A growing body of research has linked students’ sense of belonging on their campuses to a number of important outcomes, including their persistence in college and even their well-being. As a result, some colleges make an effort to help students — especially members of underrepresented groups — cultivate that sense. Two studies scheduled to be presented at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting in New York on Saturday provide new insight into how they might do that.
The first study, “Experiences With Diversity and Students’ Satisfaction and Sense of Belonging at Research Universities,” is based on data from the 2014 “Student Experience at the Research University” survey, which collects data from multiple institutions. It investigates the links between measures of students’ satisfaction and belonging and their experiences with diverse peers and their sense of the campus climate.
It found that having more frequent interactions with diverse peers was positively associated with students’ sense of belonging, as well three out of four measures of student satisfaction, said Teniell Trolian, an assistant professor of educational policy and leadership the State University of New York at Albany and a co-author of the paper. Students’ perceptions of the campus climate had a bigger positive impact on satisfaction and, particularly, belonging.
The second paper, “Learning Communities, Mattering, and Sense of Belonging: Structural Equation Modeling From Year 1 of a Longitudinal Study,” unpacked which elements of a comprehensive college transition program for first-generation and low-income students relate to belonging and to mattering, or the feeling that someone counts or makes a difference because others depend on him or her.
It also explored the relationship between students’ senses of belonging and mattering.
Peer mentoring and staff care and support had a direct, positive relationship with belonging.
The study found that peer mentoring and staff care and support had a direct, positive relationship with belonging, said Darnell G. Cole, an associate professor and co-director of the Center for Education, Identity, and Social Justice at the University Southern California. A course students took as a group, and faculty encouragement, had a direct, positive relationship with how much they felt that they mattered. That last part was not true, however, for students who identified as racial and ethnic minorities, Cole said. Those students appeared not to experience the same faculty encouragement as their peers, the researchers found. Other elements of the program, however, seemed to mitigate that negative effect, he said.
The study also found that mattering and belonging are significantly associated, Cole said.
At the same time that researchers have been delving deeper into belonging, many groups of students have been telling their college leaders that they don’t feel welcome on campus, Trolian said. The groups include black students, transgender students, and, when the climate of sexual harassment is considered, women, she said. “The opportunity is sort of ripe for us to think about: How do we improve the climate for all students?” Trolian said.
So what can colleges do? A good place to start is analyzing the campus climate, Trolian said, either on their own or by participating in a continuing study like the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates. It’s also important, she added, that colleges not only ask students their perceptions but involve them in coming up with solutions.
Sometimes, Trolian added, a college can make small changes that mean a lot to students. That has happened at Albany, she said. Many of its international students have limited transportation options, and the dining options on campus were pretty exclusively American, she said. When the campus began offering options from a broader array of cuisines, she said, it was a relatively simple and low-cost way to help them feel at home.
Cole agrees that colleges should not take students’ sense of belonging for granted. “Have a structure in place that’s designed to communicate that students matter,” he suggested. Just because students got into a college doesn’t mean they feel at home there. Colleges should provide lots of opportunities for students to connect with others and find a place where they fit in, he said. And while peer mentoring may not appeal to every student, Cole said, his findings suggest that it’s a particularly promising way for colleges to help them do that.
Beckie Supiano writes about teaching, learning, and the human interactions that shape them. Follow her on Twitter @becksup, or drop her a line at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com.
