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…

This Playbook provides steps in which organized labor (such as teacher unions and building trades) can blur the lines between high school, postsecondary education, and the workforce. Organized labor plays a significant role to raise the bar for student success by contributing to an "education-to-workforce system" that focuses on…

Many graduate public affairs programs offer both residential and online options for students. One of the challenges for multi-format programs is creating a sense of belonging among online students who may never set foot on campus. In 2017, the MPA program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill developed an "immersion" course…

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…

First-generation college students are underrepresented within honors programs and colleges, and their retention and persistence rates lag far behind their continuing-generation peers. Students in honors programs and colleges have higher retention and persistence rates than non-honors students. The best practices within honors have shown to include…

Within secondary education, there has been an increase in online enrollment of students who are at risk of dropping out of high school and being economically disadvantaged. This qualitative study analyzed ten participants' interviews based on what motivates them in the educational setting. Within the findings, themes of engagement in the…

Literature concerning student engagement and its impacts on educational attainment for Black students at community colleges is vast. The experiences of Black students at community colleges are unique, and they vary based on gender given a long history of educational discrimination and exclusion faced by Black communities. Much of the existing…

Sense of belonging is an important psychological and social factor for college students. Students who report a strong sense of belonging to an institution are more likely to return the next year (Hausmann et al., 2007), stay in school (Fine, 1991), graduate (Morrow & Ackermann, 2012), learn (Kernahan et al., 2014), thrive (Strayhorn, 2019),…

Most research on Student Affairs practices is centered around student engagement and support; however, this qualitative study focuses on the Student Affairs professionals who support college students. Specifically, this dissertation focuses on the intersectionality of race and religion and how these Student Affairs professionals are able to engage…

Children are sensitive to their own and others' epistemic states and use these to guide their learning and communication. Here, we systematically examined children's use of epistemic states to make diagnostic social inferences. Specifically, we investigated children's group membership inferences based on what others do and do not know and what…

Little attention has been given to the experiences of refugee families parenting a child living with disabilities as they resettle in a new country. Using narrative inquiry, we inquired into the experiences of two Syrian refugee families' identity-making and agency in their efforts to secure services and programs for their children in Canada. We…

When considering developmental psychology three concepts stand out; (1) resilience: the resistance to stress, (2) coping: the strategies used to reduce stress, and (3) sense of belonging: the connectedness towards peers. Although all three concepts are important for a child's development, the academic literature lacks research on the…

Adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer must navigate medical, psychosocial, and educational issues when confronting and coping with this life-threatening illness. Frequent hospitalizations, intense therapy, and continual medical appointments disrupt attendance at school, social, and community events. Decreased school participation and attendance…

Prior research has established a direct belonging-interest pathway among students underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; however, evidence related to how a sense of belonging in STEM may operate to affect career interest remains limited. Drawing on data from 103 students (female: n = 70; male: n = 33)…

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…