Browsing by Subject "yhteenkuuluuvuudentunne"

The article deals with feelings of belonging and non-belonging in first-year university students. The research material was collected using the empathy based method and analyzed using narrative analysis. Based on the analysis, six different narratives of belonging and non-belonging were identified. The narratives are built on both individual psychological and socially constructed experiences of belonging. Individual psychological dimensions were emphasized in the narratives describing positive experiences of belonging. Personality traits, like introversion, appeared to be very compatible for distance learning in the corona era. Social contexts, where the mentioned feelings of belonging were experienced somewhere other than in studies, appeared to be beneficial for studies. Remote meetings were usually perceived to mitigate the otherwise impossible social situation. Personality, especially the individual's resilience, also played a key role in the narrative of non-belonging. A personal incompatibility with the pandemic restrictions is to challenge personal validity. Remote meetings seem partly unreal and the narratives were plagued by doubt as to whether learning actually took place. The separation from concrete places and face-to-face encounters left the student detached from university as an institution and higher education studies in the narratives. The narratives of belonging and non-belonging are multidimensional and are defined through various intersecting, mutually defining categories.