Places and Spaces in Higher Education: Systemic transformation to enhance well-being, identity, and inclusivity among students through the participatory action of photovoice

Understanding students’ sense of identity, inclusivity, and well-being can significantly enhance the quality of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) worldwide by fostering environments that support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). A critical, often overlooked aspect of the university experience is the influence of physical and symbolic places and spaces where students spend most of their time. These environments, whether formal or informal, shape how students navigate campus life, interact with peers, and experience inclusion or exclusion. This study aims to understand how experiences of places and spaces within an institution, in this case university campuses, affect students’ identity, well-being, and belonging – using photovoice as a participatory research method. Photovoice employs visual photographic techniques to empower individuals as active agents in qualitative research. Although marginal in the literature of Work and Organizational (W-O) psychology, this method provides a medium through which the voices of students may be heard, positioning them as co-researchers who are engaged in realizing institutional change and has been found to have significant application among students who may feel powerless or disconnected from University leadership. A total of N = 20 students from two diverse campuses in South Africa are participating in this ongoing project, which includes workshops, fieldwork, individual interviews, focus groups, and an exhibition. The labels of photographs and transcripts are analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, and the results will be discussed during the presentation. From the perspective of W-O Psychology, this study endeavors to demonstrate the potential of Photovoice in DEI practices by identifying the impact of spaces on students’ well-being, as an empowerment tool to capture their lived experiences, and lastly aligning with organizational strategies that prioritize participation to promote systemic transformation.