College Belonging among University Students during COVID-19: An Online Interpretative Phenomenological (OIPA) Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that either facilitated or complicated students' sense of school belonging and to determine the levels within the Ecological Systems Theory (EST) framework to which participants attributed these influential factors, using the Online Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (OIPA) method. The OIPA approach is a qualitative research method and was used by the researcher for data collection and analysis in this study. Data were collected online using the OIPA form. The study cohort consisted of 82 university students (65% female, 35% male) from three different state universities in different cities in Türkiye. The results of the analysis revealed 20 facilitating factors, including elements such as friendships (33%), participation in activities and events (22%), and interactions with professors (20%). The study also identified 21 barriers, including economic challenges (39%), anxiety (32%), and experiences of exclusion and being ignored (29%). Participants attributed these facilitators and barriers to different levels of Ecological Systems Theory (EST). Specifically, they associated 63% of facilitating factors and 55% of complicating factors with the individual/intrapsychic level, 20% of facilitating factors and 51% of complicating factors with the microsystem level, 8% of facilitating factors and 26% of complicating factors with the exosystem level, and 15% of facilitating factors and 55% of complicating factors with the macrosystem level. Overall, participants linked 39% of facilitating factors and 52% of complicating factors to all levels combined.