Relationships Between Sense of Belonging and Engagement on a University Campus

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Belonging, Mattering, and a Sense of Community

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between sense of belonging and engagement as two of the complex factors that influence retention. For this study, 561 undergraduate students at a public regional institution provided demographic information, access to student success indicators, and completed a newly developed, 47-question survey on student engagement and sense of belonging. Factor analysis determined four distinct dimensions of sense of belonging. Structural equation modeling suggests interactions with dimensions of sense of belonging and student engagement enable or inhibit each other. In particular, student engagement was influenced by the level of sense of belonging students felt with other students and community, faculty and staff, identity, and discrimination. In turn, sense of belonging in these areas influenced engagement.

Author

• Christine L Lancaster, Eastern Michigan University