Sense of belonging during a global pandemic: a case of accounting students

ABSTRACT In this paper, we use the context of a global pandemic and subsequent movement between on-campus and online teaching to explore the concept of students’ sense of belonging. We ask how the sense of belonging in accounting students has been impacted during the pandemic and what are the lessons learned from such observations. Considering teaching and learning at University A (The University’s name is blind as per the review requirement of the journal), New Zealand as a case study, and the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment, we explore a sense of belonging in our accounting students. We speculate that whether the new circumstances be beneficial or detrimental to students’ sense of belonging would depend on many factors. Our study offers practical implications for accounting educators and the higher education sector to enhance students’ sense of belonging when facing disruption.