Lightning Talks

Caroline Jones (Manchester Metropolitan University)
Nick Hood (University of Leeds)
Eva Krumhuber (UCL)
Katy Coyte (UCL)

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM

LIGHTNING TALKS

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Session Outline

An Introduction to the Psychosocial and Academic Trust Alienation (PATA) Theory, Social Mobility and Equality for Widening Participation/Disadvantaged Students in Education

Caroline Jones (Manchester Metropolitan University)

This lightening presentation will focus on introducing the concept of the psychosocial and academic trust (PATA) theory of student alienation (Jones, 2021). This theory suggests that students' psychosocial and academic trust levels are interconnected and can contribute to barriers to student engagement particular for those from widening participation (WP) demographics or those students who have experienced disadvantage and traumatic events (Jones and Nangah, 2020).

The PATA theory has been researched empirically and via systematic literature reviews providing results that support this theoretical perspective in higher education (HE) and educational practice (Jones and Nangah, 2020; Jones 2021; Jones, 2022; Jones 2023; Jones and Bell, 2024). In addition, this research found that discrepancies between the elements of the PATA theory can contribute to increased or decreased levels of academic trust affecting student engagement, success, progression, attrition and thus the notion of social mobility and equality. Furthermore, post-covid research found that WP HE students are significantly affected by the cost-of-living crisis with subsequent impact on mental health and wellbeing (Jones and Bell, 2024) further exacerbating exposure to traumatic events (Jones and Nangah, 2020).

In addition, research within the secondary school context, (the precursor for further education and HE) found that the educational gap for disadvantaged secondary school students is continuing to widen, affecting social mobility progress (Jones, 2022). Northern cities and coastal towns of England are continuing to present with the highest levels of educational and socioeconomic deprivation (Marmot, 2020). It was found that for disadvantaged secondary school students, in-school attendance and engagement are key to improve educational outcomes and equality of opportunity (Jones, 2022).

However, disengagement and alienation act as barriers to disadvantaged students' educational progress and thus social mobility. Unaddressed gaps in the educational ability for disadvantaged students within secondary school exacerbate these educational gaps (Jones, 2022). Neurological changes caused by traumatic experiences may underly disadvantage student's responses or behaviours in the educational environment and can significantly affect trust (Jones, 2022).

When thinking about how we can create a sustainable, equitable system of higher education that will deliver both the skills and growth needed in the United Kingdom we also need to think beyond recruitment and more deeply into what WP/disadvantaged students need to aid ongoing progression and success through the school, FE and HE system. Attrition rates are increasing in HE and attendance in schools has been affected by covid. Perhaps it is time to take a closer look into the barriers to engagement affecting WP/disadvantaged students. The PATA theory provides a lens for further interrogation of the challenges that are affecting WP/disadvantaged students (Jones and Sweeney, 2025).

The PATA theory can be utilised as an early intervention pastoral/personal tutoring tool to support students to successfully re-engage through collaborative working with the aim of minimising barriers to student engagement. This can lead to the students increased academic trust and feelings of support with negotiated bespoke academic support packages. This theory is student-centred and aims to enable students to successfully navigate their educational studies with support, leading to positive engagement.

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(Figure 1. Jones and Sweeney, 2025)

Figure 1. above demonstrates the multi-layers of the PATA theory, as an intervention tool and how it encapsulates student engagement and sense of belonging.

Privilege and belonging tutorials in the University of Leeds School of Geography

Nick Hood (University of Leeds)

Geography students in the UK are rarely from disadvantaged backgrounds, with pupils from the least deprived schools being 81% more likely to study A-level geography than those from the most deprived schools (Lim and Gill, 2023). This trend continues at university, where the Royal Geographical Society finds only 6-7% of geography undergraduates are from deprived areas (RGS, 2020). Bourdieu's notion of habitus, describing the norms and practices of specific social classes (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1977), relates to social capital within universities. Students from certain backgrounds often have the social skills, dispositions, and networks that give them an advantage. Consequently, disadvantaged students may feel excluded or alienated in geography studies, impacting their retention and success. This abstract reports on initiatives in the School of Geography at Leeds to raise awareness and foster belonging, focusing on additions to the undergraduate tutorial programme administered by personal tutors in compulsory sessions for all human geography students.

Tinto (2012) identifies that sense of belonging “…is a generalized sense of membership that stems from students’ perception of their involvement in a variety of settings and the support they experience from those around them” (p. 66), also arguing classrooms serve as nodes where students can connect and forming micro-networks with the potential to extend beyond the classroom (Tinto, 2023). This is crucial for students who have barriers to extra-curricular activities (Tinto, 2012), such as those from low-income backgrounds who often work alongside their studies, hence the focus on a compulsory class for this initiative.

Major (2024) argues that students (and staff) being conscious of their own privileges and acknowledging biases is a step towards equity in higher education. The tutorial programme additions reported here focus on data-driven analysis comparing our student intake to the wider university and other universities, aiming first to raise awareness of privilege. Reay (2021) calls us to “…look beyond the attitudes and actions of working-class students to those of their upper- and middle-class peers, and the culture and ethos of the elite universities” (p. 53). The new tutorial also challenges students to consider how privilege impacts sense of belonging and discuss how to cultivate it (e.g. through their behaviour). With most students being from middle and upper-class backgrounds, this places some responsibility on the more privileged to enact and facilitate change (including both students and teaching staff). Guidance is provided to tutors to help facilitate discussions (e.g. starter questions) whilst advising not to single out individual students.

Informal feedback from academic staff and students involved in the first iteration of these sessions was positive, hopefully reflecting an improved understanding of privilege and changes positively impacting sense of belonging within the school. This work will report on the most recent iteration of the tutorial (February 2025), including a follow-up survey to assess if it has been successful by measuring knowledge gained, potential behavioural changes, and impacts on sense of belonging. Further work could examine if changes are maintained and any enduring impact on sense of belonging for underrepresented groups.

An analysis of career pathways of UCL psychology postgraduate students over a decade

Eva Krumhuber (UCL); Katy Coyte (UCL)

Transitioning from university to professional life can be challenging, particularly in psychology, a versatile field that encompasses a wide range of job sectors. Despite psychology's growing popularity as a university major, employment prospects for graduates remain notably challenging. Research shows that 53% of psychology graduates are underemployed five years after graduation, occupying roles that do not require a university degree (Burning Glass Institute and Strada Institute for the Future of Work, 2024). Many psychology students also feel unprepared for the job market and view their degree as insufficiently marketable (Vespia et al., 2018). While universities typically provide career services to support students in planning their futures, this guidance is often generic and may not address the unique demands of students in specific degree programs. Furthermore, much of the available data, such as the Graduate Outcomes Survey by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), offers only a short-term perspective on employment outcomes and is hindered by low response rates (Rajecki & Borden, 2009). Consequently, academic advisers and tutors often lack a comprehensive, long-term understanding of the career trajectories of psychology graduates.

To better support students in their post-university development and career success, we analysed the education and employment histories of 542 UCL psychology graduates from 2014 and 2023. LinkedIn was used to extract information about graduates' professional experiences (e.g., names and locations of past and current employers) and educational trajectories (e.g., previous degrees, names and locations of institutions). The collected data were manually coded using publicly available classification systems from the Office for National Statistics (ONS, 2022) and HESA (2019). The analysis revealed common patterns as well as differences between degree programs in graduates' professional experiences and educational backgrounds. These findings not only highlight broader trends in higher education and the job market but also provide valuable insights to enhance career guidance and support services offered by personal tutors.

This project was conducted in collaboration with four Master’s students who wrote their dissertations on this topic. A short video, to be showcased at the conference, features one of these students discussing her learning experience and demonstrating how the findings have informed her career management. To help students achieve their academic and personal goals, a ‘PALS Career Workshop’ was held in partnership with UCL Careers in October 2024, where the findings were presented to incoming students in the division. We are also in the process of publishing the data on the relevant websites to offer prospective students more targeted information about graduate outcomes. Finally, we plan to host a series of ‘PALS Career Talks’ in February 2025, featuring alumni speakers from various job sectors.

Learning Outcomes

Jones, Caroline*; Hood, Nick*; Krumhuber, Eva*; Coyte, Katy

Bibliography

c.jones@mmu.ac.uk*; N.A.Hood@leeds.ac.uk*; e.krumhuber@ucl.ac.uk*; k.coyte@ucl.ac.uk

Competencies
This session addresses the following competencies of the UKAT Professional Framework for Advising and Tutoring