Developing Social Relationships Through Degree Course

As identified in the previous findings chapter, several participants had ‗met‘ other students on their course prior to moving to university. The development of these relationships was mixed:

MW: “Did you meet anyone who is on your course through social media before you

came to university?”

Trev: “Yeah I talked to a few people”

MW: “Did you add them as „Friends‟ on Facebook?” Trev: “Yeah, I‟ve got all of them”

MW: “How often do you see them and do you speak to them when you do?” Trev: “Nah not really, like his lad Simon we‟ve never actually spoke to each other.

When we‟ve seen each other around we‟ve just sorta acknowledged each other and that‟s it”

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MW: “How often did you communication with each other before coming to

university?”

Trev: “Not that much to be fair. We sent a few message about football but that‟s it. I

don‟t think we actually have that much in common”

MW: “Have you developed friendships with any of the other people?”

Trev: “Not friendships no. If I see any of them around I‟ll say hiya and that but I don‟t

hang around with any of them”

For the majority of the students interviewed, it was more common for them to have made friends in their halls of residence rather than through their courses. Satisfaction with the relationships created with others in the same halls of residence did lead some participants to reflect that they had perhaps not taken as many opportunities to meet new people as they perhaps could have. As Jack stated later in his interview:

“If I‟d not met people I liked who I lived with then I‟d have probably put more effort into trying to meet people on my course or something” (Jack)

Craig also reported a similar viewpoint:

“None of the people I live with have made that many friends outside of our group but if you get on as a group then there‟s no need to really put yourself out there to try and meet new people. I probably should have though” (Craig)

Several participants reported that they were more tentative with making friends on their course, in comparison with the ease they felt making friends with people in their halls of residence:

Sara: “I feel nervous in seminars going to sit next to someone. I don‟t really know

why”

MW: “Are you a nervous or anxious person generally?”

Sara: “Not really. Like I found it really easy to make friends in halls but found it

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know people in lectures and seminars. Everyone I know has basically had the same experience”

There was also the suggestion among some that there was the general sense and feeling that people whom they had interacted with on their courses seemed disinterested in making friends and that it was difficult to infiltrate friendship groups on courses once they had already been formed:

“People just seem less bothered if they don‟t know anyone. Most of us sit on our own in seminars. It‟s really different to how it was on the first day in halls „cos there it seemed like everyone wanted to talk to each other” (Isla)

“You can‟t just go and sit next to two people that are sat chatting when you go into a lecture or seminar like I thought you could. Maybe you can but I think people would find it weird” (Liam)

These findings are similar to Wilcox et al (2006), who argued that student may find it difficult to infiltrate already formed friendship groups. The notable distinction to this came from three medical students who were interviewed. Within their interviews they discussed that they had made most of their friends through their medical degrees, stating that the demands placed on them in their degree meant that it was easier for them to socialise with one another as they were unlike other students. As David‘s interview demonstrates:

David: “I‟ve sort of noticed that us medics seem to just stick with one another. I‟ve

heard that that‟s the case for all medics though and for nurses as well”

MW: “Have you made friends with anyone who you live with?”

David: “Not really. I mean we say hello and that and cook together a couple of nights

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From the three interviews, it became clear that the demands of the medicine degree course meant that these students felt they had less in common with other students and had less time to socialise in comparison:

“We‟ve just not got as much time. We‟re in lectures and labs nearly all the time then when we‟re not we‟ve got to study. It‟s proper demanding and we all study together so that‟s how you become friends really” (Lucy)

“The people in my halls just go out all the time with each other. I sometimes wish I could go but I‟ve got too much work to do. I feel a bit lost when I‟m with them because they‟re all getting on great and I‟m a bit of an outcast but the other medics are great. It‟s hard when the other people you know live across campus though so you just can‟t go and knock on their door for a chat and that” (Paul)

Course structures which encourage small group work can encourage student to get to know one another (Tinto 2002; Yorke and Winter, 2003). The findings of this study support this, as seminar group work was the most common way through which students had developed relationships with people on their course. There was the sense that this encouraged students to get to know one another:

MW: “How is your course going?”

Claire: “We‟ve got presentations in one of my seminars coming up” MW: “How do you feel about that?”

Claire: “I think it‟s good „cos it makes you talk to people on your course” MW: “Do you think group work has had an effect on your seminars?”

Claire: “It‟s a bit more livelier now. Before people just wouldn‟t talk to each other or

were really quiet but now we‟re actually a bit more interested in getting to know each other”

Participants were asked about whether or not they had connections with people on their course through social media. It was common for students to add each other as Friends on Facebook in

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order to be able to facilitate group work. There was the sense that this enabled students to converse with ease:

“We‟ve been using Facebook to manage our project presentation. It‟s easier „cos you can have group chat and send pictures and attachments of the stuff you‟ve done” (Dean)

Several interviewees mentioned that this had encouraged them to get to know people they were doing group work with outside of seminars:

“Once we‟d been partnered up I asked Fran if she fancied having a coffee afterwards and we could talk about the presentation. It was nice „cos we actually started to get to know each other a bit after that. I think sometimes you just need a bit of a push to talk to someone then you‟ll find you get along. I get on really well with Fran and spend quite a bit of time with her now. In fact, we‟re going out tonight just the two of us „cos no one else we know wants to go out but we do” (Olivia)

However, for some participants, relationship development from this was limited with the identification that these relationships created were more ‗course acquaintanceships‘ as Adam described in his interview:

Adam: “I think it‟s different with people on your course” MW: “How?”

Adam: “You‟re more sort of course acquaintances” MW: “What do you mean by that?

Adam: “Like someone who you know but you don‟t really. It‟s not in a bad way it‟s