Connected to belong: Soft Sciences vs Hard Sciences students ‘evaluation through peer education and digital storytelling to promote university well-being

Universities are dynamic ecosystems where sense of belonging, and students’ well-being can be challenging. In an era dominated by anxiety and isolation, how can we strengthen sense of inclusion in Academia? Based on the premise that community's health thrives on active participation and mutual support, we propose an alternative model in organizational communication where students are protagonists. At university of Palermo 32 students have been appointed from various fields to participate as peer educators within a project funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. Researchers conducted descriptive analyses using the University Student Belonging Scale. Results have shown that students from Soft Sciences (SS) rated an overall higher Sense of Belonging than students from Hard Sciences (HS). Researchers also conducted a social network analysis to evaluate students’ activities on Instagram. Our findings highlighted the presence of Social Sciences students as opinion leaders compared to others in building connections within the social network. It follows that SS students and HS students living in collaborative settings meanwhile displaying their corporate activities on social media platform, have built a circle of common behaviours able to foster engagement and sense of community among them.