Profiles of Belonging and Cost in Undergraduate STEM Courses: Associations With Demographics and Achievement Outcomes

• In Event: Measurement of Motivation and Cognitive Constructs

Abstract

Understanding students’ motivational experiences in college courses is important, however, little work has examined students’ sense of belonging alongside their cost perceptions. Our work expands previous literature by investigating the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale (Goodenow, 1993) for college Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) students, and examining profiles of belonging and cost in physics (n=1209). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) indicated a four-factor structure for the PSSM. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed four belonging-cost profiles. Females and non-first-year students were less likely to be in adaptive profiles (e.g., high-belonging/low-cost), and profile membership was associated with achievement outcomes, including course grade, persistence, course self-efficacy, and attainment value. This study contributes to better understanding how individuals experience their academic environments.

Authors

• Arianna Henning, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Abigail Mills, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Elise C. Allen, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Minjung Kim, The Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shirley L. Yu, The Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author