Belonging on Campus

Abstract

With the rise of Asian international students choosing to pursue higher education in the United States, research that identifies ways to promote Asian international students' sense of belonging on campus is needed. We used consensual qualitative research methodology to examine factors that contribute to university belonging in a sample of Asian international students (N = 11) from a large university in the Midwestern United States. Through data analysis, we identified 14 categories across five domains (i.e., Interpersonal Interactions, Experiences of Acculturation, Campus Environment, Emphasis on Academic Achievement, and Intrapersonal Factors) that contributed to university belonging. Our findings highlight the importance of within-group social connection, acculturative stress, and academic success on Asian international students' sense of university belonging. We discuss differences between Asian international and domestic students' sense of belonging as well as implications for counseling psychologists, including interventions at the individual and institutional levels.

Suicidal Ideation Among International Students: The Role of Cultural, Academic, and Interpersonal Factors

“…Perhaps these findings, like those related to thwarted belongingness, reinforce the importance of focusing on the academic context in which international students' suicidal ideation and other experiences unfold. After all, these students' sense of worth and identity may be tightly bound to their academic lives (Slaten et al, 2016). Our findings also extend prior research showing associations between academic-related distress and both positive and negative outcomes such as stress, self-worth, wellbeing, and adjustment in international students (Misra et al, 2003;Poyrazli and Kavanaugh, 2006;Slaten et al, 2016;Smith & Khawaja, 2011).…”

“…For its part, cross-cultural loss involves various kinds of deprivations, both tangible (e.g., losing access to civil rights) and intangible (e.g., loss of confidence and competency around navigating new social environments), that could contribute to feeling socially ineffective or unimportant (Wang et al, 2015). Finally, academic distress may threaten international students' sense of self-worth, mattering, and social competency in their university (Slaten et al, 2016). Overall, then, our findings suggest that experiencing discrimination, cross-cultural loss, and academic distress may add to international students' affectively-laden thoughts of self-hatred and being a burden on others and society which, in turn, may contribute to suicidal ideation.…”

“…Thus, we hypothesized that academic distress would be positively related to thwarted belongingness (H8). Slaten et al (2016) also found that perceptions of academic success contributed to international students' selfworth and social self-efficacy, which have been implicated in perceptions of burdensomeness (Van Orden et al, 2010;. International students may also experience burdensomeness as they try to meet family and university expectations on academic performance (Constantine et al, 2004;Smith & Khawaja, 2011).…”

“…Education is a central purpose of international student's stay in the United States, and academic difficulties are among the most common stressors for these students (Smith & Khawaja, 2011) and a top reason for seeking counseling (Pérez-Rojas et al, 2017). Concerns about academic performance have been implicated in some international students' feelings of self-worth, social self-efficacy, and sense of belonging to their university (Slaten et al, 2016). Research has also suggested that many international students feel pressured by their family and university to achieve academically-which exacerbates other stressors and mental health difficultiesand some students may experience heightened academic distress due to second language anxiety, lower English proficiency, or having to adapt to a new educational environment (see Smith & Khawaja, 2011).…”

Colorblind Racial Ideology, Sense of Belonging, and Racism-Related Stress in Asian Indian International Students

“…Sense of belonging is concerned with how much international students feel like they belong on a college campus, and are accepted in the community. Factors that lead to a decreased sense of belonging for international students include acculturative stress, low social support, low academic success, and low advisor support (Curtin et al, 2013;Slaten et al, 2016). The association between sense of belonging and discrimination is well supported in research for domestic students from marginalized populations (Fincher et al, 2014;Levin et al, 2006).…”