Understanding higher education students’ sense of belonging: a qualitative meta-ethnographic analysis

Dost, G.; Mazzoli Smith, L.

Abstract

The current literature on ‘sense of belonging’ spans a number of disciplines, with no apparent consensus on definition between these, complicated by the fact that sense of belonging is temporal and context-sensitive (such as during COVID-19). In particular, a closer look at how students define sense of belonging is needed from an up-to-date perspective to help them feel more connected to the faculty/campus and improve their wellbeing and mental health in the ‘new normal’ and ‘next normal’ post-pandemic eras. Therefore, this study explores higher education students’ sense of belonging, a concept that has not been adequately conceptualised, from their perspectives. As these perspectives are subjective, an interpretive approach is required to generate rich meanings. This study has adopted a meta-ethnographic approach to synthesise qualitative studies, which allows for comparison and synthesis of studies into a new interpretation through translations. Interpretive qualitative synthesis resulted in one higher-order concept, four main concepts, and nineteen sub-concepts that conceptualise higher education students’ understanding of sense of belonging to their universities.

Citation

Dost, G., & Mazzoli Smith, L. (2023). Understanding higher education students’ sense of belonging: a qualitative meta-ethnographic analysis. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 47(6), 822-849. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2023.2191176

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 13, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Mar 23, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 19, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 19, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Further and Higher Education
• Print ISSN: 0309-877X
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-9486
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 822-849
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2023.2191176
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1175411