Browsing by Subject "Sense of belonging"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Pulling Back The Curtain On Stereotype Threat: Testing A Mediation Framework Of Identity Change And Belongingness
    (2020-05) Schulzetenberg, Anthony
    At a time when earning a bachelor’s degree is becoming increasingly necessary for jobs that pay a living wage, college completion rates for marginalized populations continue to lag behind those of their non-marginalized counterparts. Scholars suggest that stereotype threat (ST) is partially responsible for these stubborn academic performance disparities. ST theory suggests that internalized distress associated with a negative stereotype concerning one’s social group can inhibit stereotyped students’ academic performance. The mechanisms responsible for this relationship between ST and poor performance have not been definitely established. As such, this dissertation tested a theoretical framework proposing that ST initiates a self-protective process, leading college students to fence their social identities by differentiating themselves from non-stereotyped others. This was predicted to mediate students’ sense of belonging on campus, perceived in-group norms, and performance on a difficult math test. Utilizing a mixed model randomized control trial design with 133 stereotyped college students, this study could not replicate findings of previous ST studies. The ST manipulation technique used in previous lab-based ST studies (stating a test is diagnostic of ability) did not induce a discernible ST in this naturalistic study. This study, however, is one of the first to find that social identity is malleable and predictive of students’ sense of belonging and perception of in-group norms. As stereotyped students felt less similar to other students, they felt less like they belonged on campus and believed their group would do more poorly in college. Furthermore, an intervention designed to normalize college-related struggles and worries significantly improved students’ test performance. These findings are discussed in relation to recently articulated oversights in ST research. To continue to inform ST’s real-world impact, future research should continue to use naturalistic settings to investigate the processes underlying interventions and social identity changes to further explain performance differences among college students.
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    Sense of Belonging Scale Development and Viability
    (2021-12) Do, Tai T
    A sense of belonging measure was developed using items from a large survey administered to students in 5th, 8th, 9th, and 11th grade in Minnesota. Validity evidence, via regression analyses, was obtained that supported the interpretation and use of the measure in an adolescent-student sample. Regression results showed that Students of Color, compared to White students, experienced lower levels of sense of belonging. Sense of belonging also appears to be associated with academic engagement and disengagement variables, however, the effects were more prominent for White students than for Students of Color.
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    What happens outside of the college class(ed)room? examining college students' social class and social integration in higher education
    (2013-05) Soria, Krista Marie
    This study examined the relationships between undergraduate students' social class background and variables theorized to affect students' social integration in higher education, including students' perception of campus climate, frequency of faculty interactions, frequency of involvement in campus activities, and sense of belonging. Data from the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey, which was administered to all undergraduates enrolled at nine large, public research universities in 2011 (n = 52,740), were used in this analysis and the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that college students' social class background has direct and positive associations with students' perception of campus climate, frequency of faculty interactions, involvement in campus activities, and sense of belonging on campus--students from lower/working-class backgrounds were less likely to perceive a welcoming campus climate, interact with faculty, participate in campus activities, and feel a sense of belonging on campus. The results also suggest that college students' social class background has indirect effects on students' sense of belonging when moderated through campus involvement, campus climate, and faculty interactions.