Exploring transitions into the undergraduate university world using a student-centred framework

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a small-scale qualitative study, which addressed stories of ‘becoming an undergraduate student’. The work took place in one university in the South West of England and involved 4 researchers, 4 co-researchers (undergraduate students) and 12 students from a Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Stories of ‘becoming student’ were perceived and experienced by the researchers as containing complex histories, intertwined with problematic systemic processes, which combined to create challenging, political and diverse realities for students. There was a consensus amongst the researchers that institutional practices did not work to uncover these lived experiences, nor aim to understand them. The study aimed to gain further insight into what becoming a student entails, how ‘student’ is positioned by the academy and to consider how future practices could make transitions into the student world more visible, shared and understood. The work highlights how processes and experiences of becoming an undergraduate student are wide, varied and complex but there are common matters of concern; issues of resources, the importance of student networks and the impact of external perceptions. The authors suggest that if these aspects of the student world were made more visible and understood, Higher Education (H.E) may be better prepared to support positive student transition, success and overall experience.