Advance HE Teaching & Learning Conference 2018: Referencing and empowerment: Exploring barriers to agency in the higher education staff/student experience

A growing body of evidence suggests that students are increasingly anxious about their academic referencing. Ostensibly a rudimentary skill that students must quickly master – our research demonstrates that rather as a core but often opaque academic convention referencing is a practice imbued with issues of power and identity: a strange discourse that can foster feelings of alienation and non-belonging. This session will explore how through a qualitative research project we are gaining an understanding of students’ experiences of developing this skill: its impact on their well-being and their views relating to staff feedback and support.