ABSTRACT

Student transition into higher education can set the foundation for success at university. However, some students, perhaps in increasing numbers, find this transition difficult. This study explores contemporary students’ experiences when transitioning into Higher Education (HE) to gain an up to date picture of the multiple, potential sources of distress. Focus groups and interviews were held with a total of 10 participants. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The data suggests that students find a number of things difficult about their transition into HE. Overall, our findings suggest that some find challenges adapting to living independently, while some are also unprepared for independent study at university. These challenges and feelings of lack of preparedness can be experienced as particularly distressing for students who can feel that even their early academic performances are directly tied to their future opportunities for both success at university and later life. One of the main sources of support students seem to have are their new social networks. However, even establishing these networks can become an additional challenge. In the discussion, we explore how the existing literature generally supports these findings. The discussion also considers both if and why the challenges of learning and living independently – a consistent and longstanding part of university life – appears to be causing more problems now than previously. We provisionally introduce a new concept and focus for work in this area SAILL (Struggles Around Independent Learning and Living) and consider whether such a focus might help us conceptualise future work in this area.

摘要

学生过渡到高等教育可以为在大学取得成功奠定基础。然而，一些学生，也许越来越多，发现这种转变很困难。本研究探讨了当代学生在过渡到高等教育 (HE) 时的经历，以获得对多种潜在痛苦来源的最新了解。与总共 10 名参与者举行了焦点小组和访谈。使用主题分析对访谈进行转录和分析。数据表明，学生在过渡到 HE 的过程中遇到了许多困难。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，有些人在适应独立生活方面遇到了挑战，而有些人还没有为大学独立学习做好准备。这些挑战和缺乏准备的感觉对于学生来说尤其令人痛苦，因为他们觉得即使是他们早期的学业成绩也直接关系到他们未来在大学和以后的生活中取得成功的机会。学生似乎拥有的主要支持来源之一是他们的新社交网络。然而，即使建立这些网络也可能成为一个额外的挑战。在讨论中，我们探讨了现有文献通常如何支持这些发现。讨论还考虑了独立学习和生活的挑战——大学生活中一贯和长期的一部分——是否以及为什么现在似乎比以前造成了更多的问题。