International and Comparative Study of University Student Wellbeing in the context of Hong Kong and Australia

Abstract

<p>Our study explores the well-being of university students across the contexts of Hong Kong and Australia participating in a co-curricular international virtual exchange programme between HKU, the University of Queensland, and Griffith University. We used a participatory design research methodology with students-as-researchers to guide student participants in an autoethnographic process through experiential activities, reflections, and conducting research into wellbeing. In this way, we hope to disrupt the powered dynamics in the roles and relations between researchers and the researched. By recording students' participation, collecting student outputs, feedback, and follow-up interviews, we aim to gain an improved understanding of student wellbeing in higher education and contribute to a better understanding of the methodology itself. The questions we seek to investigate include: How do students in Australia and HK perform and understand well- being in their everyday lives? How do students’ understanding of intersectionality influence conceptions of multidimensional wellbeing? What do identity, and sense of belonging mean to students? How has the pandemic affected students’ well-being, identity, and sense of belonging at their universities? What are the potentials and challenges of virtual exchanges as transformative experiences for learning about well-being? What is the role of well- being in the students’ imagined futures? The study involved recruiting 40 university undergraduate and postgraduate students at the respective universities to participate in the virtual exchange programme over a 9-week duration. Data collected from the participants include: i) Video or audio-recording during interviews and focus group discussions talking about the exchange experience (conducted in English only) ii) Recordings of workshop sessions which capture audiovisual data through the lecture recording system and recordings of Zoom/Teams meetings (up to 9 sessions). iii) Students' outputs and deliverables (written, physical artefacts, digital) will also be collected and analysed. The digital files will be submitted/uploaded to a secure website accessible to the research team and other participant students. The study confirmed that wellbeing is often a misunderstood or even overlooked concept in tertiary education. Well-being initiatives in different cultural contexts (Australia & Hong Kong) yielded similar outputs. Students have intuitive understandings that wellbeing is connected to a sense of self and that wellbeing is enacted through ‘everyday experiences’; however, more explicit and deliberate cultivation of wellbeing practices is valuable. • Students who study in both Australia and Hong Kong deploy similar methods to support their wellbeing. Data showed that food, interests, interpersonal relationships, relaxation and “me-time” are critical components. • A key output is the focus on cultural identity and a strong sense of belonging in a university. Understanding this dimension could help universities better support domestic and international students to integrate themselves into the school, quickly adapt to the study and life of the school, and link their own development with the school, enhance self-confidence, and form a positive sense of self-efficacy. Entering the post-pandemic era, people will have more needs for self-realization and social belonging. • Digital technologies develop the virtual world which assist in boosting positive emotions and support healthy well-being. • Through students’ personal reflections, and experiences as intersectional individuals, individuals’ multidimensional wellbeing may be affected by lived experiences of power and oppression that are largely determined by their identity and standing in the larger sociocultural and historical context in which they are embedded.</p>