Conference Presentation

1. Fostering Sense of Belonging
at Austrian Universities
Presentation 02.09.2021
Emerging Researcher Conference 2021
Geneva/ Online
Sabine Weiss
Education Sciences Group
Vienna University of Economics and Business
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2. Overview
 Definitions
 Research Questions and Interests
 Previous Research
 Theoretical Background
 Methods
 Preliminary Results

3.  Social class
− Bourdieusian definition (e.g. Bourdieu 1982)
 Working-class student(s)
− Complex intersections of socio-economic status, ethnicity, gender, location
(Longwell-Grice & Longwell-Grice 2007, cited in Soria et al. 2013)
 Sense of belonging in he
− how students receive support and can foster trust at the campus feelings of
mutual respect with other students and lecturers; support from peers and
others (Hoffman et al. 2002-2003; Strayhorn 2008)
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Definitions
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4.  How is sense of belonging developed by working-class students at
(Austrian) universities?
 Capitals and habitus of working-class students
 Policy recommendations
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Research Questions and Interests
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5.  Topics:
− Identity conflicts of working-class students (UK)
− Fokus on elite institutions
− Capitals, sense of belonging and academic engagement
− Class structure in academia
− Social justice
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Previous Research: Historic developments
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1950er (e.g. Morris et
al. 1965, Sandford et al.
1959)
1980er: Gender
and migration
(Dipplhofer-Stiem 2017)
2000s onwards
(e.g. PISA 2009, Crimmins
2020)

6.  Regional
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Previous Research: Regional differences
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Vereinigtes
Königreich:
• Fokus Elite-
Einrichtungen
• Klassensystem/
-hintergrund/-
aufstieg
DACH:
• Soziale Herkunft
• Komplizierte
Datenlage
Vereinigte Staaten:
• Quantitativ
• Unterrepresen-
tierte
Studierenden-
gruppen
Siehe Bathmaker et al. (2016), Reay
(2003), Byrom & Lightfood (2012),
etc.
Siehe Soria & Bultmann
(2014)
Siehe Dipplhofer-
Stiem 2017, Blöme
et al. (2019)

7.  Lokalised lives of working-class students (Byrom/Lightfoot 2012, Dipplhofer-Stiem
2017, Reay et al. 2001, Healys 2006, Barnett 2014 Hurtado/Carter 1997)
 Less capitals and sense of belonging (Haeberlin/Niklaus 1978; Kleemann et al. 2009,
Ostrove/Long 2007, Pechar/Wroblewski 1998; Soria et al. 2013, Rubin 2012 Rubin et al. 2014)
 Alienation from class background (Haeberlin/Niklaus 1978, El-Mafaalani 2012)
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Previous Research: Regional similarities
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8. SEITE 9
Theoretical approaches
Working-class
students
Belonging &
exclusion
Habitus &
identity
Resilience &
struggles
Transition & fit
Social mobility &
differentiation
Self image
Theoretical approaches: Relational Theory (Bourdieu), Integration model (Tinto), Transformation of social
Identity (Kauffmann)

9.  Bourdieu´s theory of social reproduction
 Sense of belonging and habitus
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Theoretical Background
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© Ron Tandberg

10.  Qualitative Sozialforschung
 Survey method:
− Problem-centered interview
 Evaluation:
− Constructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz 2006)
 Seven interviews with working-class students conducted so far
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Methods
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11.  Interdisciplinary concept
 antithesis: alienation (sense of alienation)
 Reseach gaps:
− quantification
− Dynamic concept
 Goal: increase knowledge about a dynamic
interhuman construct
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Preliminary Results: Sense of belonging
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HEIs
Peers
Resilience
Study
choice
Academic
esteem

12. SEITE 13
Preliminary Results I
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Abbildung 1:
https://karrierebibel.de/selbstbild-fremdbild/
• Social integration often more
problematic than academic i.
(Leathwood & O´Connell 2003, Reay et al.
2010)
• Feelings of discontent (Lehmann 2007,
Aries & Seider 2005)
• Sense of belonging influences self
image (Burke et al. 2016)

13.  Class determines …
… where you feel belonging (Ostrove & Long 2007)
… study choice
… housing situation (Barnett 2014)
… „fitting in“ or not
 Working-class students have less capitals
 Architecture also relevant
 Sense of alienation (e.g. Tokarczyk & Fay 1993, Murphy et al. 2020)/ enstrangement
(Lehmann 2012)
 „struggle“
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Preliminary Results II
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Drop-out/Success

14.  Barnett, D.R. (2014). Academic and Social Integration of Nontraditional Students: The Role of Active Learning
Strategies and Sense of Belonging in Integration and Persistence. Southern Illinois University Carbondale,
Carbondale, Illinois.
 Crimmins, G. (Ed.). (2020). Strategies for supporting inclusion and diversity in the academy: Higher education,
aspiration and inequality. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
 Dipplhofer-Stiem, B. (2017). Sind Arbeiterkinder im Studium benachteiligt?: Empirische Erkundungen zur
schichtspezifischen Sozialisation an der Universität. Weinheim, Basel: Beltz Juventa.
 Francis, G.L., Blue-Banning, M., Haines, S.J., & Turnbull, A.P. (2016). Building “Our School”: Parental Perspectives
for Building Trusting Family–Professional Partnerships. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for
Children and Youth, (60 (4)), 329–336.
 Hoffman, M., Richmond, P. D. J., Morrow, J. & Salomone, P. D. K. (2002-2003). Investigating “sense of belonging”
in first year college students. In: Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice (4): 227-256.
 Langhout, R.D., Drake, P., & Rosselli, F. (2009). Classism in the university setting: Examining student antecedents
and outcomes. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 2(3), 166–181.
 Lehmann, W. (2012). Working-class students, habitus, and the development of student roles: a Canadian case
study. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33(4), 527–546.
 Murphy, M.C., Gopalan, M., Carter, E.R., Emerson, K.T.U., Bottoms, B.L., & Walton, G.M. (2020). A customized
belonging intervention improves retention of socially disadvantaged students at a broad-access university.
Science Advances, 6(29), 1-7.
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Literature I
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15.  OECD (2010-2011). PISA 2009 results: Overcoming Social Background, Volume II. [Paris]: OECD. Online
unter: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/48852584.pdf (Abfrage: 05.05.2021).
 OECD (2019a). Under Pressure: The Squeezed Middle Class. Paris: OECD Publishing.
 OECD (2019b): Education at a Glance: Country Note Austria. Paris: OECD Publishing. (Abfrage: 30.09.2019).
 Ostrove, J. M./Long, Susan M. (2007a): Social class and belonging: Implications for college adjustment. In:
The Review of Higher Education, 30 (4): 363-389. (Abfrage: 14.11.2014).
 Rubin, M., Denson, N., Kilpatrick, S., Matthews, K.E., Stehlik, T., & Zyngier, D. (2014). “I Am Working-Class”:
Subjective Self-Definition as a Missing Measure of Social Class and Socioeconomic Status in Higher Education
Research. Educational Researcher, 43(4), 196–200.
 Soria, K. M./Stebleton, M., Huesman, J., Ronald, L. (2013): Class Counts: Exploring differences in academic
and social integration between working-class and middle/upper-class students at large, public research
universities. In: J. College Student Retention (15/2): 215-242.
 Strayhorn, T.L. (2008): The Role of Supportive Relationships in Facilitating African American Males' Success in
College. In: Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 45 (1): 26-48.
 Tokarczyk, M.M. (2004): Promises to keep: Working-class students and higher education. In: Zweig, Michael
(Hrsg.): What's class got to do with it?: American society in the twenty-first century. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press:
161-167.
 Tokarczyk, M.M., & Fay, E.A. (Eds.). (1993). Working-class women in the academy: Laborers in the knowledge
factory. Amherst, Mass.: University of Massachusetts Press
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Literature II
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16. Sabine Weiss, MSc, BA
Teaching and Research Assistant (prae doc)
Education Science Group
Vienna University of Economics and Business
sabine.weiss@wu.ac.at
+43 1 31336 - 4969
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Thank you for your attention!