Retention and persistence models share common components such as student characteristics, institutional experiences, and academic and social integration. However, few acknowledge basic needs (e.g., food, housing, transportation) and belonging as essential to student success. In this piece, the authors discuss two gaps in these models that should…

Underrepresentation of females in college science, technology, engineering, and math impacts college graduation rates, pay disparity of females, and the local and global workforce. Research offers one concept, sense of belonging, as vital to motivation of and persistence in major. To address a sense of belonging for this population, some…

This study is concerned with the fact that commuter students persist at a lower rate than their residential peers. As colleges and universities seek to increase educational attainment rates, understanding why commuter students struggle with retention is important. Research shows sense of belonging can positively affect intention to persist. As…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover the college graduate experience of a junior officer who decided to finish their bachelor's degree despite any temptation to drop out of school; participants were selected from a midwestern military installation. The guiding theory of this study was Duckworth's grit theory; the study…

Research indicates that historically underrepresented college students are more likely to report alienating campus climates which can contribute to decreased sense of belonging and wellbeing. In turn, a lack of a sense of belonging and poor mental health may lead to decreased academic engagement and increased likelihood of attrition. Theoretical…

This review of research discusses how applications of multicontext theory can help foster a sense of belonging for students in higher education, resulting in stronger persistence. Multicontext theory may offer an approach to designing learning experiences and environments that take into account varied ways of thinking and knowing, are relevant…

Given the theorized importance of college belonging for academic success, we conducted a scoping review of studies examining relationships between sense of belonging and academic achievement and persistence for postsecondary students. In our scoping review, we included 69 reports (78 unique samples) published between 2003 and 2023. We observed an…

Students' social belonging in general chemistry has recently been shown to predict course performance, and their course-level social belonging has been shown to differ across demographics, such as gender. This course-level social belonging consists of two components: (1) sense-of-belonging, referring to a student's feeling of social connectedness…

Impostorism is characterized by feelings of self-doubt regarding one's competence, ability, and deservingness of past achievements, despite evidence of competence. Impostorism has been shown to be associated with numerous adverse academic and psychosocial outcomes. However, there is limited research investigating these relationships within the…

This qualitative descriptive study explored the perceptions of students enrolled in online doctoral programs in the United States regarding how they defined and described connectedness as it relates to their online programs. The theoretical foundations of this study were Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory and Bowlby's attachment theory. Two…

E-learning has the potential to attract learners into the learning environment with its abundance benefits. However, learners tend to discontinue the use of e-learning as they lose intention if they are not satisfied. In regard to this, this study explored the sense of belonging and grit in the e-learning portal environment. A total of 441…

Increasing student retention is one of the greatest challenges faced by community colleges. First-year community college students face a complex set of issues in grappling with their new academic roles and identities. Therefore, there is a need for effective retention efforts that support students during this time of transition. First-Year…

Mentorship has served as an effective strategy in helping African American college students persist at predominantly White institutions of higher education (Sinanan, 2016). African American students have reported finding these campus environments to be unwelcoming, even racist. These environmental challenges along with the challenges of unfamiliar…

University is a critical timepoint for students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career pathway. Gender differences in the persistence of STEM students have been established, with female students more at risk for attrition from this career pathway. While the persistence of undergraduate STEM students has been a focus…

The purpose of this phenomenological narrative study was to explore why many aged-out foster youth from the Texas and Louisiana foster care system do not complete a high school diploma. The researcher conducted eight interviews with participants who had been in the foster care systems of these states for at least five years. The interviews were…