Reconsidering Inclusion in Higher Education

• In Event: College Environment and Campus Inclusion

Abstract

Literature on first-year student experiences in higher education highlights the benefits of feeling a sense of belonging or inclusion. Historically, however, theories and practices related to inclusion in college developed primarily through the study of affluent White students. Perhaps not surprisingly, this scholarship promotes generic, one-size-fits-all approaches to understanding and facilitating belonging on campus. More recently, scholars have emphasized that not all students have equal access to inclusion. However, new theories of belonging in college have yet to gain traction. In this paper, I draw from an ethnographic study of a large public university to reconceptualize inclusion in higher education.

Author

• Blake R. Silver, George Mason University