tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/student-life-21986/articlesStudent life – The Conversation2023-06-30T23:08:24Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085512023-06-30T23:08:24Z2023-06-30T23:08:24ZNow that President Biden’s student loan cancellation program has been canceled, here’s what’s next<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535057/original/file-20230630-17-t6th2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=58%2C91%2C5501%2C3609&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Supreme Court rejected President Joe Biden’s plan to eliminate $430 billion in student loan debt</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-of-student-debt-forgiveness-demonstrate-outside-news-photo/1364662050?adppopup=true">Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Supreme Court has struck down the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan. In <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2022/22-506">Biden v. Nebraska</a>, the court ruled 6-3 on June 30, 2023, that the secretary of education <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf">does not have the authority</a> to forgive US$430 billion of student loans under the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/02/28/student-debt-forgiveness-at-supreme-court-tuesday-heres-what-you-need-to-know/">Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act</a>. </p>
<p>That kills the president’s proposed plan to forgive <a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-student-loans-gay-rights-elections-a3007709350cd1606d5ce9ac4de957a6">up to $10,000</a> in student loans per borrower for those with incomes under $125,000 per year, or $250,000 per year for couples. Under the president’s plan, those who <a href="https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement">received Pell Grants</a> would have been eligible to cancel up to an additional $10,000 in student loans.</p>
<p>Just hours after the decision, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/06/30/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-new-actions-to-provide-debt-relief-and-support-for-student-loan-borrowers/">President Biden announced a new effort</a> to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/us/politics/higher-education-act-student-loans-biden.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=US%20Politics">forgive student loans under the Higher Education Act of 1965</a>.</p>
<p>To give borrowers time to “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/06/30/us/student-loans-supreme-court-biden/63644601-96e5-50cb-85d5-ef0a657c09d3?smid=url-share">get back up and running,</a>” Biden stated that the Education Department won’t refer borrowers who don’t pay their student loan bills to credit agencies for 12 months.</p>
<h2>Secretary lacks authority</h2>
<p>In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts – joined by his five other conservative colleagues – stated “The HEROES Act allows the Secretary to ‘waive or modify’ existing … financial assistance programs under the Education Act, but <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2022/22-506">does not allow the Secretary to rewrite that statute</a> to the extent of canceling $430 billion of student loan principal.” </p>
<p>Currently, <a href="https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/fsawg/datacenter/library/PortfolioSummary.xls">over 43 million Americans owe $1.64 trillion</a> in federal student loans, with an <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/student-loan-payments-resume-impact-on-credit">average balance of $46,000</a>. Student loan borrowers haven’t had to make payments on their federal loans – or accrue interest on those loans – <a href="https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/covid-19/payment-pause-zero-interest">since March 2020</a>, when the Trump administration put the payments on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
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<img alt="Supporters of student debt forgiveness demonstrate outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535060/original/file-20230630-29-e4vl0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535060/original/file-20230630-29-e4vl0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535060/original/file-20230630-29-e4vl0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535060/original/file-20230630-29-e4vl0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535060/original/file-20230630-29-e4vl0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535060/original/file-20230630-29-e4vl0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535060/original/file-20230630-29-e4vl0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Roughly 1 in 8 Americans will have to restart loan payments as soon as September 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/activists-and-students-protest-in-front-of-the-supreme-news-photo/1247556593?adppopup=true">Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>But that will change on <a href="https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/covid-19">Sept. 1, 2023</a>, when interest will once again begin to accrue on outstanding student loans. Payments on the actual loans is set to resume in October 2023.</p>
<p>When payments resume, the average student loan payment is expected to be between <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-could-be-left-behind-in-the-supreme-courts-student-loan-ruling-in-six-charts-d5d3d637">$200</a> and <a href="https://educationdata.org/average-student-loan-payment">$500 per month</a>. For those that resume making their federal student loan payments on time, this may lead to an <a href="https://www.vantagescore.com/major-credit-score-news-new-federal-debt-ceiling-law-ending-student-loan-forbearance-to-impact-credit-scores/">increase in their credit score</a>, while those that miss the first payment after payments resume can expect their credit score to fall.</p>
<p>Prior to the student loan pause, approximately <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/fresh-start-what-student-loan-borrowers-in-default-need-to-know">7.5 million borrowers</a> – out of 43 million – were in default on their federal student loans.</p>
<p>These borrowers can apply for the <a href="https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/default-fresh-start">Fresh Start program</a>. For borrowers who are behind on their federal student loan payments, this program allows student loan borrowers to reset their loan so they won’t be considered past due anymore. </p>
<p>In addition, any negative entries on their credit report due to being behind on their student loans will be removed. About 80% of Fresh Start borrowers enroll in an <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/income-driven">income-driven repayment plan</a>. Such a plan calculates a borrower’s monthly federal student loan payment <a href="https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/default-fresh-start#questions">based on the borrower’s income, spouse’s income and family size</a>. Monthly payments under this plan will not exceed 20% of the borrower’s income. Those with <a href="https://www.debt.org/students/income-based-repayment-loans/">larger families and lower incomes</a> have lower monthly payments. Currently, about half of the Fresh Start borrowers pay $0 a month.</p>
<p>It is estimated that student loan borrowers pay about <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmoore/2023/06/29/resuming-student-loan-payments-may-slow-economic-growth/">$70 billion a year</a> on their federal student loans. Any economic benefit that borrowers may have gotten from the suspension of student loan payments is likely to have already been <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-benefits-from-a-break-on-federal-student-loan-payments-an-economist-answers-3-questions-174228">absorbed into the economy over the past three years</a>. In other words, any money borrowers had to spend as a result of the student loan pause has already been spent. </p>
<p>With the resumption of student loan payments, there will likely be a small but <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmoore/2023/06/29/resuming-student-loan-payments-may-slow-economic-growth/">negative impact on the economy</a>. This reduction in spending on goods and services is estimated to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmoore/2023/06/29/resuming-student-loan-payments-may-slow-economic-growth/">reduce economic growth by about 0.4%</a></p>
<p>When student loan borrowers begin to repay their loans in October, those dollars will no longer be available to pay for other things like food, rent, clothing or gas. So it won’t only hurt the economy, but it will hurt people, too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208551/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Chittenden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Supreme Court rejected President Joe Biden’s student loan program that aimed at delivering up to $20,000 of relief per borrower.William Chittenden, Associate Professor of Finance, Texas State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1731402022-01-05T19:09:44Z2022-01-05T19:09:44ZRecess is a time of conflict for children. Here are 6 school design tips to keep the peace<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21594937.2019.1643979">Conflict is one of the main barriers</a> to children’s play during school recess. Research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896917700681">has found</a> students experience an average of one conflict at recess every three minutes. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101727">My own research</a> shows how well-designed school grounds can reduce conflict and help vulnerable students take part in recess play activities.</p>
<p>Clashes happen most often <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4337404/">when children organise play themselves</a>. Causes include difficulties sharing resources and disputes over who’s taking control of them, including <a href="https://journals.nipissingu.ca/index.php/cjar/article/view/82">play space</a>.
School staff <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/student-wellbeing/attendance-behaviour-and-engagement/peer-mediation/primary-whole-package.pdf.pdf">can manage conflicts</a>. However, this tends to limit children’s self-directed <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00593">executive functioning</a>, through which they regulate thoughts and behaviours to support goal-directed actions. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/let-them-play-kids-need-freedom-from-play-restrictions-to-develop-117586">Let them play! Kids need freedom from play restrictions to develop</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKQVOS-0Q1g">My study</a> explored children’s views on the activities that usually triggered conflict and the ways in which school grounds could be designed to avoid it. The study was carried out at three public primary schools in Sydney, Australia. It offers the following six design recommendations that draw upon children’s perspectives.</p>
<h2>1. Offer more than one grassed area</h2>
<p>Children recognise grassed areas as major areas of conflict. The school rule of “No Running Fast on Concrete” generally restricts running games to these grassed areas, but these activities can easily clash when all in the same area.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-our-school-playgrounds-being-wrapped-in-cotton-wool-43541">Are our school playgrounds being wrapped in cotton wool?</a>
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<p>Instead of having a single grassed area, children prefer to “play more separate games”. This means they need separate grassed areas for playing soccer, gymnastics or bullrush – a game in which children must race across a field without getting tagged by those who are “in”. </p>
<p>Children in a focus group voiced their dissatisfaction with the lack of alternative grassed areas. As students said:</p>
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<p>When you’re back to score a goal, someone just runs in the way and kicks it […] </p>
<p>There’s three goalkeepers in the goals […] </p>
<p>You can’t even see your ball and it makes everyone stop.</p>
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<p>When multiple grassed areas are not available, older children, particularly boys, often <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-14-639">dominate the main play space</a>. As a result, more sensitive children – usually younger girls – feel excluded from these settings. They retreat to the edges or corners to avoid those who play “rough”.</p>
<h2>2. Separate zones for different types of activities</h2>
<p>Although this seems an obvious design recommendation, separate zones are not always available, particularly in schools with limited space. As a result, a zone is used for both fine and gross motor activities. Children running around fast or playing with balls are then seen as “disruptive” to those sitting or playing with cards, and vice versa.</p>
<p>The space is no longer felt as a “very relaxing place”. Children who seek “peace” and “quiet” have to withdraw. </p>
<h2>3. Offer more natural settings</h2>
<p>My <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866721001886">research</a> indicates that children of diverse personal characteristics – including gender, age and ability – use natural settings without conflict, although their play activities in these settings vary. They hide behind tree trunks, use them as “base” in running games, practise balancing on their massive roots, build imaginary houses under their canopies and use their malleable resources in their creative play. These activities don’t usually come into conflict. </p>
<p>As indicated by children, their preferred natural settings in Australian schools include trees such as bottlebrushes, Moreton bay figs and paperbarks, and bushes with no “spiky” leaves. Increasing these natural environments can encourage more peaceful school ground activities, with benefits for children’s social functioning.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/children-learn-science-in-nature-play-long-before-they-get-to-school-classrooms-and-labs-166106">Children learn science in nature play long before they get to school classrooms and labs</a>
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<h2>4. Use physical barriers to separate activities</h2>
<p>To reduce disruption, barriers can be subtly incorporated into the design of school grounds. These might be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016920461930297X?via%3Dihub">a row of trees, furniture, raised edges or retaining walls</a>. Barriers can be also imposed, such as fences or netting around playing fields. </p>
<p>Children identify ball games as the most invasive activity that justifies barriers. Children can be easily struck by balls flying out of playing fields, but physical barriers can stop this sort of interference with other activities.</p>
<h2>5. Allow buffer space to create clear pathways</h2>
<p>If a school playground is densely populated and/or play areas are in close proximity, children inevitably pass through the playing fields and that can cause conflict: </p>
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<p>I found it annoying when the year 6s run through our handball court […] When we’re playing with the ball, they run through it and they take the ball and hit it and it sometimes becomes really hard to find it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Providing an adequate buffer area allows children to pass around games and avoid situations like this.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/physical-distancing-at-school-is-a-challenge-here-are-5-ways-to-keep-our-children-safer-168072">Physical distancing at school is a challenge. Here are 5 ways to keep our children safer</a>
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<h2>6. Ensure all students have a place to play</h2>
<p>Enough play areas and opportunities are needed to keep all children engaged during recess. Otherwise, as <a href="https://journals.nipissingu.ca/index.php/cjar/article/view/82">observations</a> show, children can loiter and annoy others to avoid getting “bored”. </p>
<p>If school grounds lack suitable settings, children may also create informal play spaces in areas disruptive to other play activities. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.22.1.0227#metadata_info_tab_contents">Unorganised play settings</a> can worsen conflict and bullying.</p>
<p>Contrary to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14733280903024423">common beliefs</a>, children who retreat to the edges of school grounds are not necessarily “unable” or “unwilling” to take part in play; they are often trying to avoid conflict in the main play zones. By minimising the chance of conflict during recess, school design can support children in building <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21594937.2014.932504">positive, reciprocal social relationships</a> through play.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173140/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fatemeh Aminpour does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Conflicts at recess, averaging one every three minutes, greatly disrupt children’s play activities. However, a well-designed school layout can reduce the problem.Fatemeh Aminpour, Associate Lecturer, School of Built Environment, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1562772021-06-07T18:13:17Z2021-06-07T18:13:17ZA university course on pandemics: What we learned when 80 experts, 300 alumni and 600 students showed up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404305/original/file-20210603-23-12w6omk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C127%2C4752%2C2410&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Would anyone want to spend more screen time talking about pandemics? Yes, learned an anthropologist, biologist and historian who developed a course on the topic. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When we decided last summer to create an undergraduate course about pandemics, we faced skepticism. Weren’t students and instructors tired of the COVID-19 pandemic? And would looking at pandemics from the perspective of numerous disciplines make it hard to address the topic with depth, or would we achieve a sense of cohesion? </p>
<p>As an anthropologist, a biologist and a historian, we know that infectious diseases are about a lot more than biology and medicine. Historically, epidemics and pandemics have shaped the world around us, from <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-masks-from-the-17th-century-plague-to-the-ongoing-coronavirus-pandemic-142959">mask-wearing habits during plague times</a> to the impact of <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-lessons-from-when-the-1937-polio-epidemic-delayed-school-reopenings-143066">polio on the Toronto school system of the 1950s</a>. </p>
<p>And, just like COVID-19 has affected people differently depending on where they live and work or what social supports they have, so have epidemics of the past. The tragedy of our <a href="https://thelocal.to/a-long-term-tragedy/">long-term care system isn’t new</a> and understanding how infectious diseases might <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12092">emerge and spread</a> — <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-ontarios-covid-19-failure-stems-from-politicians-inability-to/">and therefore how to contain them</a> — is a complex matter involving everything from the science of contagion and human behaviour to social systems and the social determinants of health.</p>
<p>At the University of Guelph, we created “Pandemics: Culture, Science and Society.” This multidisciplinary course was offered in a virtual format and open to students as an elective in all programs and to alumni as a complete series of twelve weekly panels per semester. </p>
<p>We initially intended for this to be offered in fall 2020 only, but we quickly realized the value of our approach. We decided to run the course again in winter 2021, with a focus on COVID-19 research and creative projects that emerged at our university, from the sciences and the social sciences to business and the arts. Over two semesters, we engaged with 80 experts and researchers, as well as 600 undergraduates and 300 alumni. </p>
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<img alt="Close up of virus; woman in a brown dress wearing a mask and holding rolls of toilet paper and a bottle of sanitizer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390499/original/file-20210318-17-1q7j85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390499/original/file-20210318-17-1q7j85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390499/original/file-20210318-17-1q7j85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390499/original/file-20210318-17-1q7j85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390499/original/file-20210318-17-1q7j85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390499/original/file-20210318-17-1q7j85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390499/original/file-20210318-17-1q7j85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Promotional poster for the course on pandemics convened by a biologist, historian and anthropologist.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-brown-dress-holding-white-plastic-bottle-painting-4113084/">COVID Mona Lisa by Yaroslav Danylchenko</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
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<h2>From disease modelling to pandemics in art</h2>
<p>Themes for weekly panels included knowledge and misinformation; pandemics in history and the arts; animals, environments and pandemics; and community, agency and resilience. Students and alumni learned about disease modelling, the impacts of COVID-19 on our food systems, pandemics in the ancient world and the biology of infectious diseases. Each week, panellists — faculty, post-doctoral fellows and other experts — gave short presentations, followed by moderated discussion. </p>
<p>We convened expert panels from departments of population medicine, integrative biology, geography and computer science to economics, sociology and anthropology, fine arts and music, history and others, engaging multiple disciplines at a time. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-live-in-a-pandemic-is-the-type-of-university-class-we-need-during-covid-19-138254">'How to live in a pandemic' is the type of university class we need during COVID-19</a>
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<p>Panellists helped students and alumni sift through and make sense of the COVID-19 “<a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/23-09-2020-managing-the-covid-19-infodemic-promoting-healthy-behaviours-and-mitigating-the-harm-from-misinformation-and-disinformation">infodemic</a>.” Public health and media experts, mathematicians, biologists, psychologists and philosophers were able to answer questions on the usefulness of masks, suggest ways for students to navigate stressful disagreements with roommates or relatives about COVID-19, and help the class understand how testing models and vaccines were developed. Every week added another layer to class discussions.</p>
<h2>Personal and virtual connections</h2>
<p>As course organizers, we were learners too. Through class discussions, we learned how COVID-19 was affecting all of us — students, alumni and panellists — as many shared some of their experiences. The course demonstrated the ways in which academic knowledge and personal experience can relate and interact with each other. </p>
<p>We know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2013.842565">people experience and explain epidemics</a> and pandemics in ways that are shaped by existing economic, political, technological and social circumstances and tensions. As anthropologist Lisa J. Hardy explains, to “understand social and political responses to the global pandemic, it is essential <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2020.1814773">that we continue to investigate xenophobia, inequality and racism alongside the biological impact</a>” because the effects of pandemics are unequal and shaped by societal divisions. This became one of the main themes of the course. </p>
<p>The course allowed us to explore our shared and individual experiences in living through COVID-19. Participants heard how different the experience of the pandemic has been based on factors such as sex and gender, socio-economic status, race and ethnicity, geographic location (for instance, rural versus urban), political circumstance, mental and physical health status and many other factors. </p>
<p>We learned about the resilience of the Canadian <a href="https://arrellfoodinstitute.ca/food-systems-in-a-time-of-disruption/">food system</a> from farm to plate, as well as the ongoing challenges such as the reliance on migrant workers and bottlenecks in distribution. We gained insights into the experiences of
<a href="https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/how-grocery-store-workers-are-being-overlooked-during-the-pandemic-u-of-g-research-3552945">grocery store workers</a>, <a href="https://liveworkwell.ca/disability-inclusion-analysis-lessons-learned-and-best-practices-government-canada%E2%80%99s-response-covid">persons with disabilities</a>, <a href="https://news.uoguelph.ca/2020/12/dogs-separated-from-owners-show-stress-during-vet-visits-u-of-g-research-finds/">pets and their people</a> and <a href="http://www.sonictapestry.ca/watch.html">musicians</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8OLphZJLPN8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Guelph musicians responds to COVID-19.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We benefited from expert discussions about the emergence and evolution of viruses, vaccine development and deployment, <a href="https://theconversation.com/sewage-surveillance-how-scientists-track-and-identify-diseases-like-covid-19-before-they-spread-148307">wastewater testing</a> and many other technical topics. And, we witnessed the incredible <a href="https://www.uoguelph.ca/arts/covidcreators">creativity</a> on display during a global crisis from colleagues across campus.</p>
<h2>Course and a community</h2>
<p>We also saw the potential benefits of virtual classrooms. The course and its weekly panels in a virtual format offered a model for linking students, alumni from all over Canada and the world, and researchers in an intellectual and supportive community. We believe the meaningful connections that were created would have been harder to develop in a large auditorium.</p>
<p>Even as the pandemic kept us apart physically, the course created a deeply engaging virtual community; some students and alumni told us the panels became a weekly high point for them, and alumni attendance and participation made it clear how much alumni value opportunities for lifelong learning that emerge from ongoing university engagement. </p>
<p>If the course felt for some like a community, it was in part because we were engaged in understanding the multifaceted dimensions and impacts of phenomena we were living through in different ways. So while this pandemic will pass, this course serves as a model for addressing complex and urgent challenges such as climate change, social and racial injustice, and global food and economic security.</p>
<p>Recordings of our fall 2020 panels are <a href="https://alumni.uoguelph.ca/events/events-listing/pandemics-culture-science-and-society-course">free to access here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The course offers a model for teaching about complex problems, and underlines the critical role of university learning, research and outreach in understanding and addressing them.Elizabeth Finnis, Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, University of GuelphSofie Lachapelle, Professor, History, University of GuelphT. Ryan Gregory, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Integrative Biology, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1552072021-02-16T18:51:29Z2021-02-16T18:51:29Z‘You’re running down a dead end’: stranded students feel shame and pressure to give up study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384374/original/file-20210216-20-112fbp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5439%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/father-daughter-1014620266">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/petition_list?id=EN2217">petition</a> from more than 17,000 international students asking for exemptions to the border closure was presented to the Australian parliament last week. The <a href="https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/research-snapshots/Documents/RS_DataUpdateNovember2020.pdf">latest available figures</a> show about 20% of Australia’s enrolled international students were stranded offshore. Of the 92,191 in this position, 70% were Chinese. </p>
<p>We worked with Chinese international students to collect 28 written accounts of what their life has been like over the past year. Those that responded were male and female at varying stages of their studies. </p>
<p>The stories we collected in our <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-out-of-5-international-students-are-still-in-australia-how-we-treat-them-will-have-consequences-145099">ongoing research</a> paint a picture of anxiety, embarrassment and shame. Many feel the burden of placing financial pressure on their parents. Some female students are under pressure to give up their study plans and focus on traditional gendered expectations to earn money and get married before their late 20s.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young female traveller at airport" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384388/original/file-20210216-19-1e5ek3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384388/original/file-20210216-19-1e5ek3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384388/original/file-20210216-19-1e5ek3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384388/original/file-20210216-19-1e5ek3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384388/original/file-20210216-19-1e5ek3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384388/original/file-20210216-19-1e5ek3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384388/original/file-20210216-19-1e5ek3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The students are desperately waiting for the time when they can pack their bags and return to study in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-beautiful-happy-asian-chinese-woman-1497557048">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Feeling shame and embarrassment</h2>
<p>Shen is a first-year student from rural China. It had been her dream to study abroad since she first heard about the possibility from a distant relative. </p>
<p>When the borders closed, she struggled to convince her parents to pay the fees. With COVID-19 cases easing in China, she reassured them it was only a matter of time before the borders were open. Twelve months later, Shen is feeling embarrassment and shame. She says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Finally, they relented and agreed to pay the tuition on the condition that, as a backup plan, I would also prepare for the gaokao [China’s college entrance exam]. I accepted their terms and at the end of April my father sent the tuition fee of 150,000 yuan; half of their savings from the last decade. The rest of my fees would be paid through the selling of the family convenience store and any extra money I made at my part-time job.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Shen passed her exam and now faces pressure to study at home. Part of her decision to study abroad was to explore alternative visions of her future. Her dream was about “a chance to experience a new way of learning and a new way of life”.</p>
<p>Many students wrote about the shame they felt being stuck in China. Some recounted neighbours and their local community questioning and making fun of their ambition to study abroad during the pandemic. </p>
<p>One student wrote about how she desperately hoped she could leave before the Chinese New Year celebrations: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A barrage of criticism from disapproving relatives surely awaits me over Chinese New Year. More importantly, this time reserved for family reunion raises the question, where is home for an outsider that never quite fits?</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Tensions within families and communities</h2>
<p>The students’ accounts tell of increasing family tensions about finances and delayed career paths in particular. </p>
<p>Jing had always dreamt of studying clinical medicine abroad and was due to start in Australia in 2020. Her parents were not sold on the idea to begin with and now she faces pressure to study in China instead. She recounts what they tell her:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Your classmates are already in their third year of university; you have no work experience and only a high school diploma. Who could possibly want you? We have already waited a year for Australia. What if it is another three years, what if it’s five, will you still wait then? You’re running down a dead end. Are you going to just keep going until you hit a wall? Will your dreams pay your bills?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They say: “Darling, it’s all our fault. We should never have let you go in the first place.” </p>
<p>Jing says she feels she is drifting apart from her parents.</p>
<h2>Fighting to hold onto their dream</h2>
<p>A recent <a href="https://mobileselves.org/">University of Melbourne study</a> followed 50 female Chinese students over five years. It found studying abroad allowed them to delay marriage by a few years while they built a sense of individualism and identity. Studying abroad was seen as “time out” from a standard feminine life script hinging on marriage and family and allowed young women to experience alternative futures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="young chinese student imagines her future" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384370/original/file-20210216-24-1a4v6ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384370/original/file-20210216-24-1a4v6ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384370/original/file-20210216-24-1a4v6ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384370/original/file-20210216-24-1a4v6ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384370/original/file-20210216-24-1a4v6ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384370/original/file-20210216-24-1a4v6ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384370/original/file-20210216-24-1a4v6ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students dream of studying overseas as a way to open up the possibilities in their lives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-creative-student-girl-thinking-planning-1501952582">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The written accounts we analysed describe the pandemic and border closures as putting a stop to this experience. Some now face pressure to give up plans to study abroad and instead conform to expectations to enter the workforce and marriage. </p>
<p>Mei is a medical student who says her “life has come to a standstill”. She writes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I live in a city in the middle of nowhere, a place where people don’t see the value of education, especially for girls. There is a common adage here: rather than studying well a girl is better off marrying well. Even my parents urge me to give up on studying abroad and instead find a stable job and get married […]</p>
<p>Both my parents come from humble backgrounds and supporting my aspiration to study abroad has been just one more pressure in their lives […] Nowadays, even spending a few dollars on milk tea makes me anxious that I am only affirming their belief that I am freeloading off my parents.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many of these young women are determined to wait for borders to reopen and fulfil their ambition. One wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Pandemic or not, I will stick to my plan.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>These students need support</h2>
<p>These stories demonstrate the intimate ways Australia’s higher education sector is linked with the everyday lives of young people globally. During the pandemic, being “stuck at home” has affected not only students, but also their families and their relationships with their communities.</p>
<p>These stories highlight the diverse experiences of international students while Australia’s borders are closed and offer a different take on the importance and role of international education. </p>
<p>Connecting these students to Australian counterparts to help with social relationships – albeit digitally for now – could go some way to ensuring these young people, and their families, are supported and reassured. </p>
<p>Their stories also suggest government messaging about Australia’s border closures should be aimed at families – not individuals. And it should be targeted, empathetic and, for this particular cohort, in Mandarin.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155207/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Lehmann works for The Lygon Group</span></em></p>Chinese international students stuck offshore due to border closures face shame, family tension and pressure to give up their dreams of studying in Australia. Some are even being urged to get married.Angela Lehmann, Honorary Lecturer, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1491272020-11-24T15:32:02Z2020-11-24T15:32:02ZFor university students, COVID-19 stress creates perfect conditions for mental health crises<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370331/original/file-20201119-17-4s7p7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=75%2C0%2C3319%2C2576&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A lone cyclist rides past the University of Toronto campus during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on June 10, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of most, if not all, individuals living in Canada. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200527/dq200527b-eng.htm">mental health of younger populations</a> (ages 18-25) has been particularly affected.</p>
<p>A notable proportion of younger individuals living in Canada attend some form of post-secondary education, including university, which is considered challenging even in the best of times. Now, with an ongoing pandemic and associated physical distancing measures, many students have been faced with a set of additional challenges that includes campus closures and a quick pivot to remote learning, leading to a sense of <a href="https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7541">uncertainty about their academic futures</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps most importantly, students are also facing <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-and-polls/Majority-Of-Canadians-Say-Physical-Distancing-Has-Left-Them-Feeling-Lonely-Or-Isolated">social isolation</a> and a loss of social support because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mandatory physical distancing measures and reductions on social gatherings have left many students feeling disconnected from their home campuses where support and services are typically available. </p>
<h2>Cumulative stressors</h2>
<p>The cumulative toll of these stressors is likely to have a significant impact on the health and well-being of students. With the winter months looming ahead, and no real end in sight for a return to campus, it’s important to consider how the stressors associated with COVID-19 and social isolation will impact this vulnerable population. What can we predict, and what can we do about it?</p>
<p>Even prior to COVID-19, it was clear that university students were experiencing high rates of stress and mental health issues. For instance, <a href="https://www.cacuss.ca/files/Research/NCHA-II%20SPRING%202019%20CANADIAN%20REFERENCE%20GROUP%20EXECUTIVE%20SUMMARY.pdf">data collected in the spring of 2019</a> showed that over 50 per cent of students felt so depressed that it was difficult to function, almost 70 per cent felt overwhelming anxiety and about 16 per cent had seriously considered suicide in the preceding 12 months. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman sitting in front a desk and laptop, looking at her phone with her face in her hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370173/original/file-20201118-17-1gkulqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370173/original/file-20201118-17-1gkulqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370173/original/file-20201118-17-1gkulqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370173/original/file-20201118-17-1gkulqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370173/original/file-20201118-17-1gkulqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370173/original/file-20201118-17-1gkulqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370173/original/file-20201118-17-1gkulqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Challenges that COVID-19 has created for university students include pivoting to remote learning, isolation and the loss of social support.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research group has been studying stress, coping and mental health in students for over a decade. As neuroscientists, we have been particularly interested in how stress might influence a person’s biology, including their stress hormones and immune responses, to predict symptoms of depression and anxiety. We have also been interested in understanding how a person’s genetic background interacts with stressful life experiences to predict vulnerability or resilience to mental health issues.</p>
<p>Among university student populations, we have frequently shown that traumatic events together with genetic make-up predict <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00241">decision-making</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01133">coping abilities</a>, symptoms of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00358">depression and thoughts of suicide</a>. </p>
<p>We have also highlighted the importance of social relations for well-being, revealing that university students with poorer social ties have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195237">higher levels of inflammatory factors</a> known to play a role in depression. Crucially, our data point to just how effective social support is at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynstr.2016.01.001">buffering stress hormones</a>. This is concerning, given the reduced ability to have strong social ties and support networks during the pandemic.</p>
<h2>Chronic and unpredictable stress</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic can be thought of as a chronic and unpredictable form of stress that is, in some ways, similar to the types of stressful experiences that we have been studying. We have been tracking how the pandemic is affecting the mental health and well-being of university students, and whether we can identify those who are particularly vulnerable. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/strange-physical-symptoms-blame-the-chronic-stress-of-life-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-139096">Strange physical symptoms? Blame the chronic stress of life during the COVID-19 pandemic</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Preliminary data from our research suggest that COVID-19 may be affecting students who identify as male and female differently. For example, more female students indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely disruptive to their stress and mental health, and that it has significantly disrupted their academic studies. In addition, a greater proportion of female students compared to males report that social isolation has been difficult or very difficult. </p>
<p>Given the robust relationship between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764018776349">loneliness and depression</a>, we predict that the higher rates of depressive symptoms among female students may be exacerbated in the climate of COVID-19. It is worth noting that others have also suggested that <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.bbi.2020.05.040">young women are at increased risk of loneliness, depression and anxiety</a> during COVID-19.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Rows of empty seats in a large lecture hall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370174/original/file-20201118-21-ri4qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370174/original/file-20201118-21-ri4qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370174/original/file-20201118-21-ri4qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370174/original/file-20201118-21-ri4qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370174/original/file-20201118-21-ri4qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370174/original/file-20201118-21-ri4qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370174/original/file-20201118-21-ri4qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With no real end in sight for a return to campus, university students are vulnerable to the cumulative stressors associated with COVID-19 and social isolation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Nathan Dumlao)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We observed that male and female students also cope differently with the pandemic. For example, more female students indicated that they were using social media to cope, and female students scored higher than males on measures of problematic social media use (for example, using social media more often than intended, feeling irritable when not online, using to reduce feelings of anxiety or depression).</p>
<p>By contrast, we are finding that using cannabis to cope with COVID-19 is associated with a greater negative impact on schoolwork and stress levels among male students, but not females. </p>
<h2>A long winter and a second wave</h2>
<p>With the second wave of COVID-19 officially <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/14/who-warns-canada-is-facing-a-second-wave-of-coronavirus-cases-.html">upon us</a>, fewer opportunities to socialize safely outdoors in winter, and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7424561/coronavirus-canada-pandemic-fatigue/">COVID-19 fatigue</a> settling in, we must support both the physical and mental health of our communities. </p>
<p>University students are already reporting that the pandemic is negatively affecting their mental health and disrupting their studies. A subset of students has increased the use of substances such as alcohol and cannabis to cope. The unique challenges male and female students are facing suggest that we may expect to see decreases in academic performance and higher attrition rates — unless appropriate support is provided for these students. </p>
<p>For public health officials and policy-makers, that means using <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-messaging-matters-experts-urge-clearer-physical-distancing/">harm reduction approaches</a> to acknowledge and mitigate the risks associated with social contact during the pandemic, particularly among this population. University administrators must ensure there is adequate funding and resources to support student mental health, including addressing problematic substance use. Professors must be willing to acknowledge and address mental health with their student populations. </p>
<p>Now more than ever, we should be paying attention to student mental health. </p>
<p><em>If you are having thoughts of suicide or need counselling now, download the LifeLine app for hotline crisis call, text and chat options, as well as prevention and awareness tips; or call Crisis Services Canada at 1-833-456-4566, crisisservicescanada.ca.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149127/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alfonso Abizaid receives funding from CIHR and NSERC</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn McQuaid receives funding from CIHR. She is affiliated with the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kim Hellemans, Robert Gabrys, and Zachary Patterson do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>University students had high rates of mental health issues before the pandemic. The additional stressors of COVID-19 and social isolation will make them even more vulnerable over the winter.Kim Hellemans, Chair, Department of Neuroscience, Carleton UniversityAlfonso Abizaid, Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Carleton UniversityRobert Gabrys, Adjunct Research Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Carleton UniversityRobyn McQuaid, Adjunct Research Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Carleton UniversityZachary Patterson, Instructor, Department of Neuroscience, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1445632020-08-20T20:16:55Z2020-08-20T20:16:55ZWhen students fail, many do nothing about it. Here’s how unis can help them get back on track<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353506/original/file-20200818-24671-trkm1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C7%2C4954%2C3310&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teenage-student-classroom-tutor-71162902">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students failing at university is not a problem of “extremes”, as federal Education Minister Dan Tehan <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tehan/putting-students-interests-first">would have it</a>. A large proportion of students fail units of study. And, surprisingly, <a href="https://studentsuccessjournal.org/article/view/1403">our research</a> found about a third do nothing about it. However, students who received targeted help from their university on average halved their failure rate. </p>
<p>The government is right to be concerned about high rates of failure among students who accrue HECS-HELP debt even if they don’t graduate. Its <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/job-ready/job-ready-graduates-package-draft-legislation-consultation">proposed amendments</a> to the Higher Education Support Act mean students who fail half their subjects across two semesters would lose Commonwealth support. </p>
<p>The changes would extend conditions applying to non-university providers to universities. They would also increase the powers of the regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), and the Department of Education to enforce those rules. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/uni-student-failure-rate-is-a-worry-but-the-government-response-is-too-heavy-handed-144414">Uni student failure rate is a worry, but the government response is too heavy-handed</a>
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<p>The question is: will the treatment cure the disease? And is it reasonable in terms of its consequences for universities and their students?</p>
<h2>Failure is common</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07294360.2019.1664999">large study</a> of the prevalence and reasons for academic failure of undergraduate students at an Australian university found 40% failed at least one unit. These students were four times more likely to drop out. And 58% of those who persisted with their studies failed again.</p>
<p>All universities have procedures to identify students who fail multiple units in a semester or fail the same unit multiple times. These processes would pick up students who fail half their units, especially in their first year.</p>
<p>The question is what happens next? A university would ordinarily develop a plan to support the student to improve their performance. This may include advice to attend the language and learning skills centre, to seek support for mental well-being and/or to reduce study load if possible. Universities differ in how much practical assistance they give students to recover from failure and complete their course.</p>
<h2>Targeted help makes a difference</h2>
<p>Swinburne University of Technology has a comparatively comprehensive process to support students identified as being at risk. This includes students who have to “show cause” why they should not be excluded from their course. </p>
<p>Highly trained academic development advisers (ADAs) reach out to the students individually. Students are asked to attend a one-on-one session to work through the reasons that led to unit failure and discuss how they will respond to these challenges. They can see the ADA multiple times.</p>
<p>The ADAs also run a facilitated peer support program, called Back on Track, over the semester. It’s aimed at changing behaviour and developing new study habits as well as building a personal support network. </p>
<p>The outcomes of the Back on Track program are impressive. The 213 participants in the second semester of 2019 almost halved their fail rate from the first semester. Some students did not fail any units. </p>
<p>Dropping study load to improve pass rates was an important strategy. Almost half of the cohort did this.</p>
<p>Supporting students after academic failure is resource-intensive because of the numbers involved. The Swinburne ADA team works with about 2,000 students a year. This is in addition to the administrative staff who identify students and the academic staff involved in the “show cause” process. </p>
<p>While Swinburne leads in proactive support of students, all universities have robust processes for dealing with poor academic progress.</p>
<h2>Students must learn to help themselves</h2>
<p>Offering support is only part of the story. Students must also adapt their behaviour following academic failure. At Swinburne, many “at risk” students don’t engage with the ADA support system.</p>
<p>In our study, we asked students what they did in <a href="https://studentsuccessjournal.org/article/view/1403">response to failing</a>. One-third of respondents who had failed but persisted with their study answered: “Nothing”. </p>
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<img alt="Student with coffee staring in confusion at laptop screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353514/original/file-20200819-25043-6ftsxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353514/original/file-20200819-25043-6ftsxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353514/original/file-20200819-25043-6ftsxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353514/original/file-20200819-25043-6ftsxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353514/original/file-20200819-25043-6ftsxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353514/original/file-20200819-25043-6ftsxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353514/original/file-20200819-25043-6ftsxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A third of students continuing with study after failing units said they did ‘nothing’ in response to their failure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bored-university-student-584141923">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>This is obviously of concern, especially for students who have failed multiple units. Of those who had failed repeatedly but did “nothing”, 43% were international students and 26% were online students. They struggled with exam anxiety and exam situations, especially the international students, and reported problems with workload and time management. </p>
<p>These students had not yet worked out how to help themselves, or where to go for help.</p>
<p>Most students named multiple and compounding reasons for failing, including financial struggles, disability, and care or work responsibilities. These underlying issues cannot be resolved quickly, by students or universities.</p>
<h2>Everyone has a role to play</h2>
<p>Universities could do more to help students in practical ways to get back on track. Combined use of predictive learning analytics (drawing on multiple data points to identify students at risk) and learning advisers who intervene early is <a href="https://success.gsu.edu/initiatives/gps-advising/">showing promise</a> and could be rolled out across the sector. The government, through the <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/contextual-overview-hes-framework-2015">Higher Education Standards Framework</a>, could encourage this.</p>
<p>Reducing study load is an effective strategy but can have negative consequences for Centrelink support and, in many cases, scholarships. The government could help improve pass rates by further relaxing the <a href="https://www.studyassist.gov.au/support-while-you-study/student-payments">Centrelink requirement</a> that students must study full-time to receive benefits.</p>
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<span class="caption">If the debt burden on failing students is the issue, relaxing Centrelink rules so they can reduce study loads and pass would make sense.</span>
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<p>The proposed 50% fail rule for Commonwealth-supported places seems an overreaction to some extreme cases. The solution to these extremes could be found in the Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (<a href="https://www.studyassist.gov.au/help-loans/your-chessn">CHESSN</a>) and <a href="https://andrewnorton.net.au/2020/08/13/checking-that-students-are-on-track-to-pass-the-governments-proposal/">a better IT system</a>. The Education Department could then police the issue of students enrolling in multiple courses at multiple institutions behind the scenes.</p>
<p>We know students who fail 50% of their units in a semester are a significant minority. If institutions had to justify to the department why they are not excluding these students, the administrative burden would be substantial.</p>
<p>The more serious concern is what such a process would teach students about their ability to recover from failure and make changes in response to feedback and advice. The proposed policy risks adding stress for students who are already struggling with their life load and is likely to punish those who are already disadvantaged.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students who fail units are highly likely to fail again without targeted assistance. But when universities intervene early to support these students, their rate of failure has been nearly halved.Nadine Zacharias, Director, Student Engagement, Swinburne University of TechnologyRola Ajjawi, Associate Professor, Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1094052019-01-16T11:42:40Z2019-01-16T11:42:40ZNew debit card for federal student loan borrowers could save money, but concerns linger<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253471/original/file-20190111-43507-103qboi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New debit cards being issued by the U.S. Department of Education could be used to track student spending.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-us-dollar-note-credit-card-776406088?src=lXf5Z4rEC8O5JHfsdY-2QQ-2-4">sakhorn/www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. Department of Education is about to pilot test a new debit card for students who get federal student loans.</p>
<p>For the bank that gets to issue the card, it means access to a tremendous base of future middle-class clients. For students, it means potential savings since the card has no fees and prevents students from overdrafts. </p>
<p>As a scholar of both payment cards and <a href="http://views.smgww.org/assets/pdf/2008%20JumpStart%20Financial%20Literacy%20Survey.pdf">financial literacy for young adults</a>, I see benefits but also a serious potential downside to the debit card.</p>
<h2>Potential benefits</h2>
<p>Let’s look at benefits first.</p>
<p>By streamlining schools’ <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/17/2018-22646/application-to-pilot-federal-student-aids-next-generation-financial-services-environment-payment">processing of financial aid funds</a>, the administrative costs of distributing approved student aid can be reduced and result in some taxpayer savings.</p>
<p>Second, if the federal government uses its bargaining power to reduce – or eliminate – banking fees for students, it will help lower overall college costs.</p>
<p>Third, some students may benefit by not being able to spend more money than they have. Transactions would be declined if students have insufficient funds on their cards, according to a Federal Student Aid official.</p>
<p>But there are also potential downsides. Banks might use intimate data on student spending habits to sell them an array of profitable products after they graduate. A Federal Student Aid official notes, however, that banks can’t offer participants without their permission on a case-by-case basis.</p>
<h2>Simplifying and streamlining</h2>
<p>The federal student loan program is huge. In the last quarter of 2018, <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/student/portfolio">42.9 million people</a> collectively had student debt of US$1.42 trillion. Student loan balances <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/average-credit-card-debt-household/">exceed both credit card debt and auto loans</a> and now constitute the largest amount of consumer debt in the U.S. </p>
<p>The federal student loan program is also troubled. According to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/prepared-remarks-us-secretary-education-betsy-devos-federal-student-aids-training-conference">nearly 20 percent</a> of federal student loans are delinquent or in default – seven times the delinquency rate on credit card debt. DeVos and others suggest that <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/prepared-remarks-us-secretary-education-betsy-devos-federal-student-aids-training-conference">part of the problem</a> is that students may not have been given enough information to make informed borrowing decisions.</p>
<p>A major function of the Federal Student Aid payment card is to handle the “refund” of funds disbursed through the agency. In this context, a refund is the remaining amount of federal student aid given to a student to help support a semester of college, after tuition and other college fees have been taken.</p>
<p>For example, if Makayla’s federal student aid is $10,000 per semester while her tuition and fees are $6,000, Makayla’s refund would equal $4,000. The purpose of the refund is to help pay her other expenses such as books, a computer and personal items. Schools would still be responsible for disbursing funds, as they are now, according to a Federal Student Aid official. </p>
<p>The payment card would be convenient for students since a pre-paid debit card would substitute for a checking account. In fact, the payment card is specified to be totally free for students, with no minimum balance requirements. Historically, about half of campus-based banks have charged fees for their accounts that ranged from <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/12/12/banks-paying-colleges-promote-student-debit-cards-charge-higher-fees-new-rule-has">$1 to 47 annually</a>.</p>
<p>With a prepaid debit card, students can spend only the money they have in their account and cannot rack up large fees for insufficient funds since a debit card purchase will be declined if it exceeds the student’s current bank balance. Aside from protecting the lender, this may also force students to budget and live within their means since they cannot incur additional debt by overdrawing their account balances. It may be embarrassing to have one’s debit card declined for insufficient funds, but at least having a debit card declined is not illegal and won’t cause students to get overdraft fees like they would if they wrote a bad check.</p>
<h2>Securing students as customers</h2>
<p>Why would a large bank be willing to take on a new, complex, rules-ridden project with no fees, and unprofitable student customers who tend to carry low balances but do a large number of transactions? </p>
<p>First, it gives the bank the opportunity to be the primary financial service provider for millions of college students who in a few years time will likely be middle- or upper-class college graduates with multiple, profitable financial needs over their lives. For many college students, this banking relationship may persevere for many years, particularly since mandatory college loan repayments tie students to the bank that provided their student loan for a decade or more after graduation.</p>
<p>There is another, possible, but more insidious motivation for a bank to participate – the acquisition of the student’s financial behavior data which can be used to sell them other bank products, such as credit cards, mortgages, investment accounts and loan consolidations over a lifetime. These valuable data can also be sold to other companies. This benefit to the card-issuing bank is recognized but limited by the U.S. Education Department’s <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/17/2018-22646/application-to-pilot-federal-student-aids-next-generation-financial-services-environment-payment">request for proposal</a>, which states that bank use of their student data must be approved by the student loan borrowers themselves each time the bank wishes to use such personal information.</p>
<p>The Department of Education, faced with huge operational costs and default rates in its student loan program, deserves credit for its efforts to reduce these costs so that the invaluable aspects of its program can continue. The debit card can be helpful in reducing costs for the government as well as for students who will save money on banking fees. </p>
<p>The primary downsides of such a payment card depend on how student loan borrower data are used.</p>
<p>In short, the Federal Student Aid payment card will ultimately be seen as a rather small but efficient technological change in the way student financial aid is transmitted. But it will do little, if anything, to lessen the overriding problems caused by unmanageable student loan obligations taken on by many unwitting students.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109405/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lewis Mandell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new debit card being issued to federal student loan borrowers on a trial basis may save them time and money, but it could also enable a bank to study their spending to sell them more products.Lewis Mandell, Professor Emeritus, Finance Department, School of Management, University at BuffaloLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1034622018-10-16T13:52:14Z2018-10-16T13:52:14ZUniversities need to take note of the gap between expectations and experience<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240568/original/file-20181015-165924-1f5zq73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Student expectations are influenced by their school experience, family background and communities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jasminko Ibrakovic/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The student population at South African universities have changed dramatically in the last two decades. It’s now much more diverse in terms of age, race, culture, backgrounds, educational experience and academic potential. </p>
<p>This transformation has brought with it a wide variety of student expectations – largely influenced by their school experience, family background and home communities – about what a university education can deliver. </p>
<p>In my <a href="http://www.jsaa.ac.za/index.php/jsaa/article/view/3065">study</a>, I examined the gap between first year students’ expectations with their actual experience at a University in the Western Cape. The criteria I focused on were; social engagement, academic engagement and academic support. </p>
<p>The study revealed that there’s a significant gap between incoming students’ expectation of what university would be like, and their actual experience. This can lead to students feeling disconnected from the institution and could eventually result in them failing or dropping out. </p>
<p>To avoid this, universities must be well-prepared and properly engage with students before they leave high school and during their first year. This will help manage the diverse expectations and experiences that students have. </p>
<h2>The surveys</h2>
<p>For this research, I conducted two surveys. A first-year “expectation” survey was conducted with students before they entered university. An “experience” survey was then held towards the end of the academic year. </p>
<p>The sample size was 95 first-year students of which 77% were female and 23% male. The majority of the participants (53%) were under 20 years old and were attending university directly from school. 40% of the participants were between 21 and 29 years old.</p>
<p>Most of the participants (53%) indicated English as their home language, while 23% indicated isiXhosa and 21.5% indicated Afrikaans. A large number of the participants (83%) indicated they were first-generation students, meaning they were the first member in their immediate family to attend university. </p>
<p>Only 6% of the participants were able to fund their own studies, while 53% sought outside funding in the form of bursaries and loans. 41% of the participants indicated that their parents funded their university studies. </p>
<p>In both surveys, students had to rate their university expectations and experiences. The scale ranged from 4 being “strongly agree” to 1 being “strongly disagree”. The mean scores from the surveys was used to find the gap score for each statement. </p>
<p>A negative “expectation-experience ga” score meant the expectation score exceeded the experience score. This means the participants’ expectations were not been met. A positive gap score implies participants experience exceeded their expectations. </p>
<p><strong>Social engagement</strong></p>
<p>From the social engagement indicators – which included joining social clubs, attending social functions, and making new and diverse friendships – the findings revealed a negative gap score. Students’ expectations were not met by their actual university experience. Many first-year students expected to be involved in social activities and engagements at university. But once at university, many of these expectations weren’t fulfilled. </p>
<p>Their lack of connectedness was influenced by a number of factors. These include; commitment to part-time jobs, family obligations, public transport challenges, financial constraints and a lack of awareness of social activities and clubs on campus.</p>
<p><strong>Academic engagement</strong></p>
<p>The academic engagement score also revealed a negative gap. The academic indicators included: time spent preparing for lectures, time spent at the library, social media contact with lecturers, conversations with lecturers outside of class time, and receiving regular feedback from lecturers. </p>
<p>These findings agree with other <a href="https://ejhe-online.com/2017/07/18/the-mismatch-between-student-educational-expectations-and-realities-prevalence-causes-and-consequences-by-natalia-maloshonok-and-evgeniy-terentev/">studies</a> which indicate that incoming students have unrealistic expectations when it comes to academic preparedness. These expectations could be attributed to the students’ prior schooling experience and/or lack of knowledge of university academic demands. </p>
<h2>Recognising the gap</h2>
<p>It is vital that the university expectation-experience gap be recognised. This would reduce students’ level of stress, enhance their social relations and sense of belonging, and improve academic performance. </p>
<p>An awareness of student expectations is the first step for university management and academics to create interventions that ensure students have a smoother university transition.</p>
<p>The following are some ideas that could be implemented to address this issue: </p>
<p>Partnerships should be formed between schools and universities to highlight the different skills and practices needed at university such as: academic literacy skills, managing university workload, time management, budgeting, socialising and dealing with diversity. </p>
<p>Universities need to be proactive to ensure that their incoming students feel a sense of belonging and connected to the culture of their institution as early as possible. This should start prior to orientation week which could help reduce the stress and anxiety that students feel during the first week at university. </p>
<p>These measures could help address the gap between students’ expectations and experiences, which will assist university transition and encourage students to succeed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103462/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Subethra Pather received funding from DHET Doctoral Scholarship & NRF Sabbatical Grant. </span></em></p>A study finds that there’s a gap between the expectation of what university would be like, and the actual experience.Subethra Pather, Teaching & Learning Specialist, Office of DVC Academic, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/996852018-08-06T03:22:04Z2018-08-06T03:22:04ZMeet me at the bar! How uni students interact on a campus, and why chocolate can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229768/original/file-20180730-106496-1l6qepa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students like to join a number of societies, but does that encourage them to mix between different cultures?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Ann Hodgson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A university is not only a place where people go to study. It’s also where people go to meet others, to forge new friendships and networks that can last a lifetime. </p>
<p>But our research, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.07.001">published online in Computers in Human Behavior</a>, found that students don’t always mix outside their area of study or cultural cliques.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-know-about-why-chinese-students-come-to-australia-to-study-97257">What we know about why Chinese students come to Australia to study</a>
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<p>That could change, however, if universities supported social networks that are shown to encourage a greater diversity and interaction among students.</p>
<h2>Student societies</h2>
<p>Many universities are proud of their active clubs and societies that organise numerous social events aimed at bringing students together. The societies also typically record who participates in their activities.</p>
<p>While it is increasingly common to analyse data from social media of <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=_3SQAgAAQBAJ">online interactions on campus</a>, the use of data from face-to-face social activities of students is underused.</p>
<p>So our study analysed tens of thousands of anonymised records gathered by societies at the University of Sydney to learn how and where students socialise.</p>
<p>We use heat maps to visualise the data. The diagram below reveals which places are popular on and off the campus for students to socialise.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227274/original/file-20180712-27021-191n690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227274/original/file-20180712-27021-191n690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227274/original/file-20180712-27021-191n690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227274/original/file-20180712-27021-191n690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227274/original/file-20180712-27021-191n690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227274/original/file-20180712-27021-191n690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227274/original/file-20180712-27021-191n690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227274/original/file-20180712-27021-191n690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social network map based on locations of students’ events. The colours correspond to the density of social interactions in each area. The red locations are most popular among students, followed by yellow, and green. Blue areas are on the periphery of students’ social lives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.07.001">Faezeh Karimi and Petr Matous</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although this map is based on the location of events, it is not a geographical map. The distance between two places is proportional to the number of students who like to socialise in both locations. </p>
<p>For example, the two bars (Herman’s and Manning) in the red-hot centre of social activity of this university are actually on the opposite sides of the campus but close to one another in this diagram because they attract the same kind of students. </p>
<p>We notice three main centres of social activity, corresponding to three main cliques of students.</p>
<p><strong>1: Bars</strong></p>
<p>There are many students who like to spend their time together in bars on and around the campus, as is evident in the two (red coloured) bars on the map. </p>
<p>The two main bars alone account for 10% of students’ social activity recorded in the data. Aggregated over the course of one year, students visit the two bars for their society events almost 3,500 times.</p>
<p><strong>2: Engineering</strong></p>
<p>We can see a separate cohort of students who socialise in and around the facilities of the engineering faculty. </p>
<p>The Peter Nicol Russell Building (PNR), in the heart of the engineering precinct, is designed as a large-scale teaching space but it also a home for most popular social events such as “Free Pizzas”.</p>
<p>Students socialising around the building and on the lawns outside tend to be affiliated with engineering societies. Their activities typically focus on barbecues and drinking events, and are less often attended by non-engineers. </p>
<p>Similarly, students affiliated with engineering societies are less likely to participate in non-engineering events (even if they are held in a pub on their side of the campus).</p>
<p>Social scientists have previously tried to explain the apparently <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1991.tb00166.x">distinct culture of engineering</a>, with some blaming a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003975609990129">special mindset of students attracted to technical disciplines</a>. </p>
<p><strong>3: International students</strong></p>
<p>The third large group of students socialise together mainly in facilities dedicated to international students. They tend to be affiliated with societies that cater mainly for students from different Asian countries. </p>
<p>Many events organised in this cluster focus on the cuisine of a student’s country of origin. This is the only major group whose events tend to be non-alcoholic. </p>
<p>So while alcohol brings many students together, it seems to push away some others who organise their own events without drinking.</p>
<h2>International vs domestic students</h2>
<p>Deeper analysis confirms that there is a gap between the networks of international and domestic students.</p>
<p>The numbers of international students in Australia has been <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-18/australia-hosting-unprecedented-numbers-international-students/9669030">increasing in recent years</a>. Students from diverse backgrounds can ideally contribute to the educational experience of anyone preparing for a global career or to live in a multicultural society.</p>
<p>International students are also a crucial source of income for Australian universities but our study highlights a concern about the degree of inclusion of international students on our campuses. </p>
<p>For example, the Vietnamese students’ society, Chopsticks Australia-Chinese Cultural Appreciation Society, and WASABI Japanese Cultural Society are among the largest and most active on campus. There is a lot of interaction between these societies in the international students’ cluster. </p>
<p>It appears that international students like to socialise with other international students, even if they come from a different country. But a relatively smaller proportion of international students seem to participate in events popular among local students. </p>
<p>For example, an average member of the Taiwanese Students Association is almost eight times less likely to participate in Oktoberfest, the German-themed beer festival, than an average member of any engineering society. </p>
<p>The disconnect between international students and domestic students is evident in the map above, with the International Students’ Lounge being a popular social activity centre but relatively isolated from other locations. </p>
<p>If international students feel comfortable only around other international students, they miss valuable opportunities for developing friendships with local students.</p>
<h2>Chocolate brings people together</h2>
<p>There is another way of looking at the data. Instead of locations, the diagram (below) shows the names of student societies on campus. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227273/original/file-20180712-27024-1q1suew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227273/original/file-20180712-27024-1q1suew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227273/original/file-20180712-27024-1q1suew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227273/original/file-20180712-27024-1q1suew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227273/original/file-20180712-27024-1q1suew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227273/original/file-20180712-27024-1q1suew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227273/original/file-20180712-27024-1q1suew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227273/original/file-20180712-27024-1q1suew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social network map based on students’ membership in clubs and societies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.07.001">Faezeh Karimi and Petr Matous</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the first diagram was based on the joint participation of students in events, the second diagram is based solely on their joint membership of societies.</p>
<p>Societies that attract similar people (that is, societies that have a high membership overlap) are close to each other in this map. Red spots highlight locations with high overlap between different societies.</p>
<p>The societies that stand out in the core of the diagram attract members from diverse groups. For example, the Chocolate Society seems to connect students from different ethnic backgrounds, disciplines, hobbies and political interests.</p>
<p>Engineering still makes a popular show but is not the dominant discipline as before. Arts seem to be taking a lead in attracting diverse members. </p>
<p>Being in the same club does not always lead to socialising together at various club events (as the first diagram showed) but it is potentially a first step towards meeting people from different backgrounds.</p>
<h2>Encouraging interaction</h2>
<p>Although this data comes from only one university, it echos some common concerns about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9771-8">the social integration of international students</a> and some stereotypes about the <a href="https://www.downey.sts.vt.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/1997-Engineering-Selves-.pdf">distinct social lives of engineers</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sharing-your-shopping-on-social-media-can-damage-your-health-and-your-wallet-100591">Sharing your #shopping on social media can damage your health and your wallet</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>University societies can be a welcoming environment for a diverse range of students to engage in meaningful interactions with one another. But universities cannot tell students whom they should socialise with in their free time. </p>
<p>What they could do though is to support those societies and events that encourage students to mingle outside of their study discipline and cultural identity. This type of data and analysis can give universities some idea where to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99685/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Petr Matous receives funding from the government and international organizations. The authors have no evidence to believe that the institution at which this data was collected is unusual among Australian universities in the way their students interact with one another. The presented results are intended to illustrate general practical lessons that can be learnt from this type of analysis.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Faezeh Karimi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>University students don’t always mix outside their own area of study or cultural cliques. But that can change with a little encouragement, and food helps.Petr Matous, Associate Dean (Indigenous Strategy and Services), University of SydneyFaezeh Karimi, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1003222018-07-23T06:35:51Z2018-07-23T06:35:51ZUniversity students aren’t reporting sexual assault, and new guidelines don’t address why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228542/original/file-20180720-142428-qj0812.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5691%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many students don't trust universities to do the right thing. So 87% don't report sexual assault on campus, or travelling to and from.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/BfezrueCMEI">Lexi Ruskell/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Guidelines for how universities should respond to student sexual assault and sexual harassment <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/Media-and-Events/media-releases/Students-at-the-centre--new-guidelines-for-university-responses-to-sexual-harassment-and-sexual-assault#.W1UJr7h9hPY">released late last week</a> fail to address the reason so many students don’t actually report their experiences.</p>
<p>Nor do the guidelines, released by Universities Australia, address prevention of student sexual assault and harassment.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-sexual-consent-matter-one-off-courses-are-unlikely-to-help-91574">Making sexual consent matter: one-off courses are unlikely to help</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Among the guidelines’ aims to encourage students to report, and to help universities to respond “with care and compassion” are recommendations for universities to:</p>
<ul>
<li>create a standalone policy to address sexual assault and harassment</li>
<li>train staff to respond to disclosures</li>
<li>minimise the number of times students need to recount their traumatic experience, and </li>
<li>offer multiple ways to make a formal report.</li>
</ul>
<p>However these recommendations fail to address a <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRC_2017_ChangeTheCourse_UniversityReport.pdf">key finding</a> of the Australian Human Rights Commission: that 94% of students who were sexually harassed and 87% who were sexually assaulted did not make a formal complaint to their university.</p>
<p>Its 2017 report, based on a national survey of more than 30,000 Australian university students, found 51% of students were sexually harassed in 2016, with 26% saying they were sexually harassed at university (or travelling to or from).</p>
<p>A further 6.9% said they were sexually assaulted in 2015 or 2016, with 1.6% of students saying they were sexually assaulted at university (or travelling to or from).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-have-a-problem-with-sexual-assault-and-harassment-heres-how-to-fix-it-81096">Universities have a problem with sexual assault and harassment: here's how to fix it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why don’t students report sexual assault or harrassment?</h2>
<p>However, students who responded to the survey said they did not report because they:</p>
<ul>
<li>feared the university wouldn’t believe them</li>
<li>thought the situation was “not serious enough”</li>
<li>were worried their report would not be treated confidentially, and</li>
<li>they thought the university wouldn’t take any action.</li>
</ul>
<p>Other reasons included a fear of being victimised or discriminated against (for LBGTIQ students), and confusion among international students about whether the experience was “just a part of Australian culture”.</p>
<p>These reasons point to students’ lack of trust in university procedures and practice; additional barriers that marginalised or vulnerable groups face when reporting; <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/gender-based-violence-in-university-communities">and</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>an acceptance or normalisation of conduct which is degrading, potentially unlawful, and frequently damaging and enduring in impact.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These factors highlight the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/03/sexual-assault-at-universities-the-same-degrading-attitudes-permeate-society">real barriers</a> to students reporting incidents of sexual violence. How universities choose to reduce or eliminate these barriers is key to a student’s recovery.</p>
<h2>Here’s how universities can help students report</h2>
<p>There are good reasons to encourage students to report incidents of sexual assault and harassment – to ensure their safety, manage their long-term physical and mental health, and to collate and analyse data to help improve services and prevention.</p>
<p>So in addition to user-friendly reporting mechanisms, universities must also:</p>
<ul>
<li>adopt transparent and robust disciplinary procedures and sanctions</li>
<li>have properly resourced student support services (psychological, medical and academic), and</li>
<li>develop a range of ongoing prevention strategies reinforced by visible university leadership that cultivates <a href="http://humanrights.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/inline-files/AHR0001_Local_Perspectives_Case_Study_online.pdf">inclusive, diverse and equitable campuses</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>These indicators of good practice were key components of the <a href="http://humanrights.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/inline-files/AHR0002_On_Safe_Ground_Good_Practice_Guide_online.pdf">2017 report</a>, published by the Australian Human Rights Centre at the University of NSW.</p>
<p>The report drew on a two-year <a href="http://humanrights.unsw.edu.au/news/strengthening-australian-university-responses-sexual-assault-and-harassment">consultative research project</a>, which combined the national student survey data and international research on university good practice in responding to and preventing sexual assault and harassment.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228741/original/file-20180723-189329-1c7z7u1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228741/original/file-20180723-189329-1c7z7u1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228741/original/file-20180723-189329-1c7z7u1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228741/original/file-20180723-189329-1c7z7u1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228741/original/file-20180723-189329-1c7z7u1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228741/original/file-20180723-189329-1c7z7u1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228741/original/file-20180723-189329-1c7z7u1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228741/original/file-20180723-189329-1c7z7u1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students need to have a real say in how universities respond to sexual assault and harassment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTUzMjMzOTk4OSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTEwNjIyNjU2NiIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMTA2MjI2NTY2L21lZGl1bS5qcGciLCJtIjoxLCJkIjoic2h1dHRlcnN0b2NrLW1lZGlhIn0sIndOcGRKc2syaHVHYU9wS1RuVW9UNFY2OXlQUSJd%2Fshutterstock_1106226566.jpg&pi=41133566&m=1106226566&src=ya7RYRV_2QwOwY6fXC51FQ-1-24">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While it is reassuring to see this work replicated in the Universities Australia guidelines, the issue of sexual assault and harassment at university has been the subject of student activism for <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/gender-based-violence-in-university-communities">more than 30 years</a>.</p>
<p>Universities have long been alerted to the risks of inept and insufficient responses to student reports of sexual assault and harassment. The release of <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRC_2017_ChangeTheCourse_UniversityReport.pdf">various</a> <a href="http://humanrights.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/inline-files/AHR0002_On_Safe_Ground_Good_Practice_Guide_online.pdf">landmark reports</a> in the past year and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/six-universities-under-teqsa-microscope-over-sex-assaults-20180614-p4zlk2.html">persistent</a> <a href="http://www.endrapeoncampusau.org/">media</a> <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radio/canberra/programs/am/unis-launch-response-guidelines-for-sexual-assault-on-campus/10016474">coverage</a> <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2017/11/29/broderick-report-on-cultural-renewal-at-colleges-received.html">has resulted</a> in many universities across Australia taking steps in an attempt to address student needs.</p>
<h2>How do we move to genuine student engagement?</h2>
<p>But if we are serious about preventing sexual violence at universities and securing the physical and psychological well-being of students harmed by it, we have to move beyond guidelines that endorse “meaningful discussion with students”, as Universities Australia recommends.</p>
<p>We need to make sure students have <a href="http://humanrights.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/inline-files/AHR0002_On_Safe_Ground_Good_Practice_Guide_online.pdf">formalised input</a> in the design, implementation and revision of strategies that expose, manage and reduce university sexual assault and harassment.</p>
<p>Including student representatives on high-level university working groups on sexual assault and harassment and on sexual violence prevention committees, as trainers on reporting procedures and prevention strategies, and as speakers in university forums on changing cultural attitudes, is vital. This will demonstrate genuine university collaboration. Without substantial input from students, policies and procedures are meaningless.</p>
<p>This will also recognise the critical role student leadership has in developing solutions relevant to students.</p>
<p>Lastly, such an approach validates students’ experiences and their contribution. It will guide universities towards a more proactive and coherent position, rather than a reactive and piecemeal approach, to address and prevent sexual violence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100322/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Durbach was Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre at UNSW from 2006 to 2017, which received funding from The Caledonia Foundation to undertake the Strengthening Australian University Responses to Sexual Assault and Harassment project. She was co-author of On Safe Ground: a good practice guide for Australian universities (2017). Universities Australia list her as one of the stakeholders they consulted while preparing their guidelines. </span></em></p>Activists have raised the issue of student sexual assault and harassment on campus for more than 30 years. It’s time students had a real say in how universities respond.Andrea Durbach, Professor, Faculty of Law, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/973852018-06-05T16:15:23Z2018-06-05T16:15:23ZWhy the UK must up its game when it comes to recruiting international students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221741/original/file-20180605-119888-nuh015.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/diverse-people-studying-students-campus-concept-324319826?src=QlM1zW1AV9TBauI3ED5gGw-1-52">Shutterstock/rawpixl.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>International students make <a href="http://www.hepi.ac.uk/2018/01/11/new-figures-show-international-students-worth-22-7-billion-uk-cost-2-3-billion-net-gain-31-million-per-constituency-310-per-uk-resident/">billions of pounds</a> for the UK economy and help <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/240407/bis-13-1172-the-wider-benefits-of-international-higher-education-in-the-uk.pdf">open up a window</a> on the world to domestic students. That’s apparently why universities are supposed to recruit them, according to government policy. </p>
<p>Yet international students are at risk because of the government’s ‘<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/may/01/how-universities-swept-into-hostile-environment-windrush">hostile environment</a>’ to migration and because of the way the sector recruits them. </p>
<p>International student recruitment is entirely driven by demand and so relies heavily on students from a small number of countries (see graphic). It concentrates students in particular subjects and universities and focuses on income generation rather than education. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220948/original/file-20180530-120518-14r9b3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220948/original/file-20180530-120518-14r9b3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220948/original/file-20180530-120518-14r9b3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220948/original/file-20180530-120518-14r9b3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220948/original/file-20180530-120518-14r9b3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220948/original/file-20180530-120518-14r9b3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220948/original/file-20180530-120518-14r9b3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The UK’s top 10 source countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">HESA 2017</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is a risky proposition for a sector that relies on reputation, as future students could see this country as using them as cash-cows instead of valued partners. An alternative vision of ethical student recruitment would not only be morally sound, it would be economically and educationally sustainable too.</p>
<h2>More is not always better</h2>
<p>Success is often defined as growth. Policy on international students has in the past often <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.dius.gov.uk/international/pmi/index.html">set goals</a> for increased numbers of students. For many institutions increasing numbers is a key indicator of success. </p>
<p>This growth can only be sustained if the supply of students keeps expanding. But population growth in the UK’s single most important market, China, is <a href="https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/data-and-analysis/Documents/patterns-and-trends-2017.pdf">slowing down</a>. </p>
<p>True, economic growth in key countries (such as China and India) which send students to the UK suggests growing <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/global_20170228_global-middle-class.pdf">middle classes</a>. Middle class students tend to seek international education to gain an advantage in tough job markets. And – more importantly – they can afford it. </p>
<p>But as the middle classes expand, so too does the <a href="https://theconversation.com/massive-expansion-of-universities-in-asia-raises-tough-questions-on-social-mobility-54680">domestic provision</a> of higher education in such “sending” countries. </p>
<p>Historically, the UK has been seen as “the” destination for quality higher education. But as education quality in the “sending” countries <a href="http://www.eua.be/activities-services/news/newsitem/2015/09/10/asean-and-eu-to-focus-on-quality-assurance-in-asean-higher-education">improves</a>, the UK will gradually lose this advantage. So the UK cannot define its success in recruiting international students exclusively based on growth. </p>
<h2>New competitors</h2>
<p>Competitive success means outdoing other providers and growing the market share. For the last decade, the UK has held second place to the US, recruiting 11% of globally mobile students (see below graphic). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220932/original/file-20180530-120505-1s5ujp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220932/original/file-20180530-120505-1s5ujp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220932/original/file-20180530-120505-1s5ujp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220932/original/file-20180530-120505-1s5ujp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220932/original/file-20180530-120505-1s5ujp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220932/original/file-20180530-120505-1s5ujp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220932/original/file-20180530-120505-1s5ujp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220932/original/file-20180530-120505-1s5ujp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Global market share of internationally mobile students for leading study destinations, 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IIE/Project Atlas (2017)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But rival countries are constantly changing their strategies and policies on recruitment and new competitors are entering the market. <a href="http://monitor.icef.com/2017/03/japans-employment-outlook-helping-drive-foreign-enrolment-growth/">Japan</a>, <a href="https://thepienews.com/data/south-korea-record-high-growth-in-intl-student-numbers/">South Korea</a>, <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/india-launches-international-campaign-to-attract-foreign-students-to-study-in-the">India</a>, <a href="http://monitor.icef.com/2017/03/foreign-enrolment-surging-china/">China</a> and <a href="http://monitor.icef.com/2016/08/malaysia-competing-greater-share-international-students/">Malaysia</a> now all attract significant numbers of students. Seeking to gain market share against competitors then becomes a perpetual arms race.</p>
<h2>No perfect number</h2>
<p>There is no perfect number or ratio of international to home students. For a start, international students are concentrated in particular subjects, like business studies (see below graphic).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220947/original/file-20180530-120518-q3d2u0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220947/original/file-20180530-120518-q3d2u0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220947/original/file-20180530-120518-q3d2u0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220947/original/file-20180530-120518-q3d2u0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220947/original/file-20180530-120518-q3d2u0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220947/original/file-20180530-120518-q3d2u0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220947/original/file-20180530-120518-q3d2u0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">International student numbers by subject area 2016-17.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">HESA 2018</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>International students are also concentrated in particular universities, from as few as 15 non-EU students at universities such as Leeds Trinity to over 11,000 at institutions like University College London. </p>
<p>Some have suggested that “<a href="http://higheredstrategy.com/many-international-students-many/">too many international students</a>” affects the “quality” of the university experience. This implies that all international students are less academically able than home students, ignoring their achievements and capacity to study in second and third languages. A more positive but equally simplistic assumption is that because there are international students in a classroom, beneficial “intercultural” exchanges will happen. </p>
<p>This flawed simplicity of the imagined impact of international students was made clear in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/may/18/home-office-sponsored-survey-on-foreign-students-is-withdrawn">a survey</a> by the UK Home Office which asked British home students whether international students had a positive or negative impact on their “university experience”. The survey had to be withdrawn after <a href="https://janeemcallaghan.wordpress.com/2018/05/16/home-office-it-is-not-ok-to-ask-our-students-about-the-impact-of-international-students-on-their-experience-of-university-life/">criticism that it was flawed</a> and “open to abuse”. </p>
<p>By positioning international students at odds with home students, the survey deepens a sense of exclusion within UK universities, rather than inclusion. Initiatives like this create the impression that universities are xenophobic and hostile places for international students. They should be <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14675980903371241?scroll=top&needAccess=true">egalitarian, diverse and hospitable environments for learning</a>. </p>
<h2>What would success look like?</h2>
<p>Universities need to decide for themselves what successful international student recruitment looks like. For some, this will mean large populations in particular courses. Other institutions may be more strategic in considering numbers and distribution, linked to curricular aims, graduate outcomes and teaching approaches. Raw numbers are not a helpful indicator for this decision.</p>
<p>The government’s role should be to support universities by establishing a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14767724.2017.1414584">welcoming environment</a> for international students. Committing to secure funding for higher education, rather than proposing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/feb/18/cutting-tuition-fees-would-backfire-justine-greening-warns-theresa-may">frequent changes</a> would offer the sector the stability to engage in long term financial planning, including – but not exclusively reliant on – international recruitment. </p>
<p>The sector and the government need to commit to developing international student recruitment ethically. Currently, international students <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/language-requirements-international-students-are-too-low">achieve fewer good degrees than home students do</a>, yet pay significantly higher fees. </p>
<p>International students can come to study in the UK in the full expectation of experiencing a “British” education, only to find themselves on a course with an entirely international cohort, potentially of students from the same country.</p>
<p>They can also start the application process, expecting to be welcomed as a guest, and find instead a confusing, expensive visa process and a hostile media and political environment.</p>
<p>A commitment to <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9783319510729">ethical international student recruitment</a> would start from the premise that international education should equally benefit all students. It would mean universities putting international recruitment in service to education. And it would mean the government leading the way on valuing international students as part of a sustainable internationalised higher education sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97385/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>International student recruitment needs to be overhauled if the UK is to keep a foothold in an increasingly competitive market.Sylvie Lomer, Lecturer in Policy and Practice, University of ManchesterTerri Kim, Reader in Comparative Higher Education, Cass School of Education and Communities, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/956432018-05-02T06:57:30Z2018-05-02T06:57:30ZWhy some students are excluded from university later in their degree, and how to remedy it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217158/original/file-20180502-153869-l2zscd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Financial stresses and the mental wellbeing of students play leading roles in rates of attrition</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Student attrition is of concern to universities and to politicians and, most importantly, costly for the students concerned, both financially and emotionally. Voluntary attrition – “dropping out” – has been <a href="https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/publications/completing-university-in-a-growing-sector-is-equity-an-issue/">studied extensively</a>, and can be broadly correlated with measures of disadvantage. </p>
<p>We looked at the under-researched area of students who face being excluded from university for poor academic performance in the middle of their degree. Much of the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075070903581533">research</a> on voluntary attrition has focused on the first year of enrolment and the issues of transition into university, especially for students from non-traditional backgrounds such as cultural minorities. </p>
<p>The most commonly described factors directly related to the university environment are commitment to the specific degree, integration into academic life, social engagement, academic achievement, confidence, and teaching and support expectations. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/supporting-part-time-and-online-learners-is-key-to-reducing-university-dropout-rates-88082">Supporting part-time and online learners is key to reducing university dropout rates</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Factors less easily influenced by the university itself include work commitments, financial problems, being first-in-family, time management issues, daily travel and family commitments. But these are starting to be addressed. </p>
<p>For example, the Group of Eight big universities and Australian Council of Social Service (<a href="https://www.acoss.org.au/">ACOSS</a>) <a href="https://go8.edu.au/article/go8-and-acoss-sign-ground-breaking-equity-agreement">have recently announced</a> a collaborative project to promote more equitable outcomes for students from low socio-economic backgrounds and regional and remote locations. </p>
<h2>The difference between ‘voluntary’ and ‘involuntary’</h2>
<p>Voluntary attrition isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Students don’t need to complete a degree to gain benefit from their study. As the <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/dropping-out/">Grattan Institute</a> point out: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Australia makes it easy to try university, and some students will always decide it is not for them. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But involuntary attrition is different from choosing to drop out. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07294360.2018.1462305">Our study</a> looked at students who wanted to remain enrolled in a degree despite a consistent record of academic failure that would normally result in exclusion. </p>
<p>Exclusion is an unpleasant process but necessary to protect not only the student from futile expense, but also the quality of other students’ learning experiences and the reputation of the university’s graduates.</p>
<p>We looked at students’ written responses to a university faculty’s exclusion committee that explained their previously poor academic performance and why the previous lack of academic success would not continue if future enrolment were permitted. </p>
<p>The six most common reasons reported by students were: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>a need to work</p></li>
<li><p>health issues most commonly described as depression/anxiety</p></li>
<li><p>financial problems, such as unanticipated debt</p></li>
<li><p>family challenges, such as a lack of family support</p></li>
<li><p>relationship difficulties such as romantic or family problems </p></li>
<li><p>financial disadvantage such as an ongoing requirement to support a sibling’s or parents’ living costs</p></li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217160/original/file-20180502-153881-ln1ed6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217160/original/file-20180502-153881-ln1ed6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217160/original/file-20180502-153881-ln1ed6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217160/original/file-20180502-153881-ln1ed6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217160/original/file-20180502-153881-ln1ed6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217160/original/file-20180502-153881-ln1ed6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217160/original/file-20180502-153881-ln1ed6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students’ ‘need to work’ played a leading role in involuntary attrition rates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Unpacking the reasons behind involuntary attrition</h2>
<p>The most frequent single reason given was a need to work. For ethical reasons, this research was unable to probe beyond a written response form, but it would be very interesting to delve more deeply into this need. For example, some students have to rely on breakfast clubs put on by universities and related support organisations for basic nutrition. Others are able to set themselves much higher living standards. </p>
<p>We found the extent of mental health issues surprising. These were overwhelmingly documented by health practitioners (GPs, psychologists or psychiatrists) and, consistent with other <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4089">recent findings</a>, mental health issues were reported by one-third of the students in our study.</p>
<p>People in universities having mental health issues is not new. But what we found interesting was the range of other issues co-related with mental health by nearly all our respondents. Some of these were problems common to people aged in their early 20s, such as their love lives, ailing grandparents and parental divorce. </p>
<p>The rate of psychological distress is highest in the <a href="http://andrewnorton.net.au/2017/04/06/how-bad-is-student-mental-health/">18-24 age group</a> in any case. But other students suggested a complex range of issues that may or may not have been causally related to mental health. </p>
<h2>How can we help these students?</h2>
<p>So, what can universities do to help students who have shown they can perform academically by gaining admission but do not achieve their academic potential?</p>
<p>In addition to the overly broad “need to work”, there are cases of short-term financial crisis and long-term financial advantage. Most universities have financial support services available, but often a student in crisis is not aware of them – perhaps they’re too busy dealing with the crisis. This is a communications issue.</p>
<p>Importantly, we found student mental health issues are more prominent than found in previous research on attrition, and more complex than in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4089">recent work</a> across the graduate student population.</p>
<p>This may reflect an increasing willingness to speak about mental health matters. Or it may reflect a real increase in mental health problems and how much they’re affected by other factors. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/which-students-are-most-likely-to-drop-out-of-university-56276">Which students are most likely to drop out of university?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But an inescapable and significant conclusion to our findings is an increasing need for student mental health support. For example, the University of Queensland has <a href="https://about.uq.edu.au/mental-health-strategy">started to address</a> this by making mental health a key priority in its strategic planning and decision making.</p>
<p>While further work is also needed to assess the relevance of this work to students in other universities, our data suggest consideration should be given to placing mental health services at the front line of support for students at risk of involuntary attrition. Ideally, these mental health professionals would have a network of additional services for students appropriate to individual needs, such as financial support or job boards. </p>
<p>This would provide students with support for their identified mental health problems along with the thing causing those problems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95643/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Much of the research on attrition focuses on the first year of university, but little is known about why people drop out later in their studies. A recent study looked at some factors.Colin Jevons, Associate professor, Monash UniversitySophie Lindsay, Lecturer: Work Integrated Learning, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/924862018-02-27T12:47:49Z2018-02-27T12:47:49ZSix ways to bridge the gap between rich and poor at university<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208068/original/file-20180227-36686-2faobv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Graduation day.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portsmouth-july-20-graduation-ceremony-university-601347749">edella/Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Theresa May’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-43106736">year-long review of student funding</a> offers a real opportunity to solve the big problems around tuition fees and financial support at UK universities. </p>
<p>As part of our <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/education/research/projects/geographies-higher-education/">research</a> on how young people from different places and backgrounds transition into university, we spoke with more than 180 young people from across Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and each region of England, and analysed detailed student records to track the movements of half a million students who entered university for the first time, over recent years. </p>
<p>Here we present six suggestions, based on our findings, that could help make going to university a real option for students of all backgrounds. </p>
<h2>1. Lower the price of leaving home</h2>
<p>We found evidence from talking to young people that the poorest are often highly conscious of the cost of living at university. This can limit their university choices: some will rule out a university because of the high cost of accommodation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208057/original/file-20180227-36686-1rg4zuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208057/original/file-20180227-36686-1rg4zuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208057/original/file-20180227-36686-1rg4zuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208057/original/file-20180227-36686-1rg4zuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208057/original/file-20180227-36686-1rg4zuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208057/original/file-20180227-36686-1rg4zuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208057/original/file-20180227-36686-1rg4zuf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">UEA’s ziggurats: it costs to live on campus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/23351536@N07/15016843422/sizes/l">kaysgeog/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found that young people in different parts of the UK had different attitudes towards the costs of study, which influenced their choices about going to university and whether or not to leave home. Our <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/home-and-away-student-mobility/">recent research for the Sutton Trust</a> revealed that disadvantaged students across the nation were least likely to leave their parents’ home, and there was some evidence that the rise in tuition fees strengthened this trend. </p>
<p>The government should consider either regulating accommodation costs, or providing funding that takes differences in cost into account – for example by weighting support according to the cost of accommodation at the student’s chosen university.</p>
<h2>2. Cater for commuters</h2>
<p>The number of students living at home while at university rose from 278,555 in 2007-08 to 328,675 in 2015-16. That means more students are commuting, but these costs aren’t accounted for in current packages of financial support. </p>
<p>Some institutions have more commuter students than others. London universities including the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and St Mary’s University College Twickenham have all seen 10% increases in the proportion of their new undergraduate students who commute. Staffordshire University, Stirling University, the University of Cumbria and the University of East Anglia have also seen big increases. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208060/original/file-20180227-36703-1n7n8cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208060/original/file-20180227-36703-1n7n8cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208060/original/file-20180227-36703-1n7n8cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208060/original/file-20180227-36703-1n7n8cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208060/original/file-20180227-36703-1n7n8cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208060/original/file-20180227-36703-1n7n8cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208060/original/file-20180227-36703-1n7n8cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Joining the crush: London Underground.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tompagenet/6850442869/sizes/l">tompagenet/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Clearly, this requires tailored responses from the universities, based on their local geography and the types of courses affected. But there are some changes which could make life better for commuter students across the board. Rescheduling classes to avoid early starts (when commuting may be more difficult or expensive), having greater flexibility about office hours and considering forms of online learning could help. </p>
<p>These changes need to prioritise the needs of commuter students, without increasing workloads for lecturers, who are often already over-stretched.</p>
<h2>3. Help pay for transport</h2>
<p>There’s not enough support for students who commute. First-time students who live in university accommodation often live close by to essential academic and pastoral support services, such as the library, lecturers’ offices, study skills workshops and study spaces and facilities. But it’s harder for commuter students to access these services. </p>
<p>Transport should be subsidised for students who commute, in the form of petrol vouchers, car sharing schemes or extended subsidised bus services – whichever is suitable. An extended 18 to 25 student railcard could also offer students who have to commute during peak times the same one third discount, which currently only applies to off-peak fares.</p>
<h2>4. Admit there’s a diversity problem</h2>
<p>Universities <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/publications/diverse-places-of-learning-home-neighbourhood-ethnic-diversity-ethnic-composition-of-universities/attachments/Diverse-places-of-learning.pdf">are highly segregated</a> along the lines of race and ethnicity, and some universities are substantially less diverse than their surrounding areas. </p>
<p>For instance, the Universities of Birmingham or Leicester are substantially more ethnically mixed than similar institutions. But they are 10% less ethnically mixed than Birmingham City University, Aston University or De Montfort University. London’s elite arts and music colleges and institutes do not reflect the super diverse population of the capital. This stands in direct contrast to universities like the University of East London, London Metropolitan University and City, University of London. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208064/original/file-20180227-36674-5u56aa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208064/original/file-20180227-36674-5u56aa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208064/original/file-20180227-36674-5u56aa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208064/original/file-20180227-36674-5u56aa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208064/original/file-20180227-36674-5u56aa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208064/original/file-20180227-36674-5u56aa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208064/original/file-20180227-36674-5u56aa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Graduation day at the University of Bradford.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/atoach/11227914955/sizes/l">Tim Green aka atoach/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is no simple solution for dealing with the ethnic and socio-economic segregation of higher education. Oxford’s intake won’t echo that of Bradford (an institution with an ethnically diverse, working-class intake) any time soon. Too many vested interests mean that the most elite institutions will remain predominantly white and middle-class for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>This should not prevent the work needed to make universities more diverse, which includes addressing the content of the curriculum, as well as perceptions about different courses and institutions. But we should not expect that the majority of working-class, ethnic-minority students, coming from families with no or little university experience, will want to move away for university. </p>
<h2>5. Bring back the bursary</h2>
<p>The lack of diversity in universities creates serious inequalities in student finance. In particular, it means that the greatest financial support <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/6/1/5/htm">is available to</a> the most academically-able disadvantaged students. In effect, bursaries are concentrated in the wealthiest institutions, with the smallest number of working-class and ethnic minority students. </p>
<p>It’s time to revisit the idea of a <a href="http://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/37NationalBursaryfull.pdf">national bursary system</a>. There’s also a clear desire among students to bring back maintenance grants on a universal basis, alongside additional means-tested support. Given we live in an era of substantial generational inequality, these moves should be seriously considered.</p>
<h2>6. Help universities reach out</h2>
<p>Efforts to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend university are unevenly concentrated across the country. In particular, third sector outreach and social mobility charities are overly concentrated on London, despite attempts by some organisations to expand their efforts. </p>
<p>There’s a skew of cultural and economic resources and activities towards the capital, which directly affects outreach and widening participation activities. For example, funding for the National Collaborative Outreach Programme currently stands at <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-12-06/118007/">£60m a year</a> – less than the <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/aimhigher-brought-down-by-coalition-axe/414416.article?storycode=414416">£78m a year</a> given to Aim Higher, which did a similar job on university outreach, just before its closure in 2010-11. </p>
<p>Government needs to act to address this imbalance. The return of a scheme like Aim Higher would do much to resolve the geographical imbalances in widening participation efforts run by charities which – despite <a href="http://www.thebrilliantclub.org/about-the-brilliant-club/our-strategy-the-path-to-outcomes/">notable successes</a> – have failed to fill the gap.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Donnelly receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (award no. ESN02121/1). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sol Gamsu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research reveals that poorer students are less likely to leave home for university – and that has serious impacts on their experience.Michael Donnelly, Lecturer, Department of Education, University of BathSol Gamsu, Researcher, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/607102016-06-12T17:42:33Z2016-06-12T17:42:33ZUniversities must do far more for students with disabilities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125940/original/image-20160609-7069-1v1xw0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students with disabilities face massive physical and attitudinal hurdles.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">UNAMID/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On paper, people with disabilities in South Africa enjoy the same rights as anyone else to an education, whether at school or university. The country’s constitution <a href="http://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-2-bill-rights#9">prohibits</a> the state from unfairly discriminating “directly or indirectly against anyone on the grounds of disability”. South Africa is also a signatory to the <a href="http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml">United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities</a>. This obliges the state “to take proactive measures to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are promoted and protected”. </p>
<p>Universities, too, are <a href="http://www.education.gov.za/Portals/0/Documents/Legislation/White%20paper/Education%20%20White%20Paper%206.pdf?ver=2008-03-05-104651-000">obliged</a> to reasonably accommodate those with disabilities. They must provide appropriate support services that are tailored to individuals’ educational needs.</p>
<p>The Higher Education Institutional Culture, Equity and Transformation Group at Rhodes University has been <a href="https://www.ru.ac.za/louisevincent/articles/disabilityweektalk.html">exploring</a> disabled students’ experiences of universities. Our work, which will be presented at three different conferences in the latter half of 2016, suggests that many universities are not meeting their obligations to these students.</p>
<h2>Universities are excluding, disabling</h2>
<p>Most universities have, to date, responded to disabled students’ presence by drawing from what’s been called the “<a href="http://www.allfie.org.uk/pages/useful%20info/medical.html">medical model</a>” of disability. This model frames disability as an individual physical problem that’s inherent in a person’s own body. It emphasises the ways in which a disabled person lacks the capacity to fit into the existing institutional framework or environment – and so needs to be accommodated, if possible. </p>
<p>The alternative is to see the ways in which environments that are geared towards those who are regarded as “normal” are themselves excluding and disabling. It’s not disabled people who lack capacity: the lack lies in how these environments operate and what assumptions those who occupy them have about what is “normal”. </p>
<p>For example, institutions might see the person who needs a ramp to access a building as someone who needs to be “accommodated”. Instead environments should be seen as disabled when they don’t, as a matter of course, provide access to all humans regardless of their physical makeup.</p>
<p>Students with disabilities find that they must accommodate themselves to institutional contexts that are, from their point of view, profoundly disabling. The onus is placed on the student to “fit in”. These students often find themselves <a href="http://reference.sabinet.co.za/webx/access/electronic_journals/academ/academ_v43_n4_a4.pdf">unable to access</a> higher education. They make up <a href="http://www.dhetnews.co.za/dhet-shares-opportunities-for-disabled-learners/">less than 1%</a> of South Africa’s total student population in post-secondary education and training. In total, 2.9 million South Africans – 7.5% of the population – <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2014/09/09/2.9-million-south-africans-are-disabled-stats-sa">are disabled</a>.</p>
<p>When people with disabilities make it past the initial hurdles and into higher education, they’re often on the margins of university life – not just academically, but also socially.</p>
<h2>More than financial barriers</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.nsfas.org.za/content/">National Student Financial Aid Scheme</a> provides bursaries specifically for students with disabilities. This money is meant to cover tuition, accommodation, meals and transport costs. It also pays for materials prescribed by the institution and one or more assistive devices, like wheelchairs.</p>
<p>But simply removing financial barriers and providing access to a disabling environment is not enough.</p>
<p>Many universities still don’t even have disability units. There have been several instances of students being <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/NMMU-denies-admission-to-blind-students-20131101">turned away</a> because universities <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/varsity-says-no-to-disabled-student-1807528#.VTuMHSGqpBe">don’t have the facilities</a> to accommodate them. Even when access isn’t denied outright, though, students with disabilities face attitudinal and physical barriers. It’s not unreasonable to expect universities to provide sign language interpreters, ramps, assistive devices, carers and the like. Society must take its obligations to all its members seriously, regardless of their physical traits.</p>
<p>International examples prove that this can be done. In Sweden, 0.3% of the annual university budget <a href="http://disability-uganda.blogspot.co.za/2009/05/hisayo-in-accessibility-for-all-at.html">is earmarked</a> for meeting the different needs of students with disabilities. Canadian universities <a href="http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/chapters/pothier.pdf">do well</a> in supporting students with disabilities, too. Cornell University in the US has done excellent, <a href="http://disability.cornell.edu/docs/disability-commitment-report.pdf">practical work</a> around this issue.</p>
<h2>Canaries in the coal mine</h2>
<p>Students with disabilities can be seen, in many ways, as the canaries of South Africa’s higher education system. They alert society to the ways in which universities continue to preach “inclusion” without asking the important question: included into what and by whom? </p>
<p>Universities must think carefully and engage fully with what it might mean to create cultures that are friendly to disability. This might provide new insights into the multiple ways in which dominant norms and practices do violence to those whose lives and experiences they exclude, ignore, denigrate and fail to recognise as fully human, deserving of equal respect and consideration. Inclusion into unchanged cultures, physical environments and day-to-day practices does not make institutions more just. It is institutions, not students, that are disabled and disabling.</p>
<p><em>Authors’ note: Are you an academic, Master’s or Doctoral student conducting research related to the experiences of students with disabilities in South African universities? If so, we would like to invite you to contribute a chapter to a new book. For more information or to send a concept note, contact Des Chiwandire on chiwandiredesire@gmail.com.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Desire Chiwandire receives funding from The Mellon Institutional Cultures and Transformation Scholarship. He is a member of the Higher Education Institutional Culture, Equity and Transformation Group under the supervision of Prof. L.D. Vincent in the Political and International Studies Department at Rhodes University, South Africa.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Vincent receives funding from the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the National Research Foundation.</span></em></p>Students with disabilities find that they must accommodate themselves to institutional contexts which they find profoundly disabling.Desire Chiwandire, Doctoral Candidate, Rhodes UniversityLouise Vincent, Professor of Political Studies, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/573762016-04-20T15:26:40Z2016-04-20T15:26:40ZUniversities must do more to become a home for vulnerable students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119234/original/image-20160419-13898-1tirdrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Universities can be alienating spaces, particularly for students from poorer backgrounds.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are more <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21546062">black African</a> students from poor or working-class backgrounds at South Africa’s universities than ever before. But <a href="http://www.che.ac.za/media_and_publications/research/proposal-undergraduate-curriculum-reform-south-africa-case-flexible">research</a> shows that very few of them actually finish their degrees. Many drop out at undergraduate level. This leaves them and their families in debt and dashes their hopes of climbing the economic ladder.</p>
<p>The same research shows that the socially and economically privileged counterparts of these students fare far better. It is this structural inequality that lies at the heart of <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2016-01-20-fees-are-just-the-start-of-change">student protests</a> that rocked the <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa/topics/feesmustfall">country’s universities</a> in late 2015 and early 2016. Universities must challenge this inequality if higher education is to experience genuine social change. </p>
<p>Of course, any such response will require a significant <a href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/news-and-analysis/behind-the-university-funding-crisis?utm_source=Politicsweb+Daily+Headlines&utm_campaign=3b24c3e2df-DHN_20_Oct_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a86f25db99-3b24c3e2df-140192113">injection of resources</a>, such as more teaching staff being made available to undergraduate students. But not all aspects of inequality are rooted in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/01/20/first-generation-college-students-are-not-succeeding-in-college-and-money-isnt-the-problem/">physical resources</a>. Plenty can be achieved if universities start dismantling the deep-seated assumptions and hierarchies that <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/we-still-dont-belong-here-1912238#.Vlng_HYrK00">maintain inequality</a> within their structures. </p>
<p>I have conducted <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Talita_Calitz/timeline">research</a> that draws on students’ own experiences to try understand how universities can cultivate the conditions that enable equal participation, regardless of race or economic status.</p>
<h2>The value of student experiences</h2>
<p>All individuals bring a number of advantages or disadvantages to university as their <a href="http://www.dhet.gov.za/summit/Docs/2015Docs/Annex%2012_Wilson-Strydom_Access%20%20%20Success.pdf">bundle of resources</a>. Ideally, they should be able to draw from this bundle to adapt and succeed. But it can also hinder them.</p>
<p>Students are marginalised when they have to negotiate factors that complicate their academic success and social integration. These include belonging to a low-income household, being historically excluded because of race, being a woman, identifying as a sexual minority or living with a physical disability. </p>
<p>I interviewed eight undergraduates at a South African university that historically catered only for white students. They were all the first in their immediate families to attend university. </p>
<p>These students arrived at university with a precarious and less-valued bundle of financial, academic and social <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disadvantage-Oxford-Political-Theory-Jonathan/dp/0199278261?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0">resources</a>. Most were from low-income families, with one or more unemployed parent or guardian. <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2015-07-10-punished-twice-for-being-poor/">Financial pressure</a> made it difficult for them to know where money for the next meal, rent payment, taxi fare or textbook would come from. In the privileged, middle-class university space they felt anxious, ashamed and stressed. They internalised their struggles to cope as individual failure. </p>
<p>My research used a <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/The_Idea_of_Justice.html?id=enqMd_ze6RMC&redir_esc=y">“capability approach”</a> to assess students’ experiences. This evaluates how available resources are converted into opportunities to achieve valued outcomes, or what are called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoD-cjduM40">“capabilities”</a>. This could mean, for example, interrogating whether attending university automatically equips the student to become critically engaged in acquiring knowledge. If the student is only attending lectures and regurgitating information, has deep learning taken place? What structures need to be in place to ensure that the resource – in this case, education – is converted into a meaningful academic outcome for vulnerable students?</p>
<p>In other words, resources are an important but insufficient measure of equality. Structural inequality has not been adequately addressed if the environment does not offer equal opportunities for all students to convert their resources into valued outcomes.</p>
<p>The students we interviewed came up with several recommendations that might help universities become more inclusive, equitable environments.</p>
<h2>Doing things differently</h2>
<p>The students had three main concerns:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>they wanted spaces in which to build positive relationships with their lecturers;</p></li>
<li><p>they felt there should be more sustained platforms for voicing their frustrations without being dismissed as emotional or ignorant; and</p></li>
<li><p>they said it was not helpful for lecturers to constantly highlight poorer students’ failures. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>These students felt alienated, fearful and silenced. They said most lecturers weren’t open to sharing the implicit lessons and insider information needed to navigate any university experience. For example, knowing where to find free online sources, or unspoken “etiquette” about approaching or communicating with lecturers. Their more privileged peers were confident enough to approach lecturers, and so found this information more readily available.</p>
<p>Students also complained that there was no real chance for them to have fertile dialogues with teaching staff about their academic challenges. Lecturers should strive to make their classrooms a place where critical engagement with knowledge meets a humane approach to vulnerable students’ challenges. Some lecturers may need to rethink their approach to daily teaching. They could even take the process further by spending an hour a week mentoring a first-generation student.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AoD-cjduM40?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">US academic Martha Nussbaum explains the capability approach.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There’s also a broader need for spaces where lecturers and students can collaborate in ways that challenge the traditional meritocracy of a university environment. One example of this would be involving undergraduate students in research projects so they can develop academic skills. </p>
<p>The students we interviewed struggled with being constantly reminded of their struggle and academic failure. They found this demoralising and it created doubt in their ability to succeed. To overcome this, lecturers should recognise the capabilities and resources these students bring to university. Lecturers could foreground students’ agency and resilience instead of reminding them of what they cannot yet accomplish.</p>
<h2>Creating equitable universities</h2>
<p>There is no need for universities to wait for more physical resources. All of the work I’ve described here can begin immediately. These suggestions can go a long way towards making universities more welcoming, equitable environments for disadvantaged students. </p>
<p><em>Author’s note: All of the references in this article to race reflect persistent post-apartheid racial classification.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57376/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Talita M.L. Calitz receives funding from the National Research Foundation. </span></em></p>Students from poorer backgrounds feel anxious, ashamed and stressed in the middle-class environment of a university.Talita M.L. Calitz, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Higher Education and Human Development, University of the Free StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/488382015-10-27T11:19:36Z2015-10-27T11:19:36ZUga the Bulldog, Handsome Dan and why university spirit matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99223/original/image-20151021-15440-1y0fif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting into the spirit at Temple University. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aspen Photo/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Head to Yale and you’ll meet <a href="http://www.yalebulldogs.com/information/mascot/handsome_dan/index">Handsome Dan</a>. At Boston College, you’ll find <a href="http://bceagles.com">Baldwin the Eagle</a>, and at the University of Georgia, <a href="http://www.georgiadogs.com/widecontent/uga.html">Uga the Bulldog</a>. Across American college and university campuses, mascots are used to help create that distinct “spirit” that has become such a fundamental part of a US college education. </p>
<p>In the UK, this sense of university “spirit” is hard to find. But our ongoing research indicates that UK universities could benefit from fostering a stronger sense of spirit: it could improve students’ academic engagement and help improve their overall university experience. </p>
<p>Creating a distinct spirit is deeply rooted in US college education. The sporting reputation of universities is central to this and each institution has its own mascot, representing the traditions, values and beliefs of the school. </p>
<p>Many US universities communicate and cultivate this spirit through initiatives that emphasise the importance of a sense of community and belonging. </p>
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<span class="caption">Baldwin the Eagle, mascot of Boston College.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lorianne DiSabato/www.flickr.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>At the University of California, the <a href="http://calspirit.berkeley.edu/about.php">Cal Spirit groups</a> engage students in activities that uphold the university’s traditions and sense of spirit, including <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/spiritweek">“spirit weeks”</a> and <a href="http://fanindex.usatoday.com/2015/10/24/the-top-10-fight-songs-in-college-football/">fight songs</a> – songs that have become synonymous with sports teams and are sung at games. At other universities, events such as homecoming games, tailgating (where people have a meal round the back of a car near a sports stadium), cheer-leading, parades and proms bind students together and create a strong community feeling.</p>
<p>At Emory University, it is the unofficial mascot, Dooley, the biology lab skeleton, who rules. For one week every spring, students celebrate “Dooley’s Week” and the campus is transformed into a place of fun and games. Ajay Nair, senior vice president and dean of campus life, explains that “Dooley is our life blood”.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Beware of Dooley.</span></figcaption>
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<p>University-branded merchandise is also central to students expressing their sense of belonging. It is not uncommon to see US students walking around campus dressed head-to-toe in clothing bearing their university’s name or logo. This commitment and loyalty to the university also extends to students’ family members who proudly flash university logo bumper stickers or sweatshirts. In the UK, on the other hand, university merchandise is rarely seen as more than a piece of memorabilia or a gift. </p>
<h2>What builds spirit</h2>
<p>In our study, we explored the presence and impact of university spirit at a UK and a US university. We conducted observations and focus groups with students who also took photographs capturing what university life meant to them. </p>
<p>To understand what it means for a place to have a spirit, we drew on the Roman concept of <em>genius loci</em>, the “guardian divinity of a place”. Today, the phrase is more commonly translated as “<a href="http://larwebsites.arizona.edu/lar510/encounter/sence%20of%20place.pdf">the spirit of the place</a>”, reflecting somewhere’s particular atmosphere, quality and character. </p>
<p>We found that at both universities, the physical environment, including libraries, cafes, sports centres and student clubs, was a crucial part of their students’ experience. </p>
<p>But our research also showed that a strong sense of university belonging is also driven by other, softer factors, including how positively students feel about their institution, whether they want to be associated with it, the value of their relationships with other students and academic staff, the opportunities that exist for them to participate in activities both on and off campus, and their eagerness to stay in touch with the university after graduating. </p>
<p>At the US university, students felt part of the university and expressed a strong sense of belonging: this was their university – now and after graduation. </p>
<p>The UK students, however, saw their university more as an institution to attend, and then eventually leave behind. There was a tendency for them to feel disconnected from their environment; they mainly came to campus to attend classes and did not engage in many extracurricular activities. Many students worked part-time and accessed much of their learning material via the university’s online learning environment. </p>
<p>The US students felt proud to be part of their university and showed it by purchasing merchandise bearing the university’s logo or sporting mascot. They wore these items on campus and especially at sporting events. </p>
<p>For the UK students, merchandise largely was seen as memorabilia. One student said: “I think I would get something before I leave, just like memorabilia, but not for functional use.”</p>
<h2>Cultivating a cycle of pride</h2>
<p>We argue that having a distinct “spirit” and making students feel they belong is important for all universities. It positively affects <a href="https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/what_works_final_report_0.pdf">students’ academic engagement</a> as they feel more connected across subject areas and programmes. Our research found that where there is a strong sense of university spirit, students are more open to network, learn from each other, and work in cross-discipline teams. These are <a href="http://www.ncub.co.uk/reports/global-graduates-into-global-leaders.html">essential skills</a> in a globally-connected work environment.</p>
<p>In the UK, we found that graduates don’t often express belonging once they leave their university and studies have shown that many are <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/four-in-10-students-dont-think-their-degree-was-worth-the-money-survey-finds-10336398.html">dissatisfied with their university experience</a>. This means that UK universities are losing out on the benefits of the “cycle of pride”, whereby proud graduates turn into proud alumni and continue to give back to their alma mater through shared business connections, time, recruitment, recommendations or funding. UK universities, facing <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/hefce-reveals-%C2%A3150m-cut">further public funding cuts</a>, could learn something from their US counterparts whose alumni network is a lucrative source of fundraising. </p>
<p>To create pride, belonging and university spirit, UK universities need to go beyond their current focus on the <a href="http://www.thestudentsurvey.com/about.php">National Student Survey</a> and league table rankings. More attention should be given to cultivating the values, traditions and beliefs that truly will bind students and their universities together – now and in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Hall Webb works at the University of West Georgia, where the US study for this article took place.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Cooray and Rikke Duus do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>UK universities should take note from US colleges and cultivate more of a university spirit.Rikke Duus, Senior Teaching Fellow in Marketing, UCLMike Cooray, Faculty, Strategy and Innovation, Ashridge Business SchoolSusan Hall Webb, Associate Professor & Director of Business Education, University of West GeorgiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.