Universities globally are aspiring to grow through investing in the delivery of online learning programmes. However, the attrition rate for online learning is high. It has been noted that those students with a sense of belonging to their course experience increased enjoyment and reduced anxiety and are therefore less likely to withdraw. Yet too often programme design guidance to support a sense of belonging for student communities focuses on localised, full-time and young students rather than older, globally dispersed, time-starved students such as those in the online entrepreneurship programme that is the subject of this paper. The authors explore how a sense of belonging in entrepreneurship students can be supported effectively in a virtual learning space throughout their online degree studies. The research presented adopts an interpretivist perspective and includes interviews with eight students studying a 1-year top-up degree in a UK higher education institution. The teaching and support staff interviewed were based solely in the UK. The data collected were examined using thematic analysis. The paper contributes to the debate about what a sense of belonging means in a virtual space for entrepreneurship students and identifies how such students can feel connected and supported to finish their course.

全球大学都渴望通过投资提供在线学习课程来实现增长。但是，在线学习的损耗率很高。已经注意到，那些对自己的课程有归属感的学生会增加乐趣并减少焦虑，因此退学的可能性较小。然而，为支持学生社区的归属感而制定的程序设计指南常常侧重于本地化，全日制和年轻学生，而不是年龄较大，分布在全球，时间紧迫的学生，例如在线创业计划中的学生。纸。作者探索了如何在整个在线学位学习的虚拟学习空间中有效地支持企业家精神学生的归属感。提出的研究采用解释主义的观点，包括对八名在英国高等教育机构攻读一年制衔补学位的学生的访谈。接受采访的教学和支持人员仅位于英国。使用主题分析检查收集的数据。本文为关于归属感在虚拟空间中对企业家精神学生意味着什么的辩论做出了贡献，并确定了这些学生在完成课程过程中会如何感觉到彼此的联系和支持。