Student background and relationship at the start of university studies
The importance of social networks and social relationships has been documented in a variety of settings. For students at higher education institutions, network ties have been found to be an important factor in achieving a sense of social belonging in the institutions (Tinto, 1975). This is especiall...
| Published in: | Tímarit um uppeldi og menntun |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | Icelandic |
| Published: |
Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ojs.hi.is/tuuom/article/view/3391 https://doi.org/10.24270/tuuom.2021.30.2 |
| Summary: | The importance of social networks and social relationships has been documented in a variety of settings. For students at higher education institutions, network ties have been found to be an important factor in achieving a sense of social belonging in the institutions (Tinto, 1975). This is especially true for students who are disadvantaged and marginalized (Bhopal, 2011). Networks, and network structure, have also been found to predict whether students complete their studies or drop out of school (Magnús Þór Torfason & Margrét Sigrún Sigurðardóttir, 2017; Wilcox, Winn & Fyvie-Gauld, 2005), and relationships at the start of university studies influence the evolution over the entire course of studies and beyond (Kossinets & Watts, 2009; Rios-Aguilar & Deil-Amen, 2012; Cho, Gay, Davidson & Ingraffea, 2007; Zander, Brouwer, Jansen, Crayen & Hannover, 2018).Given these and other ways in which social networks affect the experience of attending a higher education institution, it is important to understand the interplay between the background of students, and the social networks that support their journey within the institution. Social networks at the beginning of a course of study are particularly important, as students with larger networks in the beginning tend to build on their connections, are less likely to form new connections (Zander, Brouwer, Jansen, Crayen & Hannover, 2018), and tend to form connections through shared friends when they do (Kossinets& Watts, 2009), which can lead them to lose out on opportunities for beneficial and meaningful relationships. This might mean that students miss out on the opportunity to connect with students they might have more in common with, but were not part of their extended network when they began their studies. For the study presented here, we administered a set of surveys to first year students at the University of Iceland. We collected responses from two of the five major faculty areas within the university, the School of Social Sciences ... |
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