This paper presents the results of a critical ethnography of literacy practices experienced by a group of university students, who perceived them as promoting social exclusion in the Colombian educational system. It also gives an account of their views about how this educational system could be more inclusive and contribute to peacebuilding in the…

School principals must play a vital role in facilitating homeplace and Black joy by promoting, modeling, and holding educators responsible for their roles in contributing to homeplace. We argue that principals can enact homeplace by embodying the tenets of culturally responsive school leadership (CSRL). The purpose of this paper is to make meaning…

Higher education has long known the many challenges facing Black students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) leading to lower Black student retention rates relative to their White peers. One factor contributing to retention rates among Black students at PWIs is their sense of belonging. There are many factors that contribute to a sense of…

Structural oppression continues to be one of the most pressing problems in U.S. society, and college students have always played a major role in addressing systemic inequities. Yet, much remains to be learned about the experiences of students advocating social justice in higher education, and there is a paucity of research on Asian American…

A quarter of all US students are immigrants, children of immigrants, or immigrant-origin youth. In this article, we examine how school practices can either support or hinder these students' feelings of belonging. Given the important relation between students' feelings of belonging and a range of academic, motivational, and socioemotional outcomes,…

University spaces can be experienced as unfamiliar and anxiety-inducing by working-class students. Early difficulties adjusting to university can lead to attrition. This article draws from a larger study examining the experiences of first-in-family (FIF) girls in one Australian city as they transition from secondary school into their first year of…

The author describes their experience, as a Black woman, during the beginning of their teaching career. The author describes experiences in school as a young student, within their community, and as an adult out in public and in their early career. The author discusses their assimilation from childhood, and eventual transition to teaching within a…

An increase in postsecondary education programming for students with intellectual disabilities in the United States has prompted a need for exploring a variety of aspects of the student experience. A sense of belonging has long been established as a basic need rooted in relationship that produces benefits for those experiencing belonging and…

Schools are chief among the social institutions impacted by migrant flows as key sites of integration and support for migrant children. This article focuses on micro- and meso-level interactions and their importance to experiences of belonging and socio-educational integration for migrant children. It explores outcomes from qualitative research in…

Latina students have been enrolling in colleges at increasing rates but experience disproportionate levels of STEM major declaration and persistence, even at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). This qualitative study explored the first-year experiences of Latina students at a newly designated HSI to gain insights into how to serve them better as…

In this column, I explore the relationships between identity work and the sense of belonging. I argue that the absence of critical conversations such as race may prompt students to fit in but does not warrant a sense of belonging. Using a research study on Asian immigrant students as a reference point, I propose that we consider students'…

Student sense of belonging is a current challenge to higher education providers, with consistently declining ratings in national surveys. For universities globally, this is a concern linked to student attrition, student satisfaction, and student success. Importantly, low sense of belonging is typically associated with non-traditional learners, and…

The community college, given its accessibility and affordability, has become the institution of choice for many African American men pursuing academic, vocational, and technical advancement. However, African American men attending community colleges are less likely to graduate and persist than their European American male and female peers. Limited…

This quantitative study investigated the impact of campus climate on the ethnic identity development and sense of belonging among Middle Eastern and North African/Southwest Asian and North African (MENA/SWANA) college students. This student population has largely been absent from research due to their classification as White in the U.S. Census and…

This article reflects on the assumptions we make in the design of faculty and graduate student orientations and on the implementation of redesigned orientations that foreground participant narrative. When educational developers purposefully make space for participant stories at their orientations, it is a way not only to share power with graduate…