Signals of Identity Safety: How Relational and Curricular Cues Shape Belonging for Graduate Students of Color

• In Event: Disrupted Belonging: Graduate Students Confront Equity and Exclusion

Abstract

This study examines how identity safety cues—environmental or social signals that affirm that members of marginalized groups are valued and unlikely to face discrimination—shape belonging for graduate students of color. Utilizing data from the 2023 administration of the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates (NACCC) Graduate Student Survey at a large research-intensive university, we examine how relational and curricular cues relate to students’ sense of belonging. Using multiple linear regression (n=1,309), we find that relational cues from white faculty and faculty of color, as well as curricular cues, significantly predict institutional belonging. Relational cues from white faculty emerged as the strongest predictor. Our findings underscore the importance of identity-affirming experiences in fostering belonging for graduate students of color.

Authors

• Royel M. Johnson, University of Southern California

• Mya Haynes, USC

• Terrell Lamont Strayhorn, Virginia Union University