Supporting trans and nonbinary students in residence halls is critically important given the harassment, discrimination, and violence trans and nonbinary students face. Further, health outcomes are consistently worse for trans and nonbinary students compared to their cisgender peers. While gender inclusive environments are a first step they do not…

Children need life-affirming and authentic relationships; genuine deeply felt inclusion comes when we share our humanity openly and honestly. This article draws on the research of author Peter W. Cookson Jr., who recently completed a study of success strategies for educating children living in deep poverty. An inclusive school is one where every…

In June 2024, the British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) hosted a "Think Tank on Meaningful Inclusion for Students with Disabilities and Diverse Needs." The "Think Tank" sought to shift the frame for the conversation, asking what might happen when there is time and space to think beyond binaries and divisive positions. By…

This brief reports findings from a survey with middle and high school youth in a midsize district in the Mid-Atlantic. We find that belonging varies by race and ethnicity for young people. Overall, Black and Latino/x youth report lower belonging when compared to their White peers in a pro-diversity and inclusion district. Implications for policy…

Interweaving my thinking with childhood stories of schooling, familial narratives, and experiences as a teacher alongside children, this article makes visible how my pedagogical approaches and desires for children to experience belonging shape my intentional work to recraft marginalizing curricula and assessment practices. In sharing my learning,…

After reading Chris Lowney's (2003) book, Heroic Leadership, with its concept of "twice born" individuals, the author asked himself what it might mean, as a university administrator, to be "twice born." Yet, he was more curious to consider this concept as a framework for shaping, and perhaps even reshaping, the academy itself.…

The authors of this article demonstrate best practices for creating belonging in economics, which allows diverse students to feel respected and accepted within the discipline. Opportunities to connect with economics allow students to understand and be empowered by the value they add to the classroom. The suggested practices thus include providing…

Out-of-school time (OST) professionals seek the best ways to supplement and enhance young people's experiences to achieve equitable outcomes for participants. Often this enhancement presents as academic support, arts or sports programming, job development, or project-based learning. OST professionals strive to create environments where…

Faculty development programs in higher education frequently focus on educational practices advancing diversity, inclusion, and student success. They also usually address how to handle tense class disruptions arising over controversial topics. What faculty development programs usually fail to tackle, however, are fundamental questions of belonging.…

In this paper, we seek to understand how to foster an inclusive learning community in a social science remote course. Through student feedback, our retrospective reflections on our course design and teaching, and a literature review of effective strategies that promote inclusive learning environments, we highlight the importance of embedding…

SOL: Multicultural LGBTQ + Support Network (SOL) is an initiative at Oregon State University (OSU) that uplifts students who are at the intersections between queer and trans identities and nonwhite racialized identities. Historically, OSU is a predominantly white institution, with major student-led activism that has shifted the progressive course…

Diversity in teams has been shown to enhance creativity and innovation, particularly in teams where all members felt a sense of belonging. Creating an inclusive environment in a lab setting that provides a sense of belonging to all is challenging. This is particularly true in a field like Biomedical Engineering/Bioengineering where diversity is…

The Atlanta massacre on March 16, 2021, spurred a series of solidarity statements with the broader Asian and Asian American1 community from higher education institutions across the nation. While many colleges and universities have expressed their grief and support with the larger Asian and Asian American community, the same institutions have yet…

Although community colleges are increasingly diverse, student outcomes across demographics are not necessarily equitable, nor does the representation of student demographics in a given class always reflect the diversity of the greater institutional student population. To achieve colleges' stated diversity and equity goals, we must broaden…

The geosciences have a pervasive, persistent, and deeply troubling lack of diversity, despite the availability of a suite of well-documented, research-based strategies for broadening participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The pervasiveness, persistence, and depth of the problem indicate that the lack of…