Repairing Educational Inequities: The Role of Belonging in Just Education Renewal

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: The Role of Belonging for Marginalized Students and Alumni (Table 7)

Abstract

This study explores how cultivating a sense of belonging among college students can be a critical step in repairing educational inequities while renewing institutional commitments to just education. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, 166 students participated in a survey, and 22 students engaged in focus groups. Results highlight how students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds experience threats to their sense of belonging differently. Results also underscore the critical role faculty fill in fostering a sense of belonging and how the dynamic nature of students’ belonging is influenced by social identity and institutional practices. Implications underscore the need for inclusive pedagogies and targeted interventions to support student belonging and remedy educational harm.

Authors

• Eric R. Junco, Northern Illinois University

• David A. Walker, Northern Illinois University