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What is the Role of Trust in Peer Support Schemes for Underrepresented Students?

By Claire Hamshire, Mimi Benjamin and Alan Soong Swee Kit

This publication stems from a three-year study supported by the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University as part of their research seminar series to examine conditions for meaningful learning experiences: (Re)Examining Conditions for Meaningful Learning Experiences – Center for Engaged Learning. Working together as colleagues in three different international settings, our focus was on how we could make learning experiences more meaningful for all students using institutional peer support schemes. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to explore how peer support schemes can be used to facilitate meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging for underrepresented students using three case studies—one in the United Kingdom (UK), the second in the United States (USA) and the other in Singapore. These case studies explore the multifaceted concept of belonging to identify the relative influences of social connection, shared culture/experiences, and interpersonal trust, via interviews and focus groups with student peer leaders. The findings demonstrated that supporting learning transitions and the navigation of liminal spaces through peer support can encourage trust, belonging, and student success. Building on these findings, we propose a conceptual model for considering social connection, shared culture/experiences, and interpersonal trust as contributing to the central goal of belonging. This conceptual model can be used as a resource to support the consideration of peer support schemes for underrepresented students that can be developed to support student belonging.

Read the TLI article here.

Image: the conceptual model developed during data analysis for the project.

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