Non-traditional Communities Enacting Resilience and Creating Belonging in Higher Education

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

The Renaissance Scholars Program (RSP) supports student communities on campus who have experienced homelessness; neglect in their homes; guardians with severe mental illness or substance abuse; pushout from their homes due to their LGBTQ identity; and incarceration or forcible separation from family due to deportation. Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, RSP partnered with a campus research center to broaden the program’s understanding of who they serve, the types of services different groups of students value and need, and the effects of the program on students’ psychological and academic outcomes. We analyzed responses to an online survey (n=21) and semi-structured interviews (n=10). Survey data demonstrated the intersecting nature of the communities RSP supports. Often, belonging to one of the RSP communities meant belonging to at least 2 others. In addition, the survey revealed a strong sense of belonging to the campus and RSP program. Interview data shed further insights on the complicated relationship to belonging the students experienced and their resilience in the face of challenges prior to and upon arriving on campus. We constructed three overarching themes to describe the Challenges, Resiliency, and Belonging of RSP scholars. The first theme documented the everyday challenges as RSP scholars, including feelings of lacking a shared community, the perception that they are stigmatized by their past, and experiencing concerns regarding their personal safety. The second theme chronicled the scholars’ resilience, including how they have reframed their stigmatized past experiences in the context of the university, the stability that has emerged from the safe environments they have created on campus, and their intent on giving back to the campus and communities that have helped them. The final theme described the impact of gaining a sense of belonging on campus, including the affirmation they gained from having others with similar backgrounds validate their concerns, the importance of finding a sanctuary on campus through RSP where they feel welcomed and accepted, and intentionally building community because they understand the impact it had on them and want it to be there for others. Recommendations for improving belonging in higher education settings are derived from the findings.

Authors

• Ruby Arabella Hernandez, University of California - Santa Cruz
  Presenting Author

• Rebecca Covarrubias, University of California Santa Cruz
  Non-Presenting Author