Those studying on campus appeared to face a greater struggle to create a community with other music master’s students. Ben was one of only two individuals on his course. In order to find others with similar interests Ben attempted to create a regular meeting with other music master’s students:
the pub night lasted one go and then no one came back, because only a limited number of people came in the first place, and then you know, and it was perfectly nice but one of the things is you know, you kind of come to wonder, is the discipline enough to get a bunch of people, who aren’t that similar in the first place, to get them sort of socialising on a regular basis, is that enough? Possibly not. (Ben, phase 2)
Ben’s experience shows the social aspect of the course is negated when degrees recruit low numbers. A lack of enrolled students restricts the ability to create learning communities. Additionally, other students were less interested in such proposed meet-ups. Ruth felt that the social meet ups with other master’s students were too academically focused:
I would like to get to know them as a person as well maybe, but they’re more just sort of like, oh so what area of research are you interested in then? […] it’s really nice to have that sort of discussion, but then when you’re doing the informal stuff over coffee, like, let go a little bit and just be normal, and be real, and don’t always talk about academia. (Ruth, phase 2)
Ruth had decided not to continue in academia and so it is clear that an academically focused meeting with other master’s students may not have suited her social needs. Perhaps the academic discussions were generally more valued by the distance learners due to them lacking the experience of lectures and scheduled contact time. The onsite students had more contact time with course mates and tutors and their aims for social events were less clear and more disparate. Ben acted as a social instigator, however, a lack of interest from others and perceived lack of similarity within the group meant that the community failed to materialise as he hoped. A social instigator in itself is therefore not enough to create an effective community as the personalities and interests of the students also play a role in the success of developing communities.
In the majority of cases students remained focused socially within their own subject areas. At times this led to individuals feeling isolated from the rest of the department:
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I don’t think I’ve really done anything else with any other psychology people, either lecturers or students, I don’t really feel like we’re part of the psychology department. We’re kind of like just on our own I guess. (Laura, phase 2)
Laura’s course was based in the psychology department. Feelings of not fitting into the department were echoed by the music psychologists based within music departments. The difficulty of ‘fit’ appeared to be linked to the interdisciplinary nature of the degree:
I think that’s a common problem for music psychology, it doesn’t fit the psychology department, it doesn’t fit well in music departments, erm, it’s a very odd subject. […] A lot of the other [modules] don’t fit that well actually, and I think the students actually sometimes feel a little bit isolated (Institution B, music psychology tutor)
In this quote the tutor explained how they felt that there tended to be a culture of ‘us’ and ‘them’ with the music psychologists, which the tutors were attempting to reduce. The students on all the music psychology programmes reinforced the feeling of being separated from their department, perhaps due to their course lacking a practical musical element. Nettl (1995) suggests that performance is seen as central within music schools, with those who don’t perform (e.g. musicologists and music theorists) existing on the periphery. Perhaps this distinction is highlighted in the feelings of the participants above and exacerbated by the interdisciplinary nature of the music psychology degrees.
The majority of the courses involved some form of group work. Group work was seen as a way to combine each cohort’s strengths and encourage the building of communities. One tutor described the advantages of such communities:
I think it’s more enjoyable, and you learn from each other and you can be inspired. So especially for people who are feeling a bit lonely and isolated then I mean, especially for PhD students it’s quite a long trajectory. And also […] to avoid this kind of very focused narrow thinking (Institution A, music psychology tutor)
These perceptions relate to the documented benefits of learning communities. Such communities (in which individuals are in the same class across a number of modules or working together within classes) are associated with a number of advantages including ‘enhanced academic performance, integration of academic and social experiences, gains in multiple areas of skill, competence and knowledge’ (Zhao & Kuh, 2004, p. 131). A community allows the students to feel as though they belong, which in turn enhances their enjoyment and perseverance. Additionally, working with others is likely to increase the sharing of ideas,
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which as the tutor above suggests, may prevent narrow thinking. Creating learning
communities within and across courses is an effective way to encourage student engagement and motivation. Although the same benefit would probably be gained through contact with a tutor, workloads restrict the amount of time lecturers are able to spend supporting each student.
Developing a stronger social bond with others on her course acted as a motivator for Amy:
[Spending time with course mates] just made my time a lot more happy, and it made me want to be out and spending time with them but also discussing work and yeh achieving things. It just sort of, it brought back the drive that you need to do it I think, and to do it well (Amy, phase 4)
Forming stronger social bonds with her course mates improved Amy’s general psychological well-being whilst also providing her with a sense of ‘having comrades’ (Amy, phase 4). Feeling part of a community with a shared aim helped Amy persevere towards her own goals of succeeding within her master’s degree. Amy gained an increased sense of belonging during the second term which was vital in enabling her to feel able to continue within the course. Working together with others in an academic setting was felt to be enjoyable and motivating by many of the onsite participants. These findings relate to past studies which have suggested that being part of a group can enhance an individual’s self-esteem, and provide reassurance that others are experiencing similar challenges (Christie et al., 2008). Feeling a sense of belonging within a higher education department has also been linked to higher levels of perseverance within music degrees (Dibben, 2006).
Peers supported individual psychological well-being and coping mechanisms throughout the degree by providing a community in which the participants could feel they belonged. Whilst many of the other relationships described by participants had no relation to the master’s degree, the course cohort were unique in sharing similar experiences. The shared
understanding and interest within the cohorts resulted in the potential to form strong bonds, particularly within the distance learner groups. The peers within the study were important for helping individuals develop a greater understanding of their own abilities whilst
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students appeared to hold different requirements for socialising, leading some to look towards their tutors to feel part of an academic community.
Throughout this thesis ‘tutors’ refers to lecturers and supervisors working with the students on the courses observed. An effective working relationship with a tutor was vital in enabling the student to develop a positive academic identity and feel confident to take risks within their work; whilst open and frank discussions enabled students to gain an insight into academic life, which was important for those continuing on to PhD study.
5.4.1 Choice of institution
Academic staff influenced participants’ choice of institution. Students tended to be attracted towards institutions in which the tutors’ interests and their own were related, and where they perceived tutors as friendly and attentive. Ben’s supervisor played an important role from the first time they met in making Ben feel valued. Upon arriving unannounced at the music department Ben’s supervisor suggested he come back another day as he was busy, however, as this was inconvenient he ended up spending time with Ben on that day
discussing the course. Ben then felt that once he enrolled upon the course he would be likely to be given a good amount of support. Ben’s initial expectations were confirmed as he felt he was given extra time by his supervisor. This was at least partly facilitated by the small
number of students on his course, meaning the supervisor had time to spend with individual students:
By nature of having smaller numbers they of course get erm get more in depth review if you like from us as academics, the ratios enable very big sort of time, contact time with us (Institution A, musicology tutor)
Heavy constraints are placed upon tutors, restricting the amount of time they are able to spend with each individual student (Wilcox et al., 2005). Therefore, by being enrolled on a course in which he was the only full-time pupil, Ben’s supervisor was able to provide relatively higher levels of personal support compared to other staff members who had greater numbers of dependent master’s students. If Ben had entered a degree with more course mates the same initial experiences may have led to unrealistic expectations regarding the amount of contact time he would receive.