A narrative exploration of changing personal values of Gen Z students on undergraduate programmes in an English university

Narrative inquiry conducted with Gen Z undergraduate students from an English university (studying between 2020 and 2023) indicates that personal values change from the year before starting their degree until their final year, and often as a result of critical incidents or turning points. In this study, personal values were elicited by listening to the voices of Gen Z students through narrative short stories. These include: Rose’s mental health journey, Florence speaking out about her sexuality, James’ consciousness about education and student voice, Joy’s double-life as a commuter student, Teagan’s adventures at a Japanese university and Ann’s terrifying experience of an intruder. This research into the undergraduate student experience was explored through three lenses, with areas identified as original contributions to knowledge. Firstly, a contribution is made to the field of knowledge about Gen Z through a generational lens, providing stories of their changing values between the year before university and their final year. Uniquely, for these Gen Z students, COVID-19 national lockdowns impacted their values of security, sense of belonging, benevolence and hedonism. These findings from short story narrative interviews can be used to better understand the experience of Gen Z students and inform policy and practice, through the development of pedagogical, pastoral and student support approaches. Secondly, a contribution to the development of methodology is made through a narrative lens, via the creation of a bespoke, triad narrative analysis approach. This novel approach to data analysis enabled layered engagement with the data. Noting the importance of reflexivity, working with a peer debriefer supported credibility throughout the data processing, and contributed to the creation of rich, authentic restoryings. Thirdly, a contribution to theory is made through a values lens, using Schwartz’s well-established theory of ten universal personal values (1987,1990). The terms used to expand upon the various meaning of each value (Schwartz, 2006) are presented as part of the restoryings. The study revealed that Schwartz’s theory is applicable within an interpretive paradigm. The research shows that, for Gen Z, the lexicon of Schwartz's model needs modifying. This is because the restoryings showed that the value of mental health is important for Gen Z students, especially those from the LGBT+ community. Therefore, the value of mental health needs to be a priority in universities. In summary, wide-ranging responses in the narrative data illustrate that personal values of Gen Z students are individual and not homogenous