Group Work Activities, Sense of Belonging, and Student Voice: A Co-Created Study of Students Listening to Students
Over the past academic year, I have had the opportunity to lead a project that brings together some of my core pedagogical interests: student voice, co-creation, and the complexity of postgraduate learning experiences. Supported by the Faculty of Humanities Education Discovery Grant 2024, this initiative aimed to explore how group work activities affect postgraduate students' sense of belonging—an often-overlooked aspect of the taught master's experience.
While there is a substantial body of research focused on undergraduates, qualitative investigations into postgraduate students' emotional and social engagement with group work remain relatively sparse. This project sought to fill that gap—through student-led interviews, collaborative analysis, and the generation of recommendations grounded in lived experience.
The work culminated in the creation of a research poster, co-authored with my Master Student and presented at the University of Manchester Institute of Teaching and Learning Conference 2024.
What We Set Out to Explore
Our central aim was to understand how postgraduate students perceive, experience, and navigate group work activities. Specifically, we asked:
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What are the dominant sentiments surrounding group work?
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How do students form groups, and what priorities guide their choices?
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In what ways does group work shape—or fail to shape—a sense of belonging?
The study was co-designed and conducted with students from a wide range of cultural and disciplinary backgrounds within Alliance Manchester Business School, drawing on their insights to shape both the methodology and the analysis.
What We Found
Students approached group work with a mindset that prioritised collegiality over friendship, a pragmatic focus on skills, work ethics, and academic alignment rather than interpersonal rapport. This reflects a shift towards employability-oriented motivations, where group work is valued for its potential to mirror real-world collaboration.
At the same time, emotional challenges—particularly around issues of free-riding - emerged as a major barrier to both effective collaboration and a genuine sense of inclusion. Many students reported frustration and stress when others failed to engage fully or take responsibility, leading to a breakdown in trust and a diminished sense of community.
Yet, when group dynamics aligned, students spoke of mutual growth, learning across skill sets, and a stronger identification with their programme and institution. In this way, group work became not only a site of assessment but also of identity formation.
Why This Work Matters to Me
This project has affirmed my belief that postgraduate students deserve learning environments that recognise their complexity, not only as learners and professionals-in-training, but also as individuals negotiating a rich diversity of experiences. Group work, when done well, can be a catalyst for belonging. When done poorly, it risks alienation.
Co-creating this study with students reminded me of the power of peer-led inquiry and the value of listening, as a research method, but also as an ethos. When students are given the space to articulate their experiences on their own terms, the results are often both critical and constructive.
What Comes Next
The insights from this project have already begun to inform ongoing conversations about group work policies, assessment design, and peer engagement at AMBS. Moving forward, I hope to develop practical resources that better support both students and educators in navigating group work—resources that acknowledge emotional as well as academic dimensions.
I am also exploring opportunities to extend this approach to other disciplines and stages of study, continuing to ask: how can we create group work environments that foster not just performance, but belonging?
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