How Feelings of "Belonging" Relate to College Persistence

Students' "sense of belonging" in college life is regarded as a critical factor in the experiences of aspiring biomedical students and their transition into college. A "sense of belonging" is generally understood as an indicator of the degree to which students feel part of their overall campus community, as illustrated by Bollen & Hoyle’s (1990) "Perceived Cohesion: A Conceptual and Empirical Examination." More specifically, Hagerty and colleagues define "sense of belonging" as a combination of perceived "fit" and "valued involvement" in their work, "Childhood Antecedents of Adult Sense of Belonging." "Fit" refers to the perception that one's values or characteristics are congruent with others, and "valued involvement" refers to the perception that one is valued, needed, or important to others.

Empirical research confirms that a student's "sense of belonging" within an institution is associated with his or her persistence in the first year of college. For example, work conducted by Hoffman and associates (2002) in "Investigating “Sense of Belonging” in First-Year College Students," suggests that a "sense of belonging" is influenced by the ability of peer relationships to support students in meeting the challenges and changes of a new environment, as well as the belief that faculty are compassionate and regard them as more than "just another face in the crowd."

Hurtado and colleagues' "Inclusive Learning Environments: Modeling a Relationship Between Validation, Campus Climate for Diversity, and Sense of Belonging," promote the construct of a "sense of belonging" as useful in assessing whether minority students experience more social isolation in fields where they are under-represented. Through their work, they found that student perceptions of a hostile climate have a negative effect on sense of belonging for all students, and a persistent negative affect on academic adjustment for underrepresented minorities (both science and non-science). Institutional selectivity, and perceptions of a highly competitive environment, were also found to negatively impact students’ sense of belonging. On the other hand, the development of positive cross-racial interactions tended to assist all students in achieving a higher sense of belonging on campus. Additionally, student satisfaction with the relevance of their coursework in everyday life and positive changes in students' ability to conduct research were both associated with students' "sense of belonging." This finding highlights the importance of active and experiential curricular content and its influence on students' academic and social adjustment during college.

"Sense of belonging" items are included on student surveys administered to BUILD students. These are intended not only to gauge perceived cohesion amongst student bodies across BUILD campuses, but are also expected to advance a more nuanced understanding of how differences in a "sense of belonging" amongst students relate to differences in biomedical students' transition to, and persistence, in college.

Written by Jenn Ho, M.Ed. Graduate Researcher for the Diversity Program Consortium CEC