CRADLE Seminar: Student Belonging in Higher Education

Deakin University’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) is scheduled to host a seminar on the 29th of November, 2023, focusing on the concept of student belonging in higher education. The event, supported by the Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE), aims to explore the relationship between student well-being and their success at university through a lens of belonging.

Professor Rola Ajjawi of CRADLE will lead the discussion, offering a critical look at the history of belonging research and its current implications. The seminar will highlight findings from interviews and video blogs with students in the UK and Australia, challenging the effectiveness of a one-size-fits-all approach to fostering belonging in university settings.

Joining the conversation, Associate Professor Karen Gravett from the University of Surrey will contribute her research on student engagement and belonging, while Professor Sarah O’Shea from CSU will provide insights from her studies on higher education equity and under-represented student experiences.

The research presented will emphasise the personalised nature of belonging and suggest that universities should consider multiple and varied forms of student belonging, especially in the context of increasing diversity on campuses.

The seminar will be held at Deakin Downtown, inviting educators, policy makers, and students to engage in a dialogue about the importance of belonging and its impact on academic success in a changing educational landscape.

For more information, please click here.