The Role of Academic Validation in Developing Mattering and Academic Success

• In Event: The Role of Sense of Belonging and Mattering in College

Abstract

We explore the relationship between academic validation and student outcomes during students’ first three years in college using structural equation modeling. We examine both a psychosocial outcome (mattering to campus) and an academic outcome (cumulative GPA). We find that students’ reported levels of academic validation in their first two years on campus are more predictive of their mattering to campus and cumulative GPA at the end of their third year, than are student-initiated course-related interactions with faculty during the same period. These findings are significant even after accounting for students’ engagement in high school, prior achievement, and demographic characteristics. Our results suggest that academic validation is a key mechanism by which faculty and institutions can promote student success.

Authors

• Elise Swanson, Harvard University

• Darnell G. Cole, University of Southern California