THE EXISTENTIAL STUDENT: UNDERSTANDING TODAY'S HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS

Today's higher education students are diverse in many ways - culture, age, gender, socio-economic background, education, and life experiences. Additionally, they arrive at university with varying degrees of preparation, support, and commitment to higher education One way to help understand students and their experience in higher education is through existential philosophy. Existentialism is a philosophy of human existence which provides key insights into the individual and his/her experience with life. There are many existential concepts but four themes are especially applicable to today's students - facticity, situatedness, choice, and alienation. These themes provide a philosophical lens which highlights that students are at various starting points, under great pressure to fit into society, worried about making the wrong education and career choices, and struggling with feelings of alienation. These philosophical insights can be used by universities to develop strategies to enhance the student experience and increase student success.