Reflection upon identity development at university, and future research into autistic identity

The move from school to university is a shaking of what we know, and often comes with the questioning of our identity. Jumping from home to a new city, four subjects to one, or a big group of friends to none, is an opening for a young person's continually evolving identity to flourish as they move into adulthood.

As a student, from the moment you set foot in 'Freshers Fair' and are handed a free slice of pizza for signing up to skydiving society, there is an element of your identity up for play. You are in the mix of a jungle of people claiming who they are, and deciding who they want to be. 

Identity formation and students' wellbeing

It has been proven that having a stronger sense of identity, in comparison to identity confusion, is associated with higher levels of wellbeing, reduced mental health symptoms and reduced risky behaviour – particularly in early adulthood (Swartz et al., 2015). Similarly, autistic individuals may develop a positive acceptance of their autism at this time due to the transition from school, which is often found to be a stigmatising environment (Cooper et al., 2022).  

During my undergraduate degree, I was fortunate to experience several positive identity developments, one of which was becoming an international student when I went to study in the Netherlands for 12 months. This was an experience I shared with Georgia, a close friend, who also studied psychology. The study-abroad experience left us with greater self-confidence and overall satisfaction with our university journey. We have both since found MSc courses that are guiding us closer towards a career we believe will be fulfilling, purposeful, and well suited to us as individuals. 

During Georgia's undergraduate study, she developed part of her identity through the exploration of her neurodiversity and subsequent autism diagnosis. Throughout her diagnosis journey, she became comfortable and confident with how her brain works and more able to embrace parts of herself that she had previously felt the need to mask. As her friend, this was amazing to see. This also sparked my interest into how different elements of university experiences can shape our identity and wellbeing, particularly for neurodiverse students. 

Throughout the years spent at university, identity development is under the microscope in many ways, including career development, and people categorising your personality according to your subject choice. Whilst there is much freedom granted at university, there is also a sense of uncertainty and discovery around life, academic goals, and new friendships, making the university years an integral life stage for identity development. 

Uncertainty towards these factors can be exciting, but when combined with academic pressure, it may become overwhelming. Often a group of students who find university particularly difficult are neurodiverse students, due to factors including changes in routine, deadlines and sometimes less than optimal living conditions.  

Motivations towards research

As the end of my university experience comes into sight, I find myself contemplating what factors contribute to a positive university experience. I felt that during my time at university, the moments in which I felt fulfilled and satisfied were those where I was being most true to myself. This led me to consider how authenticity is an important factor in anyone's wellbeing, particularly autistic individuals, as masking their autism can be tiring and uncomfortable. 

This is when I learnt the term 'autistic identity' and found that individuals who positively accept that their autism is integrated into their self and identity, can experience a multitude of benefits as a result, including increased wellbeing and self-esteem and reduced mental health symptoms (Davies et al., 2024).  I also learnt how autistic students are more likely to drop out than non-autistic students and this can be due to poor mental health and feeling like they are outsiders (Cage & Howes., 2020), factors which may be mitigated by the development of a positive autistic identity. 

Learning about autistic identity is what led me to my Masters dissertation topic. After seeing Georgia find confidence in seeking adaptations to her university experience following diagnosis, I became motivated to research whether the development of a positive autistic identity could act as an internal wellbeing support mechanism for those who may face challenges at university due to their autism. Could universities be doing more to encourage and support autistic students to embrace their autism and aid their wellbeing rather than focusing on academic support?

My reasoning for this research is that I believe the effort should not fall upon the neurodiverse students to create a university experience that works for them, but instead, the effort should be driven by institutions and a community of staff and students within the universities to make the experience of attending university more positive and welcoming for all students. However, I am aware that this research would be more insightful and educated if conducted in collaboration with an autistic researcher, and that this will subsequently be a limitation of the study.

Getting involved in the research 

Currently, the study is in the process of collecting data. The hope is that through this research, we will gain knowledge on how autistic identity can support wellbeing. Universities can utilise this knowledge, to support the positive identity growth and wellbeing of autistic university students. 

If you are interested in finding out more about this research or participating in it, please reach out to me via twitter or my email address.
 

Further reading

Cage, E., & Howes, J. (2020). Dropping out and moving on: A qualitative study of autistic people's experiences of university. Autism, 24(7), 1664–1675. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320918750

Cooper, K., Russell, A. J., Lei, J., & Smith, L. G. (2022). The impact of a positive autism identity and autistic community solidarity on social anxiety and mental health in autistic young people. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221118351

Davies, J., Cooper, K., Killick, E., Sam, E., Healy, M., Thompson, G., Mandy, W., Redmayne, B., & Crane, L. (2024). Autistic identity: A systematic review of quantitative research. Autism Research: Official Journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 17(5), 874–897. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3105

Schwartz, S. J., Hardy, S. A., Zamboanga, B. L., Meca, A., Waterman, A. S., Picariello, S., Luyckx, K., Crocetti, E., Kim, S. Y., Brittian, A. S., Roberts, S. E., Whitbourne, S. K., Ritchie, R. A., Brown, E. J., & Forthun, L. F. (2015). Identity in young adulthood: Links with mental health and risky behavior. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 36, 39–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2014.10.001