Ahn, Mi Young and Davis, Howard H.. 2023. Are local students disadvantaged? Understanding institutional, local and national sense of belonging in higher education. British Educational Research Journal, 49(1), pp. 19-34. ISSN 0141-1926 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Research on inequality in higher education (HE) is often dominated by class-based assumptions about traditional and non-traditional students. This binary distinction emphasising students’ socio-economic status tends to oversimply the complexity of educational inequality, neglecting crucial factors which affect the perception of social position. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the understanding of inequalities in HE with new data on the meaning of locality, using evidence from comparative studies of institutions. Locality is interpreted as an inclusive concept capturing place identity as well as local attachments based on language, culture and the natural environment. The qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 192 participants in three distinctly different HE institutions, which were deliberately selected according to their socio-economic, cultural, and institutional status. This mixed methods research confirms the importance of different types of belonging at institutional, local and national levels, and their different effects on student groups. The study captures to what extent geographical mobility is associated with social class, by examining students’ sense of belonging and their interpretation of locality in universities across Wales. It challenges the notion of disadvantaged background, and poses a critical question about cultural and geographical familiarity. This study therefore enriches the current debates about the impact of social inequality alongside social class on students’ belonging, success and retention in HE.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3826
Additional Information:	Funding information: Author have received some financial support via Scoping Award from Society for Research into Higher Education.
Data Access Statement:	Author elects to not share data
Keywords:	disadvantage, educational inequality, higher education, locality, sense of belonging
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Sociology
Dates:	Date Event 29 June 2022 Accepted 22 July 2022 Published Online February 2023 Published
Item ID:	36490
Date Deposited:	05 Jun 2024 10:06
Last Modified:	05 Jun 2024 14:13
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/36490

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