College student activists catalyze reform on campus and beyond--yet, we know little about how these students perceive mattering on campus. Given that mattering is linked to positive student outcomes, educator commitment to caring for student activists is critical. This work, grounded in semistructured interviews and a constructivist lens, explored…

Background: Students' sense of school belonging is important for mental health, physical health, and academic performance. However, some students do not feel as though they belong in their schools. This study investigated Greek secondary school students' perspectives on practices that enhanced their sense of belonging during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Given its close links to student success, universities are heavily invested in how they can positively influence their students' sense of belonging. One approach to this is through social belonging interventions, where universities attempt to develop student agency. This study takes a quasi-experimental approach by evaluating the impact of a newly…

Transnational routes such as direct-entry have become a more attractive option for Chinese students, due to the pandemic-imposed travel restrictions in China. The rise of Chinese direct-entry students can potentially lead to a significant increase in demand for academic and non-academic support not only after their arrival, but also before their…

Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) students are underrepresented in CS education and have been found to leave the field at higher rates than their counterparts. While there is a great deal of Computer Science (CS) education research focused on other underrepresented groups, it rarely includes those who are TGNC. Overall, there is a dearth…

In Queensland, Australia, there has been a major reform shifting Year 7 from Primary to Secondary Schools and implementing the Junior Secondary initiative for Years 7-9 in government schools. Six Guiding Principles, including establishing a Distinct Identity, provide the framework. This study examined 317 students transitioning from Year 6 to 7,…

Students in East Asian locations often obtain high academic results in international high-stakes testing, but lower results on affective aspects of their schooling, such as sense of belonging. These findings indicate the need for more holistic research into children's lifeworlds, including their experiences of school. In this article, we draw on a…

Female student-athletes encounter unique challenges in navigating their social and mental well-being, often intensified by various stereotypes and pressures within athletic culture. This study explores the experiences of female student-athletes in community creation as well as how the various communities contribute to their growth and development.…

Degree completion of engineering students is a national concern, and research points to the first few years as points of departure. We used photovoice, participatory action-based research to illuminate the experiences of sophomore-level engineering students. Using thematic analysis and assets-based Community Cultural Wealth as our framework, we…

Sense of belonging has been associated with increases in perceived task importance, along with motivation and academic achievement. These factors indicate that sense of belonging may be an important and relevant concept to consider when preparing clinicians to practice cultural humility, which entails a commitment to lifelong learning. This study…

Creating inclusive and supportive environments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational settings are important tools for countering racially hostile academic spaces and attracting and retaining talented Black and African American students. STEM faculty and other university members may display Black Lives Matter and…

There is limited research on the relationship between the Impostor Phenomenon (IP) and School Belongingness (SB) of college students in an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). The present study examined the extent to which first-year college students in an educational opportunity program experience the impostor phenomenon and school…

Nonbinary college students are an underresearched and often misinterpreted and misunderstood population. These students face compulsory heterogenderism (Nicolazzo, 2017), institutional cisgenderism (Seelman, 2014), and other structural barriers to belonging and student success. Through qualitative interviews (N = 6), this phenomenological study…

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…

A variety of pedagogical practices have been proposed, described, and promoted by scholars in an effort to help enhance the experiences of visually impaired students in integrated physical education. Trained peer tutoring, where a nondisabled student is trained to serve as a peer tutor for a disabled student, is among them. However, little…