An Asset-Based Approach to Supporting Anticipated College Belonging for Students from Historically Stigmatized Groups

• In Event: New Advances in Asset-Based Interventions in Educational Settings

Abstract

Objective
Socioeconomically disadvantaged high school students are less likely to go to and complete college despite the long-term benefits of college degrees (e.g., Cox, 2016). Many factors play a role in this disparity, but one part of students’ college decision-making and persistence is their anticipated sense of belonging in college (Murphy & Zirkel, 2015; Yeager et al., 2016). Furthermore, one reason students from socioeconomic disadvantage might question their anticipated belonging in college is due to the prevailing narratives about whose backgrounds are valued and an asset in college. Thus, the current study tests a novel intervention designed to bolster anticipated college belonging for students from socioeconomic disadvantage by countering the narrative about whose backgrounds as an asset in college.

Theoretical Framework
It is clear that student perceptions of belonging in educational settings are linked to critical outcomes, such as student motivation, academic achievement, attendance, and engagement (Allen et al., 2021). Yet, while most interventions address current school belonging, there is emerging evidence that beliefs about whether one will fit in a future context (i.e., anticipated belonging) can affect students’ motivation and decision-making. Although there is limited research on anticipated college belonging, correlational research has shown that anticipated belonging predicts college persistence (Yeager et al., 2016) and end-of-year grades for students (Murphy & Zirkel, 2015).

Methods
High school students (n = 629; 30% 10th graders, 40% 11th graders, and 30% 12th graders; 54% girls, 46% boys; 53% White, 19% Black, 14% Latino, 7% Asian, 7% multiracial, 1% other groups; 77% higher SES, 23% lower SES) participated in our study, and all students were randomly assigned to intervention or control condition. Following engagement with the intervention or control condition, we gave a survey to assess our main outcomes of interest: students’ anticipated college belonging and belief that one’s background is an asset.

Results
Results indicated a significant interaction between experimental condition and student socioeconomic status, p = .01, such that high-SES students maintained similar levels of background-as-an-asset beliefs regardless of condition whereas low-SES students experience a significant benefit from the intervention, p = .03, d = .31 (Figure 1). The findings also showed a significant interaction between experimental condition and student socioeconomic status, p = .03, such that high-SES students maintained similar levels of anticipated college belonging regardless of condition whereas low-SES students experienced a significant benefit from the intervention, p = .04, d = .30 (Figure 2). Overall, the intervention raised low-SES students’ anticipated college belonging and perception that their background is an asset in college to the levels of high-SES students, eliminating the disparity in these important beliefs.

Significance
The intervention reduced disparities in anticipated college belonging between high school students from higher- and lower-income backgrounds by sharing stories from students depicting a wide-variety of backgrounds as a strength in college. These results show the power of an intervention to change high school students’ anticipated belonging in college without promoting assimilation or inadvertently placing blame on individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, which are common criticisms of belonging interventions (Covarrubias & Laiduc, 2022; Matthews et al., 2024; Silverman et al., 2023).

Authors

• Maegan Barbara Arney, Washington University in St. Louis

• Danika Strayhorn, Washington University in St. Louis

• Chris Rozek, Washington University in St. Louis