A Sense of Belonging of Working-Class Students at University

Working-class students often cannot access information from their family members to ease their transition to university (Patfield et al. 2022). Their transition is often more cumbersome compared to students from an academically educated household and according to previous literature, it is harder for them to build a social network and develop a feeling of belonging at universities (O'Shea 2019).

A Bourdieusian perspective ([1972 ]1993) is used to analyze the interplay of habitus, capitals and field. In the field of HE, sense of belonging is often referred to as student abilities to build social networks (Lewis & Hodges 2015).

The data analysis and the interpretation was conducted along the constructivist grounded theory principles (Charmaz 2009).19 problem-centered interviews with working-class students at public Austrian universities were conducted between 2019 and 2023. The criteria for belonging to the group of ‘working-class students’ was operationalized by objective criteria of parental education status and the type of employment. The data is analyzed by using the data analysis software Nvivo and in a regular GT online interpretation group.

Some findings are that there were ambivalent statements of the interviewees about their belonging at their university. Those who changed universities also described a change in the feeling of belonging. The interviewees either report of a shock after school system, as they had to change their learner habitus. At the university setting, personal ties with lecturers and peers are often harder to achieve, especially in large class settings. Overall, the findings highlight that working-class students' identities are complex, and they need support to develop a sense of belonging at universities, where many students are from more privileged backgrounds. Especially students that do not have the dominant habitus of the HE institution, learning groups can benefit and their sense of belonging can be influenced (Solanki et al. 2019).