Exploring Sense of Belonging After College Student Trauma

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

Abstract

Sense of belonging has proven to be a critical element of many dimensions of student success and wellbeing (Strayhorn, 2019). Although recent research has noted the possibility of trauma inducing both strain and connection in relationships for college students (Shalka, 2019), work that explicitly explores how belonging is experienced after college student trauma remains sparse. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to engage in nuanced understanding of how a sense of belonging may be experienced for college students who have experienced trauma.

Author

• Tricia Shalka, University of Rochester