Abstract
As a practitioner within the Higher Education field, I am troubled by the language used towards commuting students. They are viewed as a problematic group that does not engage
well (Maguire and Morris, 2018). Blame is put on the students rather than institutions trying to understand the challenges that they face so that they can provide appropriate support to
these students. The dominant discourse within university is that students need to live within university accommodation (Fisher et al., 2011) in order to develop what Bourdieu (1986)
would term as social capital. Further research claims that living in university accommodation helps to develop students’ sense of belonging (Kretovics, 2015). Such a neo-liberalistic view conceals inequalities and marginalises those who do not conform to the norm (Reay et al., 2009). Curtis et al. (2021) stated that students whose habitus does not align with that of the institution could be othered, thereby affecting their sense of belonging.
Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study is to examine the experiences of commuter students. In so doing, it will address the following research question:
RQ1: What challenges do commuter students face?
well (Maguire and Morris, 2018). Blame is put on the students rather than institutions trying to understand the challenges that they face so that they can provide appropriate support to
these students. The dominant discourse within university is that students need to live within university accommodation (Fisher et al., 2011) in order to develop what Bourdieu (1986)
would term as social capital. Further research claims that living in university accommodation helps to develop students’ sense of belonging (Kretovics, 2015). Such a neo-liberalistic view conceals inequalities and marginalises those who do not conform to the norm (Reay et al., 2009). Curtis et al. (2021) stated that students whose habitus does not align with that of the institution could be othered, thereby affecting their sense of belonging.
Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study is to examine the experiences of commuter students. In so doing, it will address the following research question:
RQ1: What challenges do commuter students face?
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 54 |
| Number of pages | 57 |
| Journal | BCU Education Journal Magazine |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Publication status | Published (VoR) - 18 Jul 2024 |