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Owner: Taiylor R. Rayford
Owner Email: taiylor2@illinois.edu
Paper Title: Belonging Fulfillment: Are Universities Fulfilling College Students' Expectations About Belonging?
Session Title: Diverse Perspectives on Mentoring, Belonging, and Achieving: Insights From Alumni, Advisors, and Students
Paper Type: Paper
Presentation Date: 4/13/2023
Presentation Location: Chicago, IL
Descriptors: Colleges, Psychology, Social and Emotional Learning
Methodology: Quantitative
Author(s): Taiylor Rayford, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Amos Jeng, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Nidia Ruedas-Gracia, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; David Shuang Song, University of Oklahoma
Unit: Division J - Postsecondary Education
Abstract: A sense of belonging is an important factor for college student success. However, it is unclear whether students’ expectations of belonging are being met as they progress through their time in college. In this paper, we examine (a) whether students’ expectations about college belonging are fulfilled during college and (b) how demographic background predicts the degree to which students’ expectations about college belonging are fulfilled during college. We found that universities are failing to fulfill students’ expectations of college belonging and that low-income students are more likely than their peers to have their college belonging expectations fulfilled and surpassed.  These results have important implications for higher education and demonstrate the need to study belonging fulfillment as a unique phenomenon.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/2006262