Whenever I look at qualitative comments on reasons for not physically engaging in things, I’m struck by the number of times I read a version of “nobody to go with”.
Whether we’re talking careers events, extracurriculars or even lectures and labs – cost, travel, logistics, commitments and interest do all feature, but anxiety about not knowing anybody is always there – lurking at the back in the free text.
It’s why I’ve long been fascinated by loneliness, community, belonging and their links to engagement, mental health and outcomes – because that sort of stuff has always felt like something that ought to be within higher education’s increasingly weak grasp in the grand realm of factors that might be making student life difficult.
It’s also always struck me that the relative lack of diversity, the time and resources to immerse in campus life and just the sheer difference in scale of higher education almost certainly meant that it wasn’t something that the sector used to have to think about – but given the changes, almost certainly does have to do now.
