University life as experienced by shy students

Abstract

Shyness has been found to be associated with a number of negative outcomes (Barry et al., 2013). These include dysthmia, generalised anxiety disorder, phobias, paranoid and dependent personalities (Batool & Zubair, 2018) as well as increased feelings of loneliness (Zhao et al., 2012). This exploratory study attempted to understand the experiences of University of Malta students who self-identified as shy and how this shaped their learning and socialisation on campus. Very little is known about shyness among university students and how this affects them throughout their studies (Zhao, Kong &Wang, 2013). This also applies to the local Maltese context. Six semi-structured interviewed were conducted with university students who self-identified as shy. The transcripts were then analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three superordinate themes were elicited along with their respective subthemes. One of the superordinate themes illustrated the coping mechanisms that the participants employed to manage university life. These included avoidance, a preference for invisibility and anonymity as well as solitude. The second superordinate theme depicted the personal characteristics that the participants used to describe their shyness. The last superordinate theme included the suggestions offered by the participants and what is already being done by the University of Malta in order to facilitate their socialisation and learning on campus. Suggestions offered by participants included the initiation of a series of interest-focused clubs as well as the option of allowing students forming part of large cohorts to choose group members in the case of groupwork. This superordinate theme also discussed the psychological needs of shy students; mainly the need of being understood more by lecturers and increased awareness on the part of the lecturers of the implicit messages being sent to students. As for future research, quantitative studies could be conducted wherein the relationship between shyness and academic performance could be examined. The relationship between shyness and satisfaction with university life could also be examined in future research. Lastly, future research could explore the lecturers’ perceptions of shy university students. It is hoped that this study can be of use and benefit to educators in tertiary institutions as well as in providing a deeper understanding regarding what it means to be shy.