Adult student perspectives toward housing during COVID-19

Precarious housing conditions are on the rise in many developing economies, which has resulted in increasing segmentation between population groups with different socioeconomic backgrounds, and in differentiated access to life chances. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its subsequent lock...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Boadi Agyekum
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-01-01
Series:Wellbeing, Space and Society
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266655812200015X
_version_ 1811202144003424256
author Boadi Agyekum
author_facet Boadi Agyekum
author_sort Boadi Agyekum
collection DOAJ
description Precarious housing conditions are on the rise in many developing economies, which has resulted in increasing segmentation between population groups with different socioeconomic backgrounds, and in differentiated access to life chances. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its subsequent lockdowns, the relation between learning and housing conditions has become crucial for understanding the adult student's learning experience and well-being. However, knowledge about this relation is limited. This study employs the concept of dwelling to investigate how housing-related precarities may impact upon experiences of students during COVID-19 induced stay-at-home orders. The study draws on fifteen in-depth interviews and a Zoom Video Conferencing (ZVC)-aided focus group in the Ashaiman Municipality in Ghana, to explore students’ perspectives on precarious housing conditions, well-being and learning. Findings reveal that experiences of precarious housing conditions can be complicated and compromised in diverse ways related to quality learning environment, financial, and personal well-being. Through ZVC-aided focus groups, participants defined housing suitable for learning – not purely in academic terms but in relation to housing characteristics, the neighbourhood environment, the built environment, and the social relations of learning. The study finds that students perceive an array of economic, social and geographic barriers to learning and that these perspectives deserve attention in adult student housing policy debate.
first_indexed 2024-04-12T02:35:02Z
format Article
id doaj.art-0ec73a63cc3d40dda92b16746649e165
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2666-5581
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T02:35:02Z
publishDate 2022-01-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Wellbeing, Space and Society
spelling doaj.art-0ec73a63cc3d40dda92b16746649e1652022-12-22T03:51:36ZengElsevierWellbeing, Space and Society2666-55812022-01-013100086Adult student perspectives toward housing during COVID-19Boadi Agyekum0School of Continuing and Distance Education, University of Ghana, GhanaPrecarious housing conditions are on the rise in many developing economies, which has resulted in increasing segmentation between population groups with different socioeconomic backgrounds, and in differentiated access to life chances. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its subsequent lockdowns, the relation between learning and housing conditions has become crucial for understanding the adult student's learning experience and well-being. However, knowledge about this relation is limited. This study employs the concept of dwelling to investigate how housing-related precarities may impact upon experiences of students during COVID-19 induced stay-at-home orders. The study draws on fifteen in-depth interviews and a Zoom Video Conferencing (ZVC)-aided focus group in the Ashaiman Municipality in Ghana, to explore students’ perspectives on precarious housing conditions, well-being and learning. Findings reveal that experiences of precarious housing conditions can be complicated and compromised in diverse ways related to quality learning environment, financial, and personal well-being. Through ZVC-aided focus groups, participants defined housing suitable for learning – not purely in academic terms but in relation to housing characteristics, the neighbourhood environment, the built environment, and the social relations of learning. The study finds that students perceive an array of economic, social and geographic barriers to learning and that these perspectives deserve attention in adult student housing policy debate.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266655812200015XCovid-19HousingAdult learningWell-beingGhana
spellingShingle Boadi Agyekum
Adult student perspectives toward housing during COVID-19
Wellbeing, Space and Society
Covid-19
Housing
Adult learning
Well-being
Ghana
title Adult student perspectives toward housing during COVID-19
title_full Adult student perspectives toward housing during COVID-19
title_fullStr Adult student perspectives toward housing during COVID-19
title_full_unstemmed Adult student perspectives toward housing during COVID-19
title_short Adult student perspectives toward housing during COVID-19
title_sort adult student perspectives toward housing during covid 19
topic Covid-19
Housing
Adult learning
Well-being
Ghana
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266655812200015X
work_keys_str_mv AT boadiagyekum adultstudentperspectivestowardhousingduringcovid19