The identity of first-generation immigrant groups is a highly complex construct, evolving and changing in response to a host of social, psychological, and contextual factors. This paper explores how first-generation Chinese immigrants from mainland China position and negotiate themself in relation to the perceived sociocultural groups they…

For far too many students, schools are "not" places of belonging. This is due, in part, to the cultural mismatch between schools and students that, despite even the best of intentions, too often leads to student harm and negative student outcomes. Gloria McDaniel-Hall and Nina F. Weisling provide insights for understanding…

The purpose of this study was to examine student veterans' sense of belonging within higher education institutions, the experiences influencing their feelings of belonging, and strategies that higher education institutions can utilize to enhance student veterans' sense of belonging on campus. Individual interviews were conducted with 10…

Collaboration between universities and schools has been emphasised by both governments and within educational development research in the Nordic countries. However, educational research has tended to focus on the practitioners' perspectives and experiences, i.e., researchers and teachers. Our intention is to contribute to the field with research…

Sense of belonging among undergraduate college students improves the likelihood of retention and graduation, along with the overall association with positive mental health and well-being. College students build a sense of belonging with their peers through various forms of involvement opportunities, including informal campus recreation activities.…

Adults are skilled at using language to construct/negotiate identity and to signal affiliation with others, but little is known about how these abilities develop in children. Clearly, children mirror statistical patterns in their local environment (e.g., Canadian children using "zed" instead of "zee"), but do they flexibly…

Short-term social integration at the initial stage is particularly important for first-year college students and often plays a key factor in determining newcomers' subsequent socialization outcomes. Recent years have witnessed the growing popularization and impacts of online social integration (OnSI) among college students. Drawing on dominant…

Scholarship on how fraternities inform members' sexual identity development is mixed, showcasing the harmful ways these groups affect queer members as well as highlighting the potential they have to be affirming. This narrative inquiry study sought to contribute to this literature by spotlighting the stories of 8 members who identified as…

The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study (n = 9) is to understand the lived experiences of students of color at a faith-based predominately white institution (PWI). Students of color who attend PWIs graduate at a lower rate than their majority-culture peers and are less likely to report feeling a significant sense of belonging to…

In this activity, students will create a flag that symbolizes their perceived identity. Each student will create and use a legend to define their perceived meaning behind the selected elements and how they came to associate that meaning with their identity. Finally, they will share their flag, its associated legend, and what they learned by…

As young as 3 years old, children rely on a mutual intentionality framework to confer group membership--that is, agreement between a joiner ("I want to be in your group") and group ("We want you to be in our group"). Here, we tested whether children apply this cognitive framework in the context of identity-based groups,…

This duoethnographical study explores the experiences of the two authors, Joanna and Sarah, as international students in the United States that do not quite fully fit in any of the categories described in research literature. Using a Borderland theoretical approach, the authors explore the in-between spaces at the intersections of their identities…

Academic advising support services play a significant role in a student's college experience from enrollment to graduation. The various services they offer can be instrumental in student persistence and graduation rates. However, the graduation rates of African American students continue to lag behind other ethnicities at a local university in…

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the social construct of masculinity on the fraternity members' experiences with accountability. This study focused on the methods fraternities used to hold their members accountable, how the members' behavior changes, and the impact masculinity had on accountability methods. This study is…

This qualitative action research study aimed to examine and improve the experiences of social connectedness and sense of belonging among Black students at a predominantly white institution (PWI). Initial data collected from Cycle 1 showed that Black students faced multiple challenges on campus, primarily stemming from a perceived negative campus…