Sense of Belonging in Finnish Higher Education : Perspectives from International Students

Abstract

Students’ sense of belonging (SoB) is a burgeoning area of research worldwide; however, limitations in previous research warrant further investigation, particularly in non-English speaking contexts. This study focuses on the Finnish higher education context and explores international students’ sense of belonging. By means of a mixed-methods research design (explanatory-exploratory), involving a previously validated sense of belonging questionnaire, as well as interviews based on questionnaire data, the study sought to answer the following two (02) research questions: 1. What are international students’ perceptions about their SoB? 2. What implications do the findings on SoB have on the quality of the institution’s campus climate? Quantitatively, the findings suggest that students’ SoB is high. The overall mean of agreement to the three (03) questionnaire parts is 4,06 on a Likert scale of 1-5. Qualitatively, the findings demonstrate that students’ SoB could be affected by several factors. It was further found that students face some social challenges and put forward some suggestions on how they could be helped by their institution to overcome them. Moreover, both quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that, despite the challenges, the institution seems to enjoy a positive, supportive climate overall. The findings prompted implications for the institution’s administration for promoting both students’ sense of belonging and the institution’s overall climate. Ultimately, the study’s limitations were discussed followed by suggestions for future research.