Cultural Dimensions and Student Engagement: Implications for First Year University Learning

Abstract

Existing literature suggests that Australian universities are increasingly attracting student cohorts to their higher education programs from diverse backgrounds. The concept of student engagement in university learning is important in order to focus on quality learning outcomes. First year university learning has been identified in the extant literature as critical in motivating students to achieve their outcomes. However, students pursuing their tertiary education may be impeded by various cultural dimensions and may not engage as expected. Also, student engagement and university culture are expressed in the existing literature largely through empirical debates but lack theoretical perspectives and processes. In this context, the author is interested in identifying whether Hofstede's cultural dimensions are likely to have any impact on student engagement in their university learning and if so to what extent. This paper proposes an approach that incorporates cultural dimensions of first year students and collaborations with other stakeholders and prioritises how students can integrate with the prevailing university culture. This paper is focused on developing a conceptual framework with dependent and independent variables and expected relationships between them and discusses the implications they might have for academics, educators and administrators. The expected results are beneficial in improving student engagement with university and specific disciplines.