University students’ sense of belonging and the impact of commuting

A strong sense of belonging is positively related to students’ emotional wellbeing, academic motivation, and success in higher education (HE). The research on which this paper is based was conducted in an ancient Scottish university and used a mixed methods approach including analysis of administrative data, a survey and case studies of commuter students. In this paper, we focus on six students from lower socio-economic groups who were the first generation in their family to attend HE and commuted to an ancient Scottish university. Using these case studies, we investigate why some students feel marginalised and what might be done to enable them to flourish. We use a three-dimensional definition of sense of belonging - social connections, place and political status - to investigate the factors that contributed to students’ exclusion and inclusion and find that most commuter students faced multiple disadvantages. We conclude that there is much that this university could do to respond more effectively to the academic and social needs of commuters. In particular, there is a need for the university to change its culture and practice to ensure that such students are regarded as an important part of the university community rather than as an anomaly.