This study examines the relationships between peer victimization, peer relations and depression among adolescents, with a focus on the moderating roles of peer rejection, peer acceptance and reciprocal friendships on the association between peer victimization and depression. A sample of 605 adolescents (average age 13.5 years) completed measures…

LGBTQ+ youth make up a significant portion of the United States student population (Conron, 2020). A sense of belonging for middle school students is an essential indicator for academic achievement and positive motivational and health outcomes (Kosciw et al., 2020; Steiner et al., 2019), yet LGBTQ+ students experience less belonging than their…

Building off seminal works on community including McMillan and Chavis, Lave and Wenger, Graves, and Wenger et al, the Institutional, Program, and Professional (IPP) community framework for online allows students, faculty, administrators, and alumni the opportunity to consider how to support community beyond online courses into programs, the…

Underrepresentation of females in college science, technology, engineering, and math impacts college graduation rates, pay disparity of females, and the local and global workforce. Research offers one concept, sense of belonging, as vital to motivation of and persistence in major. To address a sense of belonging for this population, some…

Research indicates that historically underrepresented college students are more likely to report alienating campus climates which can contribute to decreased sense of belonging and wellbeing. In turn, a lack of a sense of belonging and poor mental health may lead to decreased academic engagement and increased likelihood of attrition. Theoretical…

This instrumental qualitative case study examined how one Catholic, Jesuit university supports its LGBTQ undergraduate students and how those students make meaning of that support. Participants included 19 students with a variety of LGBTQ and racial identities, and 13 faculty and staff. I examined online documents, made visual observations, and…

Belonging is an essential human need, regardless of whether or not one has a disability, and has been found to positively impact one's physical and mental health. Feelings of belonging for college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) have largely been unexplored in research. Using the 10 Dimensions of Belonging…

This study investigated how first-year college students described belonging experiences with college peers in the first semester, specifically conceptualizing these relationships as bidirectional, where college students both receive and provide support to one another in a mutual way. A descriptive phenomenological research design was employed to…

Students at the collegiate level face chronic stress due to the lifestyles of heavy workloads, schoolwork, and adjustment to campus life. Being in prolonged periods of stress could negatively affect students' well-being, which can adversely affect other psychological areas such as mindfulness, motivation and engagement, and sense of belonging, as…

Nationally, Black men graduate at 39% on six-year graduation rates at four-year, public institutions (NCES, 2022). Black men have experienced one of the lowest rates of success compared with students from other demographic populations (Black & Bimper, 2020), but these outcomes are related to underrepresentation, racial hostility, and social…

Despite the critical contributions that student affairs professionals make to college students' learning and development and campus operations, mid-level professionals are at risk of leaving the field altogether. The current study investigated the role of sense of belonging in mid-level student affairs professionals' experiences and their turnover…

The current case study examined the effects of a specialized private Christian school for neurodiverse learning-disabled students. Research supports the creation of an educational environment that meets not only the academic needs of these diverse learners but also prioritizes creating a safe social-emotional place for learning. Further, the study…

This paper investigates the perceptions and experiences of graduated African American students regarding the effects of campus gospel choir involvement on their persistence at Michigan State University (MSU). Drawing upon the frameworks of Astin's Input-Output-Environment (IOE) model, Tinto's Theory of Belonging, and Kuh's High-Impact Practices…

Formerly incarcerated students comprise a population that has been largely overlooked, when it comes to the recognition of their higher education promise and potential (Strayhorn et al., 2013; U.S. Department of Education, 2021). This lack of recognition contributes to the perpetuation of race- and class-based inequities and discounts the talents…

This qualitative, action research study explored how practitioners' understanding of the academic impacts of sexual violence on female college students transformed. The professional development innovation called "SAAIT: Sexual Assault Academic Intervention Training" was designed using the theoretical framework of Transformative Learning…