Faith and Student Success

Hunayda Abdulmula supervised by Jacqueline Stevenson

About the student researcher

My name is Hunayda Abdulmula and I am in my third year of dental school. I am very excited to have contributed towards research in the area of how faith affects student success. This project particularly stood out to me personally as it explores the theme of under-representation of faith or lack of thereof in education. Experiencing first-hand the benefits and struggles of being able to comfortably practice my religion during undergraduate placements and events, I am fascinated in researching the effect this has on our academic success. I am delighted that this project not only intends to identify these barriers but to work on finding solutions to promote equality in our educational institutions.

Project overview

The relative lack of studies investigating the experiences of university students with a faith/religion inspired this project to explore the extent to which having a faith can influence a student's success and what factors could affect this. This included:

1. Where and how faith/belief is recognised by the university
2. What commitments to recognising and supporting faiths/belief are carried out in institutional practice
3. How students experience faith-based support and the effectiveness of it

In order to gain an insight on the experiences of students, the project was split into two main research focuses: an interview focus (Interviewing students and staff from across the university to determine how (if at all) faith/religion plays a role in student success) and a documentary analysis focus (Summarising the university website to evaluate information availability regarding faith). This resulted in a list of recommendations.

Read a project infographic here (PDF)

If you would like to read the full report then please contact LITE@leeds.ac.uk to request a copy.