The COVID-19 Pandemic has ushered in significant challenges for supporting community and belonging in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). This paper seeks to provide key recommendations to strengthen such activity, through a critical evaluation of a set of innovative community and belonging enhancement projects undertaken in a modern Scottish…

This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of adjunct faculty working in business schools across the New England region. The five participants of this study taught at 4-year, non-profit, public, or private institutions. Multiple interviews were conducted using Seidman's (2013) interview protocol. The responses were transcribed…

This dissertation investigated the impact of The Encounter, a professional development workshop focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice, on the self-efficacy of White women K-12 educators in predominantly White schools in the Midwest. Employing a qualitative phenomenological approach, the study examines how participants'…

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…

Background/Context: Community colleges are seen as malleable institutions that work closely with high schools, vocational programs, employers, and community organizations to provide an education for all members of their local community. As an extension of the community, the education provided must address larger social changes (i.e., Affirmative…

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…

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…

Drawing on the narrative inquiry method, a qualitative study of 49 engaged scholar interviews at the University of California, Davis was conducted to understand motivations for practicing engaged scholarship. Notwithstanding the significant contributions to understanding faculty motivations in this field, we argue that previous research details…

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…

Recent insights have underscored the role of context in cultivating intelligence mindsets' influence on students' academic outcomes. Psychological affordances of the social context may encourage an adaptive perspective (i.e., growth mindset). Expanding this novel area of investigation, we examined how students' sense of belonging, as an affordance…

The expansion of higher education has led to greater diversity among students, with a significant portion of them aged 25 and above. This demographic group represents a range of intersecting identities associated with their different roles, responsibilities, and life trajectories. While older students face obstacles to engagement, persistence, and…

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…

A sense of belonging is at the root of educational success for students, staff and faculty, and institutions alike. The authors must consider these layers (student, faculty/staff, institution) in coordination with each other, taking a systems view, to support long-term, sustainable success. The authors provide a framework for thinking about…

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…

For nearly 60 years, doctoral student attrition has been a cause for concern (Berelson, 1960; Council of Graduate Schools, 2010; 2015). Studies have shown that approximately 40-70% of doctoral students do not finish their degree, and 20% of those who advance to candidacy do not complete the dissertation phase (Lovelace, 2016). Additionally,…