"I can belong to anything I set my mind to" - Participation, co-creation and the student experience
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“I can belong to anything I set my mind to” Participation, co-creation and the student experience Dr Rimi Khan Eugenia Zoubtchenko Melbourne Social Equity Institute, November 2019
First published in November 2019 by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, University of
Melbourne.
Website: socialequity.unimelb.edu.au
Email: social-equity@unimelb.edu.au
© Melbourne Social Equity Institute
© University of Melbourne
All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Melbourne Social Equity
Institute.
The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of The
University of Melbourne.
We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this nation. We
acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which our University is located and where
we conduct our research and teaching. We pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past, present
and future
ISBN: 978 0 7340 55675
This work can be cited as: Khan, Rimi and Eugenia Zoubtchenko. “I Can Belong to Anything I Set
My Mind To”: Participation, co-creation and the student experience. Melbourne: Melbourne Social
Equity Institute, University of Melbourne, 2019.
Cover image credit: Tiffany Liu- New Student Precinct Gallery
2
Contents
1. .Introduction���������������������������������������������������������� p5
1.1 Background ������������������������������������������������ p5
1.2 Research aims �������������������������������������������� p5
2. .Methodology ������������������������������������������������������� p6
3..Key findings ���������������������������������������������������������� p8
4. .Recommendations���������������������������������������������� p10
5..Co-Creation and governance��������������������������� p13
6..Student experience journeys��������������������������� p18
6.1 Modes of connection������������������������������� p18
6.2 Student trajectories������������������������������� p23
6.4 Breaking out of insecurity��������������������� p26
7..Towards the ‘Melbourne experience’������������� p29
8..The four drivers in detail ��������������������������������� p32
9..Networks of community����������������������������������� p38
10. .References ������������������������������������������������������� p44
3
Steph Beaupark and Katie West at the Living Pavillion at the University of Melbourne, 2019. Credit: Isabel Kimpton. 4
1. Introduction
1.1 Background 1.2 Research aims
The University of Melbourne’s New new forms of precarity and insecurity. 1. To understand the current
Student Precinct (NSP) is a major Students today have a strong ‘sense student experience, including the
infrastructure development at the of purpose’ but are less engaged with diverse forms of participation and
Parkville campus including nine the university than in previous decades belonging that contribute to this
buildings and 37,050m2 of new or (Baik et al 2015) . experience.
refurbished building and landscape
Co-creation has the potential to 2. To examine the gap between
space. The NSP replaces existing
address these forms of insecurity and the University’s cultural and
student amenities concentrated in
disconnection. There are currently institutional agendas and
Union House, and aims to provide
limited opportunities for students students’ current capacities for
an enhanced student experience,
to contribute to decisionmaking participation.
combining innovative forms of built
design and physical infrastructure about the spaces and programs they 3. To extend current thinking about
with new opportunities for cultural participate in. In this respect, the NSP’s cultural diversity and social
connection, participation and co-creation strategy is an important inclusion among students. What
transformation. Due to open in 2021- test case for wider structures of role does the University have in
2022, the NSP also responds to the student consultation, engagement and creating a sense of community?
needs of the University’s growing and participatory decisionmaking across
diversifying student cohort. the University. 4. To investigate the potential of
co-creation approaches for the
The NSP development poses the The report’s title reflects a tension: University’s future strategies of
question of what the responsibility students seek ways to belong to student engagement, feedback
of the University is towards its the University community, but this and collaboration.
students. The NSP is committed to depends on their own resources
‘co-creating’ with students, inviting and initiative. There is a need for
them to participate in the governance, structures of inclusion, participation
design and activation of the space. and collaboration that better support
A co-creation approach to precinct this desire to belong. Belonging also
development positions the University contributes to citizenship. This research
as a civic actor, accountable for the offers new ways of thinking about the
governance and engagement of its University’s role in creating engaged
student constituencies. citizens in diverse communities that
reach both within and beyond its
This report is motivated by the campuses.
question of how to understand the
University of Melbourne’s students
as a community. Students are more
mobile, diverse and ambitious than
before, but they are also faced with
1. Chi Baik, Ryan Naylor and Sophie Arkoudis, The First
Year Experience in Australian Universities: Findings From
Two Decades, 1994-2014 (Melbourne: Melbourne Centre
for the Study of Higher Education, The University of
Melbourne, 2015).
5
2. Methodology
An ethnographic approach has helped to produce a rich account of
student experiences and trajectories.
This research has adopted a mixed- Data from the student experience Total 23
methods framework to respond to the ethnography was analysed using Interviewees
diversity and complexity of student NVivo. A series of ‘infrastructure’
experiences and modes of engagement codes (relating to the University’s Male 8
with university life. physical and institutional resources) Female 15
and ‘thematic’ codes (relating to
The research has comprised of: belonging, participation and diversity)
were developed from the research Postgraduate 14
1. ‘Student experience’ ethnography, questions. Additional codes were
including in-depth interviews (23 Undergraduate 9
developed based on content analysis of
students), ‘cultural complexity’ transcripts. Codes were dis/aggregated
classroom discussions (150 in order to catalogue how a specific
students), NSP Festival survey International 12
phenomenon is expressed (eg., dealing
(76 students), and participant with difference > mixing, segregation, Local 11
observation. friendship, collaboration). Matrix
2. Co-creation activity mapping. analysis examined the intersection
Access 2
between one code with other codes.
3. Digital and social network analysis. Melbourne
4. Stakeholder and policy research. A breakdown of respondents in the
student experience ethnography is
5. Literature review on co-design, Disability 4
presented in figure 1.
belonging and participation in
the university, participation in
Mature Age 2
university settings, placemaking,
social network analysis and
student citizenship. Figure 1: Demographic breakdown of
research participants
6
Student workshop materials. Credit: Authors
7
3. Key findings
Co-creation and governance Student experience journeys Moving students from a place of
insecurity to a more empowered
The NSP’s co-creation program is The enormous diversity of students at position relies on four key drivers.
commendable. However, an authenitic University of Melbourne means there
and long-term commitment to student are different ways in which students
engagement requires rethinking participate and belong. This report Drivers of the ‘Melbourne
structures of student feedback, identifies four modes of connection
consultation and collaboration across
experience’
that shape students’ journeys.
the University. Participation: There is an array
1. Insecurity and immobility of different modes and levels of
Co-creation does not just refer to participation in University
the design of a physical space but 2. Values and leadership
life. The majority of students are
the development of opportunities, 3. Career and achievement likely to attend, or join in, with events
experiences and services that are that have already been organised or
relevant to students. 4. Balance and connection curated for them. This highlights the
The different modes of connection are importance of both structured and
Meaningful co-creation is challenging.
not stable or mutually exclusive. unstructured activity.
While community-building is an aim
of co-creation processes, the diversity Many students’ participation habits
and transience of the University Students can experience insecurity and
disconnection at different times during reflect a form of ‘inertia’. For many,
community can mean uneven levels of being involved in one activity opens up
engagement in co-creation. In order for their degrees, rather than only at the
beginning of their student journeys. other opportunities; participation leads
co-creation processes to be effective, to more participation. Those who find
students need to recognise themselves Transient friendships and a lack of it difficult to join in activity may find it
as citizens within the University support networks make students increasingly hard as study obligations
community. particularly vulnerable to isolation. and other pressures mount.
To date, co-creation processes have There is much the University can do
to help students transition out of Access to information:
helped to provide student feedback Students’ awareness of existing
and raise awareness of the NSP. insecurity into these more positive
states. opportunities promoted through
However, co-creation should be official University channels is low.
understood as more than a marketing Those who are leaders in participation
strategy. Meaningful co-creation Towards the ‘Melbourne and decision-making are highly
requires investment in relationship- motivated and proactive in seeking
development and capacity-building experience’ out relevant information, but not all
to ensure students are enthusiastic The NSP is underpinned by ambitious students share this self-motivation.
contributors to the decision-making sustainability, reconciliation and Centralised or top-down forms of
process. Co-creation is an ongoing inclusion agendas that form part knowledge-sharing are important, but
process that does not end with the of an ideal ‘Melbourne’ experience. do not always have the same level of
installation of built infrastructure, but It presents a vision of campus life engagement with students as peer-to-
involves the continued development of in which students are flexible, peer contact.
programs of participation. The dynamic empowered and engaged.
nature of the University community Engagement with difference: The
means that there is a particular need The reality is that students are presence of international students
to ensure the ongoing relevance and increasingly diverse, dispersed and has created the impression of an
useability of the NSP after it is built. disconnected. The challenge lies increasingly segregated student
Creative activations are a productive in ensuring that students have the body, leading parallel cultural lives.
approach to co-creation but should capacity to engage with the full range This tendency towards separation is
be viewed as more than temporary of possibilities offered by the NSP, and exacerbated by University structures.
placemaking initiatives. to become its champions. There is strong desire among students
to make friendships that cross-cultural
8
lines and social boundaries. However, The role of particular external
this is also perceived as difficult. stakeholders (such as churches,
The University can offer students a political parties, or cultural
range of opportunities for engaging organisations) in shaping the University
with difference, ranging from active community needs to be better
collaboration to promoting the value understood.
of diversity. Active collaboration
across difference is particularly For many students, belonging to the
important in culturally complex University and belonging to Melbourne
spaces, and can be the starting point are difficult to separate. There is much
for friendships, intellectual exchanges, to be learned about the relationship
communities of practice and networks between students’ lives on and off
of solidarity. Collaboration can also campus, and how diverse communities
contribute to ‘cultural intelligence’, or of students are shaping cultural
the ability to effectively mediate across landscapes in the city and suburbs.
cultural difference.
Belonging: The University’s complex
landscape of community means
that belonging among students is
multifaceted and difficult to measure.
It is clear that a strong foundation
of both belonging and participation
contributes to more meaningful
citizenship. The NSP has an important
role in fostering belonging that can lead
to commoning and collective agency,
and which supports the University’s
agendas of sustainability, reconciliation
and inclusion.
Networks of community
Students participate in a complex
variety of social, digital and
institutional networks. All networks
contribute to the formation of
community. These networks produce
collective knowledge and structures of
belonging that are critical for navigating
life as Melbourne student.
The student union continues to
play an important role in creating
community, but does not represent
all students. Many students reflect a
desire to connect with the University
of Melbourne ‘brand’ but are
disconnected from formal University
networks or clubs.
9
4. Recommendations
Co-creation and student Opportunities for Diversity, inclusion and
engagement participation belonging
1. Co-creation processes should 3. Students need more accessible 6. Student belonging should
be incorporated into the long- information about relevant be prioritised and addressed
term governance and evaluation activities. While there is a wide across the University. Belonging
of the NSP. Students should range of co-curricular activity contributes to increased student
wellbeing, satisfaction and
lead decisions about the use and taking place at the University,
citizenship in the short-term,
activation of NSP spaces after much of this is not visible to and can help cultivate long-term
they are built. Co-creation should students. More relevant digital connections and commitment to
involve a range of participatory communication platforms should the University as students become
approaches to ensure students be developed in close consultation alumni.
with varying capacities are with students. Simpler solutions
7. The University has an obligation
included. The existing Student such as an NSP ‘information desk’
to go beyond tokenistic gestures
Ambassador and Student can also be helpful. of ‘welcome’, and to provide
Experience Advisory Groups 4. Physical spaces of participation students with relevant resources
should be extended to ensure should reflect the diversity of and services, especially for
ongoing capacity-building among student interests. Spaces that those experiencing cultural or
students. are flexible and can be adapted social isolation. These resources
to different uses are preferable to should be available throughout
2. There is a need to move beyond
well-designed spaces with fixed students’ degree pathways, not
project-based thinking to ensure just at the beginning. A range
uses.
a University-wide approach to of initiatives can help students
co-creation. Many of the issues 5. Professional or study-related move out of insecurity. Students
of disconnection and insecurity opportunities are vital for highlighted a strong need for
that students face require holistic strengthening students’ post- improved availability of health and
responses and collaboration university employability and counselling services; academic
contributing to optimism. support services; and better
between different parts of the
Schools and Faculties have a role in information about cultural,
University. The appointment of a facilitating this activity, especially
community development officer recreational and vocational
for time-poor or academically participation opportunities
or similar would ensure that stressed students. Students
goals of co-creation, inclusion could be provided with tangible 8. Participation opportunities
and participation are addressed recognition of their involvement should promote intercultural
holistically in the long-term. in co-curricular activity, through engagement and collaboration.
study credit, certificates, Support could be offered to
formalised internships or paid activities involving more than
employment opportunities. one club or society, or which
demonstrate an interest in
intercultural exchange. The
NSP’s activation strategies
could focus on bringing together
diverse groups of students and
stakeholders. Digital platforms
that showcase students’ diverse
stories and creative interests
can contribute to shared cultural
worlds.
10The University’s wider civic
and cultural role
9. Facilitating cultural intelligence
should be a central part of the
University’s efforts to produce
flexible, global citizens. Cross-
cultural skills and orientations
are a vital vocational capacity for
students entering a globalised
economy, and could be more
actively fostered by the University.
10. Further research could
examine the University’s
cultural and civic role in the
wider context of the city of
Melbourne. For many students,
belonging to the University and
belonging to Melbourne are
difficult to separate. Research
could examine how city spaces
adjacent to the University shape
the experiences of students, and
how students’ cultural practices,
digital networks and practices of
community-making are redefining
the city and campus.
Melbourne skyline. Credit: student interviewee
11Melbourne University Student, Credit: University of Melbourne 12
5. Co-Creation and governance
Co-creation strategies are increasingly part of large urban development projects and
offer an opportunity to engage diverse constituencies in decision-making.
Co-creation as placemaking spaces, students can be viewed as a Co-creation as an ongoing
captive community. Many are invested process
The NSP’s co-creation strategy is in making connections and gaining
part of a placemaking process that cultural and vocational experience Co-creation and placemaking should
reflects wider trends within the higher during their time at University. be viewed as an ongoing process that
education sector to engage students in does not end with the installation
the development of University spaces.2 of built infrastructure. Places are
Placemaking approaches offer Co-creation as pedagogy constantly in flux. The social and
an opportunity to engage diverse institutional meanings attached to
communities in projects of shared In many urban placemaking sites,
long-term community engagement places cannot be predicted in advance
meaning-making. Co-created places and are realised through a multiplicity
not only manage existing community and education is required to equip
individuals with the capacity to of ‘post-installation’ practices and
relations but are concerned with labours.5 The dynamic nature of the
‘imagining and opening up future meaningfully participate in co-creation.
The University context presents a University community means that
potentialities’ for community-building there is a particular need to ensure the
and exchange.3 unique opportunity, where co-creation
and the training of students to ready ongoing relevance and useability of
them for participatory citizenship can the NSP after it is built. It is important
to avoid a ‘build it and they will come’
Co-creating with diverse be tied in with the pedagogical activity
mentality.
communities of the University. Incorporating co-
creation activities into teaching and The ongoing tracking, governance
In a diverse and mobile urban learning can especially help to engage and relevance of the NSP could
community, people have unequal time-poor students in the placemaking be achieved through surveys and
and inconsistent forms of investment process. traditional evaluation methods, as
in local places, and may be difficult well as through creative methods that
to engage in collective placemaking capture the meanings and practices
activity.4 Thus, while the creation of Co-creation as awareness- that students bring to the Precinct.
community is an aim of co-creation raising
processes, the existing diversity The co-creation processes can be
of a community can mean uneven Co-creation has been used to
viewed as an opportunity to test new
levels of engagement in co-creation strengthen student engagement
structures of student engagement
processes. with the NSP development. The
and governance for the NSP. The
NSP festival held in October 2018 was
ongoing nature of placemaking, and
This often results in circular thinking a key platform for creating student
the changing and diverse makeup of
about co-creation, where ‘community’ awareness of the development. In a
the student community requires the
is an outcome of co-creation processes, survey of 76 students at the festival,
continuing input of students into the
but is also a necessary precursor to just over half (58%) had heard of the
NSP before attending the event, but NSP.
successful co-creation.
two-thirds (67%) indicated that they
This tension is particularly pronounced wanted to be more involved in the NSP
within the University context. The legacy of activations
after the festival. The success of this
The transient nature of University event underscores the importance Creative activations offer a
communities makes engagement in of highly visible co-creation activities productive approach to co-creation,
co-creation particularly difficult. At in physical spaces alongside digital and a strategy for testing future
the same time, unlike in other urban communications and marketing. uses of the NSP site. However, the
2. O’Rourke and Baldwin, “Student Engagement in (London: Routledge, 2007), pp 277. Kristian Ruming, “Assembling Placemaking: Making
Placemaking at an Australian University Campus”, 4. Kate Shaw and Geua Montana. “Place-Making and Remaking Place in a Regenerating City”, Cultural
103–16. in megaprojects in Melbourne”, Urban Policy and Geographies 25,4 (2018): 571 –587.
3. Patsy Healey, Urban Complexity and Spatial Research 34,2 (2014): 166–89.
Strategies: Towards a Relational Planning for our Times 5. Jill Sweeney, Kathy Mee, Pauline McGuirk and
13outcomes of temporary activations are staff from diverse disciplines and modes of engagement can be
often ephemeral, and it is difficult to backgrounds. It encouraged new forms encompassed by co-creation. The
trace the legacy of these in the ongoing of interaction between these groups, as diagram below (Figure 2) highlights
design and use of a cultural precinct. well as with the physical site itself. that ideally, co-creation should involve
Rather than viewing activations as collaboration and empowerment
temporary placemaking events, a Consultation with students before the rather than only information and
longer-term and strategic view of event suggested a significant desire consultation.
how activations will contribute to to see greater acknowledgement
the NSP is important. Activations of Aboriginal culture and rights to A timeline of NSP co-creation activities
could be viewed as projects that Country at the University. The Living is presented in Figure 3, highlighting
bring together students and other Pavilion responded to this desire and a spectrum of different modes and
stakeholders into important offered curated and semi-curated levels of student participation and
conversations about how the site opportunities for students to learn engagement, against this framework.
will be used after the NSP is built. In about biodiversity, sustainability
fact, decisions about what kinds and the Aboriginal heritage of the Since 2016 there have been a diversity
of activations are supported, how University site, through workshops, of activities and approaches to
they engage with students and music, dance and storytelling. co-creation, but most of these have
which communities of students Feedback from attendees and taken the form of awareness-raising
benefit from them could be made participants at The Living Pavilion and consultation. There is significant
by students themselves, as part of suggests that more opportunities for potential to empower students through
the NSP’s long-term co-creation these forms of interaction and learning more meaningful opportunities for
structure. should be incorporated into the collaboration in the future.
design of the site. Numerous research
The Living Pavilion was a major respondents commented that the The Student Advisory groups and
activation that offered a productive event should be a permanent one. Ambassador programs should be
site to test strategies of reconciliation developed as ongoing forums of
and decolonisation in the University Mapping co-creation participatory decision-making. By
context. The event involved numerous giving students a voice, these can
community and institutional Existing literature on co-creation ensure the ongoing relevance of the
stakeholders, artists, students and highlights how a range of different NSP.
IAP2’s PublIc PArtIcIPAtIon sPectrum
The IAP2 Federation has developed the Spectrum to help groups define the public’s role in any public participation process.
The IAP2 Spectrum is quickly becoming an international standard.
Inform consult Involve collAborAte emPower
To provide the public To obtain public To work directly with To partner with To place final decision
PublIc PArtIcIPAtIon GoAl
with balanced and feedback on analysis, the public throughout the public in each making in the hands of
objective information alternatives and/or the process to ensure aspect of the the public.
to assist them in decisions. that public concerns decision including
understanding the and aspirations the development of
problem, alternatives, are consistently alternatives and the
opportunities and/or understood and identification of the
solutions. considered. preferred solution.
We will keep you We will keep you We will work with We will look to you We will implement
for advice and
PromIse to the PublIc
informed. informed, listen to you to ensure that what you decide.
and acknowledge your concerns and innovation in
concerns and aspirations are directly formulating solutions
aspirations, and reflected in the and incorporate your
provide feedback alternatives developed advice and
on how public and provide feedback recommendations
input influenced the on how public into the decisions to
decision. input influenced the the maximum extent
decision. possible.
© IAP2 International Federation 2014. All rights reserved.
Figure 2: The “Participation Spectrum”, the framework used to inform the NSP co-creation map overleaf. Copyright International Association for Public Participation (IAP2)
14The Living Pavillion- Indigenous Placemaking at the University of Melbourne , Credit: Isabel Kimpton
15EMPOWER 2016 2017
COMMUNITY-LED
PLACEMAKING /
“GRASSROOTS
URBANISM”
ASSET-BASED
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
Reconciliation
week
PARTICIPATORY exhibition
GOVERNANCE S
COLLABORATIVE
DESIGN
HUMAN-CENTERED
DESIGN
PARTICIPATORY Sustainability
DESIGN workshop:
long-list & principles
Design studio: Design studio:
‘Rolling out the ‘Designing for
ETHNOGRAPHIC Welcome Mat’ Heat’
RESEARCH
/ “DEEP Subject:
ENGAGEMENT” ‘Designing the
Inclusive
University’
Consultation Quantitative
Student workshops research Alumni
engagement
CONSULTATION focus survey survey
Sustainability
groups survey
Mobile O-week
engagement pop-up wall
office &
comment
walls Fairfoo
unicyc
“ACTIVATION” Pop-up
morning
teas x3
Subject: Subject: ‘Destination O-W
‘Engineering ‘Green Melbourne’ Subject:
NSP Management’ Rooves’ student session ‘Procurement p
COMMUNICATIONS engagement Methods’
space
GSA
house
warmi
INFORM
162018 2019
Next
Wave arts Reconciliation week:
student artwork display
mentorship
in outdoor gallery,
mentorship
Nex Wave
moving image
Outdoor Reconciliation mentorships
gallery week
farrago exhibition
SEAG Student art
SEAG SEAG SEAG exhibition SEAG SEAG SEAG SEAG prize
SEAG SEAG SEAG
Exhibition of
MSD ‘Landscape NSP
Materialities’ Student MUDFEST
projects ambassador Event
design
workshops
Co-creation Drop-in
Staff workshops with sessions
sustainability Indigenous with
woskhsop students Wayfindng achitects
Design
studio: & staff audit with studio:
ing for student NSP fes ‘Architecture as
tival
at’ ambassadors Memory’
Design
studio:
Indigenous ‘Radical
engagement Classroom’
student
survey Informal study
ability space survey
vey Arup informal Student Accessible
Schematic Gender-neutral
study space
spaces user experience design
design survey survey
presented at group survey
Fairfood
unicycle
open say
The
Furniture
Living exhibition
Pavillion
O-Week Monash Rd Subject:
pop-up space ‘Engineering
O-Week
Open
Management’
Monash Rd
pop-up
day
Podcast Subject:
episode ‘Construction
GSA
Law’
house-
warming
SEAG = Student Experience
Advisory Group Meeting
Figure 3: NSP co-creation timeline
NSP : PUBLIC PARTICIPATION MATRIX
V3 July 2019
176. Student experience journeys
The enormous diversity of students at University of Melbourne gives rise to an array
of different student experience journeys. This section charts students’ experiences of
belonging and participation in terms of four ‘modes of connection’.
6.1 Modes of connection
These modes of connection were used to make sense of the student At the same time this analysis is
formulated after extensive coding experience, such as local/international, attentive to particular groups of
and analysis of research interviews graduate/undergraduate, dis/abled, students who may be more likely than
with students. The four categories or mature age. Students in all of these others to experience insecurity. The
represented here depict different groups can be found at different stages recommendations that emerge from
ways in which students belong and of the journeys depicted in this section. this section focus on what is required
connect with each other, but they to move students out of a state of
are not mutually exclusive. In many While local and international students insecurity.
cases students moved between these may have access to different cultural,
different states over the course of their economic and institutional resources, These modes of connection are
degree. differences between local students, or explained in detail on the following
between different kinds of international pages.
By emphasising how students inhabit students are equally important to think
different modes of connection, we seek about.
to go beyond the usual classifications
healthy home
lifestyle community
Balance and
Connection motivated
socially
joiners-in responsible leaders
stress-free
Values and
Leadership
experienced involved
hardship
Belonging
focused
ambitious &
academic demanding
Career and
Achievement
struggling
long-term time-poor
under vision
pressure disconnected
Insecurity and
Immobility
anxious depressed
feel
excluded
Participation
Figure 4: The four modes of connection compared
by attitudes to belonging and participation.
18struggling
under
disconnected
Insecurity and immobility pressure
Insecurity and
immobility
anxious depressed
These students are largely disconnected from University life. They speak of finding it difficult feel
to meet people or participate in co-curricular activities because they feel socially anxious or excluded
are stressed about academic performance. Some of these students feel pressure to succeed
academically, or experience financial guilt that makes it difficult to prioritise social life and
cultural participation.
Transient friendships and a lack of support networks make students vulnerable to isolation.
However, in some cases students are able to break out of insecurity by joining a community
or through creative activity.
International students are at particular risk of isolation. While many find community
on arrival to Melbourne, these networks can be fleeting, for example, as friends leave
Melbourne, or as students move between different accommodation options. International
students also contend with language barriers, navigating an unfamiliar city, and
understanding new cultural norms and expectations.
There are other groups of students who are susceptible to insecurity. Students with
disabilities may become isolated because opportunities for participation are not accessible.
Students from low SES backgrounds or who do not live in the city spend less time on campus
and can become disconnected from University.
“ I’d like to get involved in more uni
stuff. I think I’ll regret not being as
involved, like my mum’s always
“ I don’t go for tutorials... I guess
in social situations panic attacks
can be present so I will avoid
“ My experience as a mature
aged student has meant I face
some kind of ageist based social
”
going, ‘You should do this at uni,’ them totally... Unless it’s a group exclusion each week.
but it’s just I’m not the kind of of people that I’m really familiar
person to go to something by
myself.
”
with. If not, I wouldn’t interact.
”
Parkville Campus. Credit: University of Melbourne
19healthy
lifestyle stress free
Balance and connection Balance and
connection
joiners-in home
Many students value balance, and find connection by cultivating a range of belonging- community
in-place
interests and prioritising health, exercise, family and friendship over academic
performance.
Students may participate in activity outside the University, such as in sports clubs,
religious communities, or in a part-time job. This participation can limit the need
to be involved with activity on campus.
On campus students may join in with events or clubs but do not necessarily feel
pulled to leadership roles or motivated by social or political values.
“ I’d like to be doing something
that’s meaningful but that
doesn’t take up my whole life.
“ I think previously it would be
like, ‘I need to graduate by this
certain time. Get a job by this
“ So when I go back [home at
the end of the day] I’m usually
focusing on other things like
The best thing I learned is certain age.’ But I think right hobbies, or chatting with my
balance.
” now it’s more of a laid back
attitude of just being needing
family, or anything else other
than study... I kind of feel like
to be resilient for whatever
happens across the years ... like
if things happen with family,
that’s my balance.
”
”
I need to spend more time on
that.
NSP Gallery exhibiting artists. Credit: Tiffany Liu.
20motivated
socially
responsible leaders
Values and leadership
Values and
leadership
cultivate involved
belonging
Some students find belonging and connection through a commitment to experienced
leadership and creating change on campus. hardship
These are often highly motivated students who are actively involved in a range
of activities, including employment on campus, professional development,
volunteering, clubs and societies. They may participate in decision-making and
assume leadership roles within groups.
These students spend a lot of time on campus; University is central to their social
and cultural life in Melbourne.
Some students who begin their University journey experiencing hardship may
develop a capacity for leadership. They may be motivated by their social values
and a desire to create change.
“ I wanted to make UMSU a better
place...I needed to be elected to
make big change happen to the
“ So yeah so that’s my interest
in terms of people who are
struggling with illness or
“ I guess I love teaching...so
that’s how I feel like I help
others, and for me to finally be
things I loved, that had helped me disability comes from my own able to help people here, that
when I was in such a bad place.
”
experience.
” could be what sort of enhanced
that sense of belonging.
”
FairFood UniCycle, a student-led initiative to reduce hospitality waste on campus. Credit: New Student Precinct Project, University of Melbourne
21focused
ambitious &
academic demanding
Career and achievement
Career and
achievement
long-term strategic
vision
Some students’ primary connection to University life is through a focus on career time-poor
and achievement. Students may be motivated to participate in activities that
will help them pursue their career goals such as faculty events, discipline-based
student groups and internships, or industry-focused volunteering. A focus on
achievement means these students may be more likely than others to form close
connections with their classmates or have positive relationships with University
staff.
This is an important mode of connection. However, the pressure to achieve
can also create stress, and can be exacerbated by financial pressure or family
expectations.
“ I have very long term career
plans...I think if I can publish
several papers, it will give
“ I just like to take some
responsibilities. It also keeps me
motivated to study. I feel like I
“ I found with all my subjects that
I did last year there’s such a
wonderful like micro intellectual
me a higher possibility to am on the board of this [club] so I community that evolves as the
get a position in...the young
professional program for some
have to be on top of everything.
” subject goes along...So by the
time I see it the semester -I was
international organizations.
” really sad.
”
Open Day. Credit: University of Melbourne
226.2 Student trajectories
The diagram below charts students’ Long-term tracking of students Sarah and Lam’s journeys on the
trajectories over time. It highlights reiterates these shifting pressures that following pages show how students
how finding belonging and spaces of occur throughout degree pathways.6 transition into and out of different
participation can be a gradual process The flux of student experience reflects modes of connection over time.
for many students. how students’ support networks
develop and diffuse over time. As
For many students insecurity is a a consequence, there is a need for
temporary state of disconnection that the University to provide support
occurs either at the beginning of their and inclusion throughout students’
student journeys, or at various points journeys, rather than at the beginning
throughout their degree, as study and at orientation or ‘welcome’ events.
other pressures mount.
2018 a
-19
Anit
-19
Su
18
sa
20
n
s
ui
20
Lo
18
-1
9
Mi
ng
9
8-1
20
201
17
sica
BELONGING
9
-19
Amy 2016-1
9
Jes
2018-1
-19
17
-18
20
9 16
01
Alice
20
-2
g
16 or
an
20 af
Zh
Ok
9
h
-1
ra
17
Sa Nahal 2018-19
20
9
-1
Andrew
18
2018-19
en
20
ev
y
St
rle
9
-1
be
18
-19
Lam 2017-18
m
Ki
20
17
Manpreet
20
m
La
ke
Lu
PARTICIPATION
Figure 5: Scatterplot of students’ trajectories
through belonging and participation over time.
6. Mark Holton, “Adapting relationships with place: period of intense transition”, Geoforum 59, (2015):
Investigating the evolving place attachment and ‘sense 21-29.
of place’ of UK higher education students during a
23Sarah’s journey
“
2019
I think it also goes back to the early
days of knowing I was coming in
through the Access Melbourne
scheme, at the same time as there
was Chancellor’s Scholars. Brings in
a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety...While I
was attracted to the heritage of the
buildings and the prestige, there’s
that, ‘Am I good enough? Am I worthy
enough? Why have they let me in? Has
there some kind of a mistake? Will I get
called out?’ They’re not going to call
me out because I belong here. And I
can belong to pretty much anything I
”
set my mind to.
“
2019
Getting to be involved in the
big decisions, getting to sit on
committees...It’s given me so much
more confidence.
I try to welcome the first years. I’ll find
that person who looks the most afraid
and talk to them...I’m established
enough that it doesn’t matter if I’m
”
the weirdo. No one will look down on
me because I’ve been involved and
earned the senior people’s respect.
“ I wanted to make UMSU a better
2018 place...I needed to be elected to make
big change happen to the things I
loved, that had helped me when I was
in such a bad place. ”
“
2017
I really put myself out there, and I still
didn’t find it easy to make friends. I
think that’s why volunteering became
such a big part of my life. It was that
connection with another person. Just
being friendly wasn’t really enough.
Like it was solely getting involved in
Christian Union and volunteering that
changed things for me. If I hadn’t done
that, if I hadn’t had people welcome
me... ”
“
I’m the first one in my family to go to
university...I was accepted through the
2016 Melbourne Access Scheme...I’m from
a lower-CS background, first in family,
semi-rural, all that kind of made
university a bit harder...my transition
to starting uni was very difficult.
I can imagine there must be a lot of
students who go through the same
anxiety and perhaps don’t come out of
it so well. ”
24“
2019
Its so different now. I’m trying to cope
with like my studies and my mental
health and all that.
The counsellor told me; was there
Lam’s journey anything before that you particularly
“ When I first came over here, I did not enjoyed, like a hobby or anything. And
know anybody. I told her, like; photography. I would
2017 always use my film camera to take
I stayed in student accommodation, it shots.
was pretty much like where everybody
from different countries staying And so I did, like when I go for walks,
together and all that. Of course they and that... I guess that allows me to
were the first people I would talk to, see what I enjoy in Melbourne. And it
and we always went out partying and pretty much made me happier.
drinking...I became really close to
them.
” And I guess like photography was
something that connected me to [my
friends]. And now I feel much closer to
“
2017
It was pretty good until like my second
semester. You know when friends
them because they know what I like,
and I know of what they like and like
keep sort of asking you to go out when
you’re so busy with study and you
we click on that.
”
“
have FOMO and all that, and you’re So when the semester started I had
like ‘I’m just going to go party’. But to go to school. So I pushed myself
after that you’re like oh I feel bad. I 2018 and went and saw my friends, it was
shouldn’t do this. another group of friends, the not-so-
party ones.
I failed a couple of subjects and
everything started to go downhill.
” I started seeing a psychiatrist. I started
medication. After a few months I sort
of started to feel like at least a tiny
“
2017
Because of me struggling with my
studies, I kind of distanced myself
[from my friends], you know, tried to
motivation.
I went back to Taiwan for an
focus on my studies. internship. When I went back it was
like... it was pretty new. I never knew
And I guess they were kind of unhappy my parents could be so kind to me! I
with it. Their responses were like ‘Hey came back and I looked....happier, It
don’t be like that, come on, have a
break’ and every time I see them, I’m
like ‘what do I do?’ I felt bad. Like really
sort of reset everything.
”
bad...
” “ My best friend from Taiwan [called me
on Skype] and was like ‘are you OK’, or
“
I didn’t go back [to Taiwan] for the 2018 ‘what happened to you’. She just knew
entire year, did the winter course and something was up. I told her I couldn’t
2018 all that. I was under a lot of stress, so I do this any more. I don’t even feel like I
got sick so often. can leave [Melbourne].
I [also] worried about my parents. So that gave me the push to seek help.
Because there were some family It was then that I realised I should seek
issues and I wasn’t there, and my counselling.
brother was there....I felt pretty left
out, from my family. When my brother came back he found
the entire place was dark, and messy...
And I think that’s when I sort of like He literally did like cooking, cleaning,
fell into a depression. It was then that
”
grocery shopping, everything.
made me feel like... I was feeling really
bad. I was so down. I was literally just
M.I.A from everyone. I would just stay
at home, stay in the corner and not
do anything. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t
bathe. Everything was too hard. I was
contemplating suicide.
”
256.4 Breaking out of
insecurity
As these students’ journeys Respondents suggested access ensure these students have ongoing
demonstrate, participation and to affordable sports facilities are opportunities to participate.
belonging are mutually-reinforcing. highly valued, that wait times at ■■ Paid positions: Financial stress
university’s counselling service are can make it difficult for students
Participation in campus life is often
the first step to overcoming insecurity. prohibitive and students do not to participate in unpaid extra-
Getting involved builds social networks know who to turn to for academic curricular activities. Paid
and opens doors towards other support. participation opportunities can help
opportunities. However some students ■■ Centralised, accessible information: connect students to the University,
face greater financial, academic, So many opportunities for building a sense of agency and
cultural or psychological barriers than participation exist on campus that belonging on campus.
others to participation.
there is something for everyone.
Students highlighted the need for: However, many students are
unaware of relevant information or
■■ Improved support services. The suitable opportunities.
most insecure students need
■■ Organised & accessible
financial, psychological, health or
opportunities to meet new
academic support to lessen the
people: Many students might have
stressors that prevent them from
difficulties striking up conversations
particiating. Other initatives to
with strangers and can benefit
improve student life are unlikely to
from organised activities. Running
succeed until these basic services
activities similar to Orientation
are accessible, affordable and
Week throughout the year can
timely.
Balance
and
Belonging
connection Values
and
leadership
Career
and
Immobility achievement
and
insecurity
Participation
Figure 6: Example trajectories from insecurity to other
‘modes of connection’
2627
Melbourne University Farmers’ Market. Credit: University of Melbourne 28
7. Towards the ‘Melbourne
experience’
A disconnect exists between the engaged, empowered student envisaged by the NSP
and many students’ current reality of insecurity.
The idealised experience The NSP is also a signature project The lived reality
of the University’s Reconciliation
The New Student Precinct imagines Action Plan. The Precinct aims for The NSP responds to a rapidly
a vision of campus life in which ‘transformational change and deep transforming student body that is
students are flexible, empowered cultural engagement’ through the becoming both more diverse and
and engaged. embedding of Indigenous knowledge dispersed. There are approximately 60
and perspectives to its built design and 000 students currently enrolled at the
Its co-creation approach assumes University of Melbourne. Over one-
that students are self-aware, self- placemaking approach.7 The Living
Pavilion was a major placemaking third (37%) of students are enrolled as
directed and committed to working international students, and postgraduate
collaboratively towards the creation of project and arts-science collaboration
that activated the NSP site for three students now exceed undergraduate
spaces that reflect collective interests students.8 There are also increasing
and aspirations. Ideally, students will weeks in May 2019, and reflected
this commitment to University-wide numbers of students from regional and
have a cosmopolitan and civic-minded remote areas, and efforts to improve
outlook, be ready to embrace diversity, reconciliation. This followed other
Indigenous arts and cultural activations access to domestic students from a Non-
make new friendships and contribute English Speaking Background.
to cross-cultural understanding. (the Outdoor Gallery and Next Wave
Students in the New Student Precinct program) that have taken place on Significantly, the current student
are curious, creative, enterprising the NSP site. While these present cohort reflects unprecedented levels of
and autonomous. They have the time significant platforms for Indigenous global mobility, and is a transient and
and motivation to engage with, and students and artists to tell their stories disconnected cohort.9
lead, campus activations, as well as and shape the University’s cultural
participate in University decision- landscape, their temporary nature At an individual level, reports of mental
making. raises a question about what a long- health issues, including stress, anxiety
term commitment to Indigenous and isolation, are on the rise.10 This
While there are many students who knowledge-making should look like in reality of disconnection and insecurity
fit this profile, and who have already the NSP. has also been reiterated by internal
been engaged in the NSP’s co-creation reporting on the student experience.11
process, there are many others who do This conversation needs to include These forms of insecurity relate to the
not. Indigenous students, staff and many adjustments and reorientations
stakeholders in order to be meaningful that take place as students begin
In addition, the Melbourne student and accepted by the wider Indigenous life at university, including; living
is imagined to be highly engaged community. independently without family support,
with the NSP’s institutional goals financial insecurity, cultural insecurity,
of sustainability, Indigenous The NSP’s cultural and institutional
ambitions are significant. The challenge and uncertainty about academic ability
reconciliation and social inclusion. and future life and career pathways.
lies in ensuring that students have the
The NSP aligns with the University’s capacity to engage with the full range These experiences of insecurity impact
high level sustainability values and of possibilities offered by the NSP, students’ ability and motivation to
embeds sustainability principles and to become its champions. The participate in University life. Many
into its design, construction and following sections of this report reflect students feel the pressure of attending
cultural activations. The NSP offers a on what is required for students to fulfil a prestigious university – either as a
pedagogical opportunity in relation this ideal of meaningful participation, local or international student – and
to sustainability; through innovative autonomy and connection. the need to make the most of the
design and communication it can raise opportunities available to them while
awareness of sustainability issues. they are here. For some students,
7. University of Melbourne. Social Inclusion Barometer and Andrew Martel. Transnational and Temporary: 10. Chi Baik et al. Enhancing Student Mental Wellbeing:
(Melbourne: Chancellery, University of Melbourne, 2019). Students, Community and Place-Making in Central A Handbook for Academic Educators. Melbourne:
8. Ibid. Melbourne (Melbourne: School of Architecture, Building University of Melbourne, 2017.
and Planning, University of Melbourne, 2009). 11. University of Melbourne, 2019.
9. Ruth Fincher, Paul Carter, Paolo Tombesi, Kate Shaw
29opportunities are experienced as and temporary’ nature of the There is a growing body of literature
burdens. student community means that on how these forms of cultural
traditional approaches to increasing complexity might be managed
“I think there was a period of time in uni connectedness and engagement through new approaches to urban
where I was trying to do as much as I require rethinking.12 Older notions planning.15 These propose developing
can. And I felt very burnt out... I’m always of community are becoming less belonging and collective agency
kind of looking to the next person or applicable for understanding through collaborative forms of
friend. And they always still seem to be contemporary forms of intercultural cultural participation and knowledge
doing double what I’m doing. So, it’s like, encounter and attachment.13 As production.16 This report draws on
‘Is that what I’m meant to be doing right students become increasingly mobile, these perspectives to consider what
now?’”. they seek out a range of more fluid the potential of existing cultural activity
attachments and identities, and the among students might be, and how the
Dealing with insecurity involves communities they produce are porous NSP might support this activity.
navigating conflicting information and unstable. These new forms of
about what they should be community give rise to a multiplication
participating in. Such pressures of difference and increasingly complex Drivers of the ‘Melbourne
account for many students’ desire to
find private, ‘secret’, or ‘quiet’ spaces
dynamics of cultural diversity.14 experience’
on campus. There is a strong desire In the University context, it can no Our research identifies four drivers of
among students to ‘switch off’, and longer be assumed that students will the idealised ‘Melbourne experience’.
escape obligations to connect and share common cultural interests, Each of these drivers are explained in
participate. aspirations, political persuasions or more detail in the following section.
points of reference. New approaches
The realities of social and cultural to community-building are needed
insecurity underpin the wider which respond to this multiplicity, and
challenge of ensuring an inclusive which offer a range of entry points for
and socially cohesive campus engagement with, and participation in,
experience. The ‘transnational different forms of student life.
The ‘Melbourne
experience’
Participation Information Engagement with Belonging
difference
Leadership Commoning, collective
Peer-peer knowledge
Friendship agency
Decision-making sharing
Collaboration Belonging-in-difference
Influencing
Active involement Interaction
Communicating Belonging-in-place
Joining-in Tolerance Belonging to a specific
Informing (top-down) community
Attending Awareness
Individualism
Incapable of Information Not-mixing
participating inaccessible Exclusion
Avoiding
Insecurity
Figure 7: The four key drivers that contribute to the
‘Melbourne experience’.
12. Fincher et al, Transnational and Temporary, 2009. 14. Noble, Greg. “‘Bumping into Alterity’: Transacting International Conference on Social Computing, (2013)
13. Jonathan Rowson, Steve Broom and Alasdair Jones, Cultural Complexities”, Continuum 25,6 (2011): 827- pp. 75-80.
Connected Communities: How Social Networks Power 840. 16. Ash Amin, Land of Strangers (Cambridge: Polity,
and Sustain the Big Society (London: Royal Society 15. Ash Amin and Nigel Thrift, Seeing Like a City ( 2012)
for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Cambridge: Polity, 2016); Chloe Brown, Anastasios
Commerce, 2010). Noulas, Cecilia Mascolo and Vincent Blondel. “A
Place-Focused Model for Social Networks in Cities”.
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