Edinburgh’s Student Housing Crisis: The Impact of Insecure Housing on Student Wellbeing and Engagement
Keywords:
Wellbeing, Homelessness, Precarious Housing, ScotlandAbstract
There is very little research on the experiences of students who are homeless and the impact it can have on them. The aim of this research was to better understand the forms that homelessness and precarious housing take for students and the impact it can have on student wellbeing and engagement with their studies and the university community. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 24 students at the University of Edinburgh who experienced homelessness or precarious housing during the 2022/23 academic year. The results show that homelessness and precarious housing can take a variety of forms amongst students. It had a significant impact on the students’ wellbeing and mental health, even after they found secure housing. There was also a profound impact on engagement with their course and sense of belonging. These findings can help universities to better support students who experience homelessness to improve wellbeing and engagement.
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