Student geographies and homemaking: personal belonging(s) and identities

Abstract

Studies of the ‘geographies of students’ have become increasingly prevalent across the social sciences and are particularly concerned with the predilection for young UK University undergraduates to be mobile in their institutional choice. A more recent focus within this work has been upon student identities, with attention given to how the spaces to which students move and in which they settle can have both positive and negative consequences for the evolution of the student identity, and how such identities are often framed within the context of social activities; learning environments; friendship networks; or other sociocultural factors. This paper contributes to these discussions by considering the role of student accommodation – a site which often remains on the periphery of discussions of student identities – in offering students opportunities to construct, adapt and manage their student identities. This adds to the important contemporary geographies of student accommodation, which are currently debating, among others, purpose-built student accommodation and the broad housing ‘careers’ and strategies of students. In contrast, this paper explores the micro-geographies of student accommodation (and more specifically, the bedroom) to highlight its value in providing young, mobile students with an anchor within which they can draw together their learner, social and domestic dispositions into one geographical location.

Résumé

Les études des « géographies des étudiants » sont devenues de plus en plus courantes dans le domaine des sciences humaines et sociales et s’intéressent particulièrement à la prédilection des jeunes étudiants des universités anglaises pour la mobilité dans leur choix institutionnel. Une attention plus récente dans ce domaine s’est portée sur les identités des étudiants, avec un intérêt particulier sur le fait que les espaces où déménagent et s’installent les étudiants peuvent avoir des conséquences à la fois positives et négatives pour l’évolution de l’identité de l’étudiant, et que ces identités s’inscrivent souvent dans le contexte d’activités sociales, d’environnements d’apprentissage, de réseaux d’amis ou autres facteurs socio-culturels. Cet article contribue à ces discussions en considérant le rôle du logement de l’étudiant – un site qui reste souvent à la périphérie des discussions sur les identités des étudiants – qui offre aux étudiants la possibilité de construire, adapter et gérer les identités des étudiants. Ceci s’ajoute aux géographies contemporaines importantes de l’hébergement de l’étudiant, qui sont actuellement en train de débattre, entre autres, des logements construits spécifiquement pour les étudiants et des « carrières » et stratégies générales de logement des étudiants. Par contraste, cet article explore les micro-géographies du logement étudiant (plus particulièrement, la chambre) pour souligner le rôle important qu’il joue pour donner aux jeunes étudiants mobiles une ancre à laquelle attacher leurs dispositions éducatives, sociales et domestiques en une location géographique.

Resumen

Los estudios sobre las ‘geografías de los estudiantes’ se han vuelto cada vez más frecuentes en las ciencias sociales y particularmente se enfocan en la preferencia de jóvenes estudiantes universitarios en el Reino Unido por ser móviles en su elección institucional. Un enfoque más reciente dentro de este trabajo ha sido sobre las identidades de los estudiantes, prestando atención a la forma en que los espacios donde los estudiantes se mueven y se asientan puede tener consecuencias tanto positivas como negativas para la evolución de la identidad de los estudiantes, y cómo tales identidades están a menudo enmarcadas dentro del contexto de actividades sociales; entornos de aprendizaje; redes de amistad u otros factores socio-culturales. Este trabajo contribuye a estas discusiones, considerando el papel del alojamiento para estudiantes — un sitio que a menudo permanece en la periferia de las discusiones sobre las identidades de los estudiantes — al ofrecerles a los estudiantes oportunidades para construir, adaptar y gestionar sus identidades estudiantiles. Esto se suma a las geografías contemporáneas importantes de alojamiento para estudiantes, las que actualmente están debatiendo, entre otros temas, la construcción del alojamiento estudiantil especialmente diseñado y las amplias ‘carreras’ de vivienda y estrategias de los estudiantes. Por el contrario, este trabajo explora las micro geografías de alojamiento para estudiantes (y, más concretamente, el dormitorio) para resaltar su valor en la prestación a jóvenes y móviles estudiantes de un espacio dentro del cual pueden reunir sus disposiciones de aprendizaje, sociales y domésticas en una sola localización geográfica.

Keywords:

• Student geographies
• identity
• place
• home
• homemaking
• material belongings
• student mobility

Mots clés:

• Géographies étudiantes
• identité
• lieu
• foyer
• effets personnels
• mobilité étudiante

Palabras clave:

• geografías del estudiante
• identidad
• lugar
• casa
• bienes materiales
• movilidad de los estudiantes

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the anonymous reviewers and Robert Wilton for their constructive comments on an earlier version of the paper and to the participants who generously gave their time to be involved.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The UK’s only island city, Portsmouth, covers approximately 40km₂ and has a population of 197,614, with a population density of, on average, 5000 people per square kilometre, making it the UK’s most densely populated city by area outside of London. Portsmouth also has a large youth population with a third (33.6%) under the age of 25, 3% higher than the national average of 30.7% which reflects Portsmouth’s large student population. The University of Portsmouth currently has 22,709 students as of 2012–2013, constituting approximately 11% of the city’s population. This is comprised of: 18,878 (83%) full-time and 3,831 (17%) part-time students, with 18,889 (83%) undergraduates and 3,217 (17%) postgraduates.

2. For more details on the ‘walking interviews’, see: Holton and Riley (2014).

3. In order to maintain anonymity, photographs visible from the pictures have been blurred.

4. All names have been anonymized.

5. It should be noted that even though homes may be talked of in this dualistic way, ‘the domestic is created through the extra-domestic and vice versa’ (Blunt & Dowling, 2006, p. 27). Although not specifically referred to by any of the students interviewed here, a good example of such a challenge to the idea of the bedroom as a private space was the introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’ in the UK in 2013 which decreed that anyone claiming housing benefit could have this reduced if their house was deemed to contain one or more unused rooms.

6. Although a more constrained ability for self-expression was noted across the sample here, it should be noted that not all students will have access to their own rooms in familial homes.

7. Freshers’ Week is a period at the beginning of the academic year where events are organized by Universities in order to welcome and orientate new students (might also be referred to as ‘Orientation’ or ‘welcome’ week).

8. All of the interviewees reported returning home during the summer.

9. There is, however, a suggestion within the student geographies literature that students may stay on in University towns to live after graduation and attempt to extend the student life (Hubbard, 2009).