Belongingness and Institutional Support Moderate Student Mindsets' Influence Among First-Generation, Community College Men of Color

• In Event: Connecting Research on Belonging and Motivation: Investigating the Interplay Between Contextual, Individual, and Institutional Factors

Abstract

Background and Objective
New insights have underscored the role of context to cultivate the power of students’ ability or intelligence mindsets to influence students’ academic outcomes. In the intervention literature, Walton and Yeager (2020) argued that the psychological affordances of the social context can make an adaptive perspective possible (i.e., growth mindset or the belief that one’s intelligence is malleable). For instance, mindset interventions were more effective when schools possessed greater challenge-seeking norms (Yeager et al., 2019), and social-belonging interventions improved first-year college completion in contexts that afforded more opportunities to belong (Walton et al., 2019). Moreover, Yeager et al. (2022) uncovered how students’ growth mindset development depended on teachers’ growth mindsets, suggesting the importance of contextual supports. Expanding this novel area of investigation, we examined how students’ sense of belonging and perceptions that their institution supports their success might affect the association between mindset beliefs and academic outcomes.
Method
Using secondary data from the 2018 Community College Survey of Student Engagement, we focused on students deemed at-promise: a sample of 457 first-generation Men of Color, enrolled in their first year at one of 129 community colleges and placed in developmental education courses. Completed in the second semester, surveys measured an array of engagement-related items; of interest to this study were a growth mindset scale (4 items; a = .75), fixed mindset scale (3 items; a = .83), sense of belonging scale (2 items; a = .69), and perceptions of institutional support (1 item; “Providing the support you need to help you succeed at this college.”). In a series of hierarchical regression models, these variables and their interactions (moderating effects) were independent variables along with the high school GPA and age as covariates. The three dependent variables were college GPA and frequency of use of two campus resources: academic advising and tutoring.

Results
Findings indicated that growth mindset was a positive predictor (𝛽=.105, p=.026) of GPA. There was a significant interaction effect between growth mindset and belonging (𝛽=-.358, p=.042), so for students experiencing greater belonging, those with a higher growth mindset had higher grades. With regards to resource use, there were no significant associations between growth or failure mindset; however, there were significant interaction effects between mindsets and perceptions of institutional support on resource use. Specifically, when students perceived their institution to be highly supportive, students used academic advising services more frequently with a higher growth mindset (𝛽=.462, p =.001) and a lower fixed mindset (𝛽=.51, p < .001). Similarly, for students in a more supportive institution, those with a higher growth mindset used tutoring more than those with a lower growth mindset (𝛽=.442, p =.006).

Significance
Our findings reinforce the hypothesis that features of students’ context such as perceptions of belonging and institutional support can bolster the associations of more adaptive mindsets, particularly for the achievement and help-seeking of one of the most marginalized groups in postsecondary education. This study underscores the concomitance and synergy of students’ sense of belonging and motivational beliefs as situative levers for educational support.

Authors

• Carlton J. Fong, Texas State University
  Presenting Author

• Agustín J. García, Texas State University
  Presenting Author

• Zohreh Fathi, Texas State University
  Presenting Author

• Semilore F. Adelugba, Texas State University
  Presenting Author

• Melissa Garza, Texas State University
  Presenting Author

• Giovanna Lorenzo Pinto, Texas State University
  Presenting Author