Smooth transitions and the case for PGT Welcome Tutors

Andrew Mearman (University of Leeds)
Ruth Payne (University of Leeds)

Monday, April 7, 2025 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM

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Session Outline

Despite agreement that PGT students need to settle quickly to thrive, relatively little literature considers the experience of new taught postgraduate students (Tobbell and O’Donnell, 2013 is an exception). Building on earlier work with undergraduate students (Mearman and Payne, 2021, 2023), this paper discusses a study that explored a pilot ‘Welcome Tutor’ scheme, informed by prior student inputs, in which new PGTs were paired with existing PGRs for a short period before teaching began. The paper initially outlines our evaluation of the welcome tutor scheme, by drawing on data that show the experience of the scheme from the viewpoint of both the postgraduate researcher Welcome Tutors and the new PGTs.

Data were collected, by drawing on new questionnaires, focus groups and interviews, both with PGT students and the PGR welcome tutors. These data suggest the benefit of the scheme in terms of students learning about their environment as quickly as possible, for example by offering practical support with access to Wi-Fi, Minerva, computers, libraries, and campus geography.

Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2022) of qualitative data showed clear benefits to it in terms of learning the ropes of university and feeling settled. They also showed what at first appeared to be a ‘language puzzle’, in which international students who speak English, and were aware of the need to develop this further, nonetheless opted to speak in their native language with welcome tutors; this codeswitching was reported by the Welcome Tutors.

Finally, the data suggest that PGT students valued access to an ‘experienced peer’, and that the PGRs who acted as Welcome Tutors also gained from that role. Practical questions remain about when the scheme might begin, principles of PGT allocation, and links to APT provision.

All the above has implications for student belonging, recognising the flexibility of that term. Using Ahn and Davis (2020)'s framework of four dimensions of belonging (academic, social, personal space and surroundings) as a starting point, we discuss how each of the themes above feed into belonging and how the welcome tutors help students develop belonging, whilst doing so in a way that recognises diversity of experience, choice and autonomy of the student. Given the nature of our data sample, and indeed its cohort population, we also consider specific implications for designing meaningful personal tutoring for and with students from China (cf Raby, 2023).

Learning Outcomes

By attending the session, attendees will:-
1) appreciate the potential for an experienced peer mentoring scheme for PGT students
2) evaluate critically connections between personal tutoring and belonging

Bibliography

Ahn, M.Y. and Davis, H.H., 2020. Four domains of students’ sense of belonging to university. Studies in Higher Education, 45(3), pp.622-634.

Braun, V. and Clarke, V., 2022. Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. Qualitative Psychology, 9(1), p.3.

Mearman, A. and Payne, R., Fellowship Snapshot: Exploring links between induction, exit and retention (ELIXIR), https://teachingexcellence.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2021/04/Andrew-and-Ruth-snapshot-final-2.pdf

Mearman, A. and Payne, R., 2023. Reflections on welcome and induction: exploring the sources of students’ expectations and anticipations about university. Journal of Further and Higher Education, pp.1-14.

Raby, A., 2023. An exploration of the relationships between Chinese students and their personal tutors: An IPA study (Doctoral dissertation, University of Lincoln).

Tobbell, J., & O’Donnell, V. L. (2013). Transition to postgraduate study: Postgraduate ecological systems and identity. Cambridge Journal of Education, 43, 123–138

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