Abstract:

A strong sense of community is a critical predictor of engagement, retention, and satisfaction in educational settings, yet its role in online postgraduate programmes remains underexplored. While online education has expanded rapidly, much of the existing research focuses on undergraduate learners, neglecting the unique challenges faced by diverse postgraduate cohorts. Additionally, frameworks often overlook the complexities of fostering community in programmes with sociodemographically and culturally heterogeneous student populations.

This mixed-methods study investigates a sense of community among students in two online MSc programmes: the Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health MSc (PNoMH) and the Applied Neuroscience MSc, encompassing approximately 2,700 students. It seeks to identify barriers to community development and effective strategies for fostering inclusivity and engagement in these settings. Emerging qualitative themes utilising (N = 30), included motivations for online learning, the significance of interpersonal connections, barriers in connectedness and the influence of instructional practices. The second stage will commence in the new year and will use quantitative measures to complement the qualitative themes to examine clustering of key factors such as motivation and geographical location and their role in the students perception of a sense of community.

Qualitative findings stress the importance of interactive activities, culturally responsive teaching, and personalised feedback in enhancing the sense of community. This research contributes to the innovation in digital education by addressing the intersection of diversity, postgraduate learning, and community building, offering actionable insights for inclusive course design and policy development.

Keywords:

Higher Education, Online Learning, Sense of Community, Belonging.