This article sets the scene for this special issue of "Research in Science & Technological Education", dedicated to understanding higher education science and engineering learning communities. We examine what the literature has to say about the nature of, and factors influencing, higher education learning communities. A discussion of issues in, and synthesis of, research into higher education learning communities completes the paper. This paper clearly identifies a need to better understand higher education learning communities: their nature, influential factors and forces that shape our higher education learning communities.