Abstract
ABSTRACTResearch on the ‘ideal’ or ‘good’ student tends to be situated within compulsory schooling. Few recent studies have focused on lecturers’ conceptualisation and construction of the ‘ideal’ university student. Informed by 30 in-depth interviews with lecturers from two post-92 English universities within the social sciences, we explore how the notion of ‘ideal’ student is understood in contemporary higher education. We focus on lecturers’ expectations of undergraduate students, as well as their views of the ‘ideal’ student in different teaching and learning contexts. We identified specific personal and academic skillsets that are desirable of students, including preparation, engagement and commitment, as well as being critical, reflective and making progress. The ability to achieve high grades, interestingly, is rarely mentioned as important. Implications for policy and practice are discussed as we present a much-needed update on the current features of the ‘ideal’ university student, which can influence student experience, especially the lecturer-student relationship.
Highlights
The rising cost of university has prompted researchers from countries such as the UK, Australia and Sweden to raise concerns about the massification and marketisation of higher education, which has propelled student consumerism deeper into the higher education discourse (Anne-Charlotte et al 2013; Pitman, Koshy, and Phillimore 2015; Thornton 2014; Tomlinson 2017; Wong and Chiu 2017)
By understanding how the ideal student is perceived in specific contexts, we are in a better position to assess and potentially bridge any differences between the teaching and learning expectations of lecturers and students
We explored the views of social science lecturers working in post-92 English universities and have identified particular personal and academic characteristics in their constructions of an ideal university student
Summary
The rising cost of university has prompted researchers from countries such as the UK, Australia and Sweden to raise concerns about the massification and marketisation of higher education, which has propelled student consumerism deeper into the higher education discourse (Anne-Charlotte et al 2013; Pitman, Koshy, and Phillimore 2015; Thornton 2014; Tomlinson 2017; Wong and Chiu 2017). By understanding how the ideal student is perceived in specific contexts (e.g. the social sciences within post-92 universities), we are in a better position to assess and potentially bridge any differences between the teaching and learning expectations of lecturers and students. The codes were interpreted as ideal types and imagined identities, which considered lecturers’ previous experiences, current expectations and future preferences of teaching undergraduate students As discussed below, these discourses, or characteristics, of the ideal university student are not mutually exclusive and can be seen as different fragments of an ideal student – which, as Weber (2009) reminds us, are only imaginary when pieced together as a whole. Students are praised for ‘trying your best’, more so than ‘being the best’ (Wong 2016)
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