Queen's University Belfast

Graduate Student, Education

Thesis Title: A critical exploration of the formation of student identity within the Northern Ireland Higher Education System.

About

Processes of socialisation can be altered in the context of a move towards a mass system of HE, for example large proportions of new students entering the system can define the norms and practices of particular Departments and the institution (Trow, 1975).  In this sense increases in student numbers and in the proportion of new types of students within the HE system associated with the expansion of HE have the potential to alter experiences of students and their processes of socialisation within the system.  The potential for changes to the norms and practices of Departments and Institutions are likely to have subsequent impacts upon student culture and student identity.  The extent of the expansion within the UK system of HE system is such that these changes may have been missed or overlooked in the context of an expanse of literature which could be said to emphasise the existence of a “normative” student experience.  It is worth noting that these works tend to position certain groups of students as outside of the “normative” experience of being a student with little attention to exploring what the contemporary experience of “a student” may be (See for example, Holdsworth, 2009, Kirk, 2008, Richardson, 1994).  This potential analytical dislocation between the “real student” and the figurative representation of students could be similar to the dislocation between “real” and “figurative” youth detailed by Steedman (1995), and presents the context for an exploration of student culture and the formation of student identity within contemporary HE.  Within this context, this study will explore:

• The social and cultural experience of students within the HE system
• Student perspectives on transition or trigger points associated with University experience
• Opportunities presented for identity continuity or change through student identified trigger or transition points
• The shift from the naïve to the fluent student and any associated transformations