‘Villager, you aren’t for this place!’: university transition experience of rural Pakistani students

Abstract

Transition into university marks a crucial commencement in every student’s higher education journey. The experience is intricately linked to key issues such as the continuity of higher education beyond the first year and subsequent academic success. Recognizing its paramount significance, researchers have devoted substantial attention to comprehending the nature of university transition experience, resulting in a substantial body of research. However, a majority of this research has been conducted within anglophone contexts, addressing context-specific demands. Limited research exists within the Pakistani context. This exploratory study aims to fill this gap, employing a qualitative approach to investigate the university transition experience of a group of Pakistani students with rural background. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and subjected to thematic analyses. The findings underscore that the transition experience of these students is both academically and socially challenging. The root cause of these challenges lies in the incompatibility between the academic and social capital acquired in pre-university life and the dynamics of the university environment and culture. This incompatibility manifests in a dual-layered negative impact, constraining both academic success and social integration during the transition year, and precipitating psychological and emotional distress. Concurrently, the research unveils the mediating role of societal culture in engendering these challenges, as well as the students’ resilience in alleviating the adverse effects on their well-being.

Keywords

• University transition
• rural
• students
• experience
• higher education
• integration