Transition to university: academic paper published on impact of HG approach
Understanding human needs and innate resources, as set out in the human givens approach, could help transform for countless young people the experience of transition to university, which can lead to anxiety, depression, isolation and loss of self-esteem, often with a lasting negative impact on mental health. So argues Dr Gareth Hughes, in a thought-provoking paper just published in the Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice. https://doi.org/10.56433/hmj9xd23
Drawing on the understandings of the human givens approach, Dr Hughes, lead author of the widely adopted University Mental Health Charter and clinical adviser to Student Minds, as well as education director of Human Givens College, suggests that, contrary to the current perception of university transitions as uniquely challenging, recognising mechanisms underlying all life transitions (such as moving jobs, homes, countries, becoming a parent, retiring) enables broader lessons to be learned that can explicitly equip students more successfully to navigate them all.
He makes the case that all transitions disrupt ways in which people are accustomed to meeting their essential needs and how they use their innate resources to do so. “The scale of the transition to university for many students represents a significant change to the ways in which they have previously been able to meet their needs; leaving behind old social networks, known environments and familiar resources and entering a new, unfamiliar environment that is possibly difficult to read and navigate. To be able to meet their needs new students may have to develop new skills and use their innate and life resources in new and unfamiliar ways.
“If transition is defined by its impact on the ability of an individual to meet their needs, then it may be possible to discuss this explicitly with students during transition, helping them to develop an understanding of why transition may be a challenge and, more importantly, to develop responses that allow for practical action to meet their needs more fully. This redefines the transition as an educational opportunity that may be a core part of the learning they gain at university.
“Placing students’ needs and resources at the heart of university planning and intervention may help uncover the causal mechanisms behind why some approaches are effective and some less so. It may also lead to universities being able to reconsider their own environment to make it more genuinely accessible to the diversity of the whole student population.”
Published: 12th June 26
