Immigrant-Origin College Students' Sense of Belonging

• In Event: 81.027 - Participating in Action: Shifting Social Contexts and the Lives of Immigrant-Origin Students

Abstract

Xenophobia and discrimination are on the rise, especially as directed towards immigrant groups in the U.S. Nearly a third of all college-age young people (18-34 year olds) in the U.S. are first- or second-generation immigrants (Rumbaut & Komaie, 2010), for whom these messages can impact their sense of belonging on campus. This talk explores, 1. What promotes and hinders a sense of belonging on campus for immigrant-origin students? and 2. What role did the 2016 election play on their sense of belonging on campus?
 
Data were taken from semi-structured focus group interviews (N= 43) conducted in 2017 at a large Midwestern, urban college campus. Participants (Mage= 20.4) came from a variety of racial/ethnic backgrounds including 44% Asian; 28% Latinx; 12 white; 7% Black; and 9% listing multiple backgrounds. An open-coding process using phrases as the units of analysis was employed (Mattis, et al., 2008; Strauss & Corbin, 1990).
 
A sense of belonging on a campus has been linked to positive academic outcomes and increase self-efficacy, particularly for students of color (Sanchez, Colon, & Esparza, 2005). The belonging construct includes “support,” “acceptance,” “membership,” or a “sense of community” (Osterman, 2000, p.326). Further, a lack of belonging pushes students to create counter-spaces as a response to microaggressions. Students create counter-spaces through student organizations, peer groups, which provide cultural and emotional support (Solorzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000).
 
Our data suggested that students felt that they belonged on campus as immigrant-origin students. Participants overwhelmingly indicated a sense of belonging. For example, Tiffany, 20-year-old, Asian American, expressed the following, “I mean I think it’s kind of hard at [this university] to feel kind of targeted because of your immigrant status cause all my friends are all from different countries.” Despite feeling a sense of belonging on campus, students did share instances when they felt they did not belong, most notably when they acknowledged a disconnect with faculty. Some cited that most of their instructors were white.
 
Our findings confirm the extant literature on belonging. At a diverse and designated Minority Serving Institution, students indicated a sense of belonging on campus. This sense of belonging was in part due to the diversity of the student body and connections with among the seven cultural centers on campus. However, despite this sense of belonging, students in the focus groups indicated a disconnect with faculty, citing lack of diversity among faculty members. Regardless, the diverse nature of the student body allowed students to feel a sense of belonging and safety on campus after the election. While commuting to and from school posed dangers that required students to take precautions, being on a diverse campus with a diverse peer community allowed students to take comfort in being immigrant and/or immigrant origin.

Authors

• Joanna Maravilla-Cano, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Haeyoon Chung, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Hanae Kim, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Lydia A Saravia, DePaul University