‘I knew I had the support from them’: understanding student support through a student engagement lens

Abstract

Centralised student support such as academic advising, career guidance, and wellbeing services are important elements of the first-year student experience. While some studies have investigated how use of these services relates to student outcomes, there has been little focus on how they might influence student engagement. The current study addresses this gap. Nineteen students were interviewed weekly throughout their first year at an Australian regional university. The subset of data reporting students’ use of support services was analysed through the lens of a conceptual framework of student engagement. Findings show support services potentially foster student engagement through improving student belonging, self-efficacy, wellbeing, and emotions, and that support services offer opportunities to break cycles of disengagement. Why students were sometimes reluctant to use such services is also explored. The findings lead to recommendations for practice: teaching students to view support services as proactive skill-building rather than remedial help-seeking; implementing strategies that normalise and individualise student support; and supplementing campus-based services with personal online appointments. All such strategies need to be in partnership with academic staff.