Sense of belonging refers to the extent a student feels included, accepted, valued, and supported on their campus. The developmental process of belonging is interwoven with the social identity development of diverse college students. Moreover, belonging is influenced by the campus environment, relationships, and involvement opportunities as well as a need to master the student role and achieve academic success. Although the construct of sense of belonging is complex and multilayered, a consistent theme across the chapters in this book is that the relationship between sense of belonging and intersectionality of identity cannot be ignored, and must be integrated into any approach to fostering belonging.Over the last 10 years, colleges and universities have started grappling with the notion that their approaches to maintaining and increasing student retention, persistence, and graduation rates were no longer working. As focus shifted to uncovering barriers to student success while concurrently recognizing student success as more than solely academic factors, the term “student sense of belonging” gained traction in both academic and co-curricular settings. The editors noticed the lack of a consistent definition, or an overarching theoretical approach, as well as a struggle to connect disparate research. A compendium of research, applications, and approaches to sense of belonging did not exist, so they brought this book into being to serve as a single point of reference in an emerging and promising field of study.

This book explores how belonging differs based on students’ social identities, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or the conditions they encounter on campus. Belonging—with peers, in the classroom, or on campus—is a critical dimension of success at college. It can affect a student’s degree of academic adjustment, achievement, aspirations, or even whether a student stays in school. The 2nd Edition of College Students’ Sense of Belonging explores student sub-populations and campus environments, offering readers updated information about sense of belonging, how it develops for students, and a conceptual model for helping students belong and thrive. Underpinned by theory and research and offering practical guidelines for improving educational environments and policies, this book is an important resource for higher education and student affairs professionals, scholars, and graduate students interested in students’ success. New to this second edition: A refined theory of college students’ sense of belonging and review of current literature in light of new and emerging theories; Expanded best practices related to fostering sense of belonging in classrooms, clubs, residence halls, and other contexts; Updated research and insights for new student populations such as youth formerly in foster care, formerly incarcerated adults, and homeless students; Coverage on a broad range of topics since the first edition of this book, including cultural navigation, academic spotting, and the "shared faith" element of belonging.

"Sense of belonging refers to the extent a student feels included, accepted, valued, and supported on their campus. The developmental process of belonging is interwoven with the social identity development of diverse college students. Moreover, belonging is influenced by the campus environment, relationships, and involvement opportunities as well as a need to master the student role and achieve academic success. Although the construct of sense of belonging is complex and multilayered, a consistent theme across the chapters in this book is that the relationship between sense of belonging and intersectionality of identity cannot be ignored, and must be integrated into any approach to fostering belonging. Over the last 10 years, colleges and universities have started grappling with the notion that their approaches to maintaining and increasing student retention, persistence, and graduation rates were no longer working. As focus shifted to uncovering barriers to student success while concurrently recognizing student success as more than solely academic factors, the term "student sense of belonging" gained traction in both academic and co-curricular settings. The editors noticed the lack of a consistent definition, or an overarching theoretical approach, as well as a struggle to connect disparate research. A compendium of research, applications, and approaches to sense of belonging did not exist, so they brought this book into being to serve as a single point of reference in an emerging and promising field of study." --

With the recognition of the integral role of student affairs in student education, and with stakeholders requiring increasing accountability at a time of tight resources, it has become imperative that staff be familiar with and competent in undertaking assessment. This book provides student affairs staff with the grounding they need to integrate assessment into how they design and monitor the programs, services, and activities they create to contribute to students’ development.This book is intended both as a text for student affairs and higher education master’s programs, and as a practical guide for early career staff who have had little formal preparation in assessment. It can be used for self-study or in professional development workshops. For divisions, departments, or units getting started with assessment, the discussion questions at the end of the chapters can engage staff in the process of developing an effective assessment culture. This book provides a thorough introduction to all aspects of assessment, assuming no prior knowledge, and illustrated throughout with examples of application in student affairs settings. Key elements include:• Takes into account the latest standards and competencies defined by AAC&U, ACPA, AER, CAS, NASPA, and others• Introductory and comprehensive• Provides essential background and theory• Covers preparation, planning and design• Describes the full range of assessment methods• Introduces principles and methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis• Guidance on using and sharing results• Addresses cultivating and sustaining a culture of assessment• Considers ethical and political concerns• Covers use of technology• Illustrated throughout by examples of practice in student affairs.

Student equity in higher education is often framed by constructions of capability that imply that intelligence, potential and ability is innate. The assumption that underpins many national widening participation agendas, namely that all students with the potential to benefit from higher education should have fair access to higher education regardless of social background, is problematic (Archer & Leathwood 2003). The problem rests in the suggestion that 'potential' to benefit from higher education is an attribute that can be straightforwardly identified in order to ensure fair access. It also implies that potential to benefit from higher education is about natural talent, ability and/or intelligence and is detached from social, cultural and educational dis/advantage and inequalities (Morley & Lugg 2009, p. 41).This mixed methods project draws on extant data from a 2014 pilot study examining students' beliefs about ability, intelligence and how this is related to levels of confidence. The extant data was generated through a survey instrument drawing on the work of Carol Dweck (2000; 2013). As part of the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) funded study, further qualitative data were generated. In total, 772 students were surveyed, 41 students took part in either focus groups or in-depth interviews and 19 university lecturers participated in focus groups or were individually interviewed.The aim of the project was to: * explore and identify the different meanings attached to 'capability' in particular contexts (such as subject or course); * consider the ways these meanings shape the experiences, practices and sense of belonging of students from non-traditional backgrounds; and* help improve the educational opportunities and completion rates for university students from non-traditional (non-ATAR) and other educationally disadvantaged backgrounds through contributing a more nuanced understanding of capability.

The purpose of this dissertation project was to explore the mechanisms through which sense of belonging affects academic engagement—behavioral, emotional, and cognitive—over time in varying college classroom situations. The study also examined the potential contribution of some course attributes to either facilitating or thwarting students’ sense of belonging on academic engagement. Moreover, this project sought to identify group differences between ethnic or racial minority students and non-minority students in terms of the effect of sense of belonging on academic engagement. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the study tested a short-term longitudinal model that hypothesized the predictive relations among course attributes, sense of classroom belonging, and academic engagement at the beginning and toward the end of the semester. Participants were 295 undergraduate students from a public university in a southwestern state of the U.S., who were recruited via an online website dedicated to a subject pool that was offered through the department of Educational Psychology. Participants were asked to respond to online survey items in relation to one of their undergraduate courses, choosing from those courses they were taking in the current semester the course that had a subject pool requirement. Results from the study showed that participants’ sense of belonging in the classroom positively predicted academic engagement later in the semester, even after their motivation and course attributes were held constant. The results also indicated that mode of instruction and classroom goal structure had significant direct effects on participants’ perceived belongingness at the beginning of the semester and subsequently indirect effects on their course engagement over the semester. Finally, the multigroup SEM analysis revealed that the effect of sense of belonging was almost equally beneficial for ethnic or racial minority and non-minority groups, suggesting that sense of belonging generally matters for both groups. However, a more nuanced look at the data suggests that for the ethnic or racial minority group, it may be more important to nurture a supportive classroom climate and provide ample opportunities to connect with peers. Overall, results provide insights into the powerful impact of sense of belonging in college students’ engagement in the classroom