In this article, we explore the concept of belonging and its utility as a means for understanding academics' experiences of working in the academy. Transformative changes have reorientated academic work in recent years and continue to do so as we grapple with what it means to work and live in a post-digital, post-covid, world. We engage a…

This study aims to explore the main aspects of sense of belonging, including academic and social engagement, life satisfaction, thoughts of leaving university, demographic characteristics and socio-economic status by applying quantitative measurement. Having considered the concepts of disadvantaged or non-traditional groups deployed in previous…

This study considered how hybrid working impacts the management of menopause symptoms in HE Professional Services (PS) employees. The evidence suggested that work was affected by menopause symptoms and poor workplace control increased symptom severity. Participants adapted their working environment and employed compensatory actions to perform…

"Re:Tension" is a short 20 minute film that follows Thapelo, a bright and capable university student, on a day where he is unwittingly forced to question the judgements of his tutors and peers, and delve deeper into his own actions, choices and beliefs. "Re:Tension" addresses the topic of institutional racism and the gap in…

Survey research has evidenced the work-related stresses reported by higher education staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, with indications that some groups may have been more vulnerable than others. However, for the most part, this research has not taken into account individuals' intersecting identities and their circumstances, which are likely to…

Calls to address concerning evidence surrounding mental health and wellbeing in doctoral researchers have grown internationally in recent years. Adopting an ecological systems approach, this article explores doctoral researchers' perspectives on what influences mental health and wellbeing in early-stage doctoral research. Forty-seven doctoral…

This writing is born out of our experiences of becoming older women, academy hags, facing the performative demands of the neoliberalizing patriarchal university. We are raging. With the figure of the Crone, and feminist-killjoy-croning as our creative and livid research method (Ahmed, S. 2023. "Feminist Killjoy." London: Penguin Random…

The notion of borderlands implies a boundary demarcating a crossing to/from an unfamiliar territory. It is a productive metaphor for dual-status academics -- those employed in academic roles in universities who concurrently undertake doctoral studies. We argue that dual-status academics dwell in an extended form of boundary crossing, potentially…

The physical space of campus may influence student belonging. Quantitative data were collected using a bespoke questionnaire among a diverse group of students at a post-92 UK university. A total of 635 students, primarily female, undergraduate and of diverse ethnicity participated. Overall sense of belonging and agreement that campus space was…

This study provides an empirical approach to utilizing an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based system for identifying students' university choice factors that impact their matriculation decision. We created an AI-based chatbot that gathered both qualitative and quantitative data from nearly 1200 participants worldwide. The entire human-AI…

As the world recovers from the pandemic and anti-Asian hate crimes have been gradually disappearing from the headlines, this article offers a timely reflection on Chinese international students' experiences and perceptions of racialised microaggressions during the pandemic, and, more importantly, takes the discussion further by deconstructing and…

University student wellbeing is increasingly seen as a concern, and as demands on university staff time for research, teaching, leadership and pastoral support also increase, this is mirrored in concerns about staff wellbeing. Dominant sectoral narratives frame student and staff wellbeing as oppositional, with initiatives to support student…

Purpose: An important facet of student's sense of belonging is students' relationships with, and time spent in, the university campus. The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion that access to campus "green space", including parks, fields and gardens, may bolster students' sense of belonging, improve well-being feelings and…

In March 2020, populations were forced into home quarantine to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Universities moved the majority of their operations to homeworking, with profound implications for students, academics, and professional services staff. This paper analyses interview and visual data collected as part of a study on the impact of…

The increasing popularity of outdoor learning (OL) amongst researchers and practitioners highlighted the need to further investigate primary teacher trainees (PTTs) perception towards it and how this may be related to their nature connection. Participants were PTTs who were considering attending Forest School (FS) Training Level 1 as part of their…