Making new friends, adapting to life away from home and maintaining wellbeing can be challenging, especially for sexual minority students new to the university. With this premise in mind, Dr Gu Li and Professor Frances Chen from the UBC Department of Psychology started a research project that aims to understand the experiences of first-year LGTBQ+ students during their transition from high school to the university.
Supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the AMS Impact Grant, this study is expected to reveal how sexual minority students’ social experiences and feelings about their own sexuality influence their friendship formation, sense of belonging, and psychological wellbeing.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made this research even more relevant now as most UBC classes will be online during the Fall semester and students are asked to maintain social distancing.
If you are interested in sharing your own experience as a new student at UBC and be part of the research, you can start by filling in this survey.
If you are eligible, you’ll be invited to join a 2-part study in which the researchers will ask you additional questions about your social experiences and how you’re feeling during your first months at university. These online lab sessions will be hosted online via Zoom.
In this pre-screening survey, you will have the chance to enter a prize draw for one of ten $20 Amazon e-vouchers and ten $10 Amazon e-vouchers. If you are invited for the two online lab sessions, you will receive a $10 Amazon e-voucher for the first online lab session and an additional $15 Amazon e-voucher for the second online lab session.