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…

Students' identification with schools or universities is associated with many positive outcomes, such as increased cooperation and completion of studies. This study is a qualitative investigation of university students' experiences concerning identification. Two hundred and eleven Italian students and 226 U.S. students wrote responses to…

Professional organizations and associations help foster professionalism and build the capacity of a profession; however, relevance, recruitment, and retention of members have long-plagued professional organizations, especially as they try to recruit younger members. Although these challenges are reported at national levels across various fields, a…

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…

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…

This study tested the psychometric properties of the "Sense of Belonging in STEM" Scale (SOB-STEM), a new scale measuring students' subjective evaluation of their academic and social experiences in STEM learning contexts, primarily focusing on purposeful interpersonal interactions. Data from 758 college students were analyzed, yielding…

At institutions of higher education, with fewer traditional college-bound students and declining enrollment, retention of enrolled students is more important than ever. Institutions are more likely to retain students who have a sense of belonging. One avenue proven to help students develop a sense of belonging is involvement on campus. On-campus…

The aim of college education is not only to teach students professional knowledge and skills but also to develop their self-regulated learning (SRL) ability, which has great significance for their lifelong development. This study aims to investigate the roles played by professional identity, intrinsic motivation, and sense of school belonging in…

Sorority membership retention is a newly emerging research topic with little to no existing information on what motivates members to remain. There are countless studies concerning college student retention in general, but there have yet to be studies that focus specifically on sorority women and their membership experiences. One major research…

In response to unwaveringly high attrition from STEM pathways, STEM Intervention Programs (SIPs) support STEM students in effort to increase retention. Using mixed methods (survey and focus groups), we studied students at one university who were either supported or unsupported by SIPs to understand how students may differ in experiences believed…

Multiple national calls centered on critical thinking and social justice have been made to improve and reform higher education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses to increase the representation of students from marginalized groups in the STEM workforce and equip all students for success. To help answer this call,…

Collegiate men are overrepresented in student conduct systems across the higher education landscape as they are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors when compared with their female counterparts (Laker & Davis, 2011). There is a strong correlation between these high-risk behaviors and the ideology of toxic masculinity (Wagner, 2015).…

This research aims to examine the mediating role of social exclusion in the relationship between a sense of belonging and loneliness in international students. The research sample is composed of international students studying in universities in Türkiye. In the research, in which 284 students voluntarily participated, General Belongingness Scale,…

The college student experience was severely altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the spring semester of 2020. At that time, college administrators had no idea what was in store for their students in the coming weeks, months, and ultimately years. Because the pandemic is still a new phenomenon, little research exists on the effect of…

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact COVID-19 had on the student and faculty resilience. This study focused on the resilience of participants to overcome obstacles to learning, financial planning and maintaining a strong sense of belonging. A sense of belonging is an important variable because it is linked to feelings, values,…