modes of HE participation are attributed to the changing student body; specifically, the increasing numbers of 'new students' (that is, women, minority ethnic and mature students, as well as first generation entrants) (Leathwood and O'Connell, 2003). There is now a large body of research which links students' gendered, classed, aged and ethnic identities with tendencies towards spatial fixity in the local (Bagguley and Hussain, 2014;Pokorny, Holley and Kane, 2016). However, there is far less discussion about the ways in which the everyday mobilities that sustain ostensibly 'local' participation are shaped by, and indeed shaping of, embodied practices and performances of gender, social class, ethnicity and age.…”

Developing relationality and student belonging: The need for building cosmopolitan engagement in undergraduate communities

“…Student belonging has become a defining term in higher education (Tinto, 1975, Pokorny et al, 2016 that is nuanced by the differing cultural backgrounds of students and the importance of relationships. This paper explores the context of the relational experience and the potential for the development of belonging for communities of culturally diverse commuter students in urban universities.…”

“…The work of Mountford-Zimdars et al (2015) identifies that developing a sense of belonging for students from different ethnic groups impacts on performance. The literature suggests that there are habits of coexistence in evidence in the higher education classroom, which present barriers to the development of relationships and the sense of student belonging (Pokorny et al, 2016). This research allowed for an exploration of the parameters encountered by individual students in higher education that 1 Commuter students are defined as those who are living in the family home and who commute to a city based university to attend lectures, see; http://www.independent.co.uk/student/studentlife/more-students-choosing-to-live-at-home-and-commute-to-save-costs-a7549981.htm involved potential contact with 'others' from different backgrounds and the development of an understanding of the barriers to learning.…”