The Development and Validation of the University Belonging Questionnaire

Slaten, Christopher D.; Elison, Zachary M.; Deemer, Eric D.; Hughes, Hayley A.; Shemwell, Daniel A.

doi:10.1080/00220973.2017.1339009

Cited by 46 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Belonging refers to perceptions of connectedness, social inclusion, and having meaningful relationships with others in the target context, and it is considered a fundamental human need (Baumeister and Leary, 1995;Gere and MacDonald, 2010) that influences achievement (Cohen and Garcia, 2008). Institution-level belonging has long been linked to motivation and academic outcomes among adolescents (Goodenow, 1993;Gillen-O'Neel and Fuligni, 2013) and college students (O'Keeffe, 2013;Yorke, 2016;Slaten et al, 2018), particularly among first-year students navigating the difficult transition into college (Hoffman et al, 2002;Freeman et al, 2007;Zumbrunn et al, 2014) and students from underrepresented groups (Hurtado and Carter, 1997;Hausmann et al, 2007;Cohen, 2007, 2011;Rahman, 2013;Murphy and Zirkel, 2015). Recently, a multi-institutional study demonstrated independent effects of different levels of belonging -course, major, and university -on undergraduate STEM students' behavioral and emotional engagement, with course-level belonging proving most influential (Wilson et al, 2015).…”

Section: Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belonging in general chemistry predicts first-year undergraduates’ performance and attrition

Fink

Frey

Solomon

2020

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

126

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Feeling a sense of belonging in a learning environment can have positive effects on student success. The impact of this psychosocial variable on undergraduates’ achievement and retention has been demonstrated in STEM disciplines, especially for women within physical sciences where large disparities in gender representation persist. The current study explores the relationship between belonging and student success in undergraduate chemistry, where greater gender parity has recently emerged. In particular, this research investigates the belonging of first-year students enrolled in a two-semester General Chemistry course sequence. The study begins by examining whether students’ early sense of belonging in the course, indexed by two survey measures (perceived belonging, belonging uncertainty) varies depending on their demographics and academic preparation. The belonging measures are then used as predictors of performance in General Chemistry 1 and 2 and attrition from one semester to the next. Paralleling research in other STEM disciplines, the results show that female students, especially those from underrepresented minority groups, reported lower belonging and higher uncertainty than male students within the first weeks of the course. After accounting for demographics, preparation, and participation in a course supplemental program, the belonging measures predicted performance and attrition for all students. These findings suggest that course-level belonging in General Chemistry can have practical consequences for student success, and early disparities in belonging may have downstream effects on the retention of women and other groups underrepresented in STEM. Strategies for creating an inclusive and engaging environment that supports the success of all students are discussed.

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Section: Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belonging in general chemistry predicts first-year undergraduates’ performance and attrition

Fink

Frey

Solomon

2020

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

126

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“…Relying on the cases of several independent studies supervised with graduate students in library science, this talk discusses the importance of mentoring students as a way to foster a sense of belonging, which contributes to the success of students, both academically and post‐graduation. Each of the factors associated with Slaten et al's (2018) belonging model will be discussed in the context of mentoring as an important component in distance learning.…”

Section: Panelistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…University belonging is associated with the following components: feeling valued as a member of a group and an individual, developing meaningful relationships through opportunities for self‐growth and work/life balance, and an atmosphere that promotes diversity, inclusion, and a sense of pride among members of a community (Slaten et al, 2018). Belonging is also connected to feelings of being respected, accepted, and valued as part of one's academic context and experience (Freeman, Anderman, and Jensen, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivation, Building Relationships, and the Role of Belonging in Distance Learning

Williams

Pollock

Mainka

et al. 2021

Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Tech

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This SIG-ED panel addresses the role of belonging in distance learning in a variety of learning contexts, including typical online courses as well as in independent studies and other mentoring contexts. The panel explores the impact of belonging on student success and considers how instructors' choices in course design, technology use, mentoring, and other aspects of distance learning can enhance or detract from fostering a sense of belonging.

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“…Although a sense of belonging is a fundamental human need, much of the literature around belonging tends to focus on the individual, their self-concept and their capacity to relate to others (Allen et al 2018;Masika and Jones 2016;O'Keeffe 2013). Such a theorisation of belonging infers an ontological standpoint that suggests belonging can be captured and measured, and is static, in some respects (Slaten et al 2018;Yorke 2016). For this reason, belonging is often viewed within the field of education in functional and operational termsas something that can be fostered or fixed through interventions, policies and strategies, particularly among populations 'at risk' of attrition (Freeman, Anderman, and Jensen 2007;O'Keeffe 2013), poor mental health (Baumeister and Leary 1995;Pesonen 2016), and lower attainment (Wilson et al 2015).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

A socio-political approach on autistic students’ sense of belonging in higher education

Pesonen

Nieminen

Vincent

et al. 2020

Teaching in Higher Education

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Although an unprecedented number of autistic students are entering higher education, research focusing on their sense of belonging is scarce. Autistic students' sense of belonging can be jeopardized due to the students' encounters with a network of social expectations, activities, responses and biased attitudes. Using a participatory approach, our objective was to examine autistic university students' perceptions about their sense of belonging whilst at university. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 12 autistic university students and graduates from the Netherlands. Data were analysed using theory-guided content analysis and elaborative coding approaches. Findings indicate that autistic students' sense of belonging is multi-dimensional, fluid, and located within affective, spatial, temporal, social and political contexts. Our findings offer a novel and theoretically robust framework to conceptualise and further understand the sense of belonging. Important practical implications are also given.

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The Development and Validation of the University Belonging Questionnaire

Cited by 46 publications

References 53 publications

Belonging in general chemistry predicts first-year undergraduates’ performance and attrition

Belonging in general chemistry predicts first-year undergraduates’ performance and attrition

Motivation, Building Relationships, and the Role of Belonging in Distance Learning

A socio-political approach on autistic students’ sense of belonging in higher education

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