One of the aims of PhD students' socialisation is for them to accept the norms of the teaching culture and to be fully engaged with and accepted by the university teaching community. However, when PhD students enter universities, they do not necessarily accept all of the university teaching community's cultural norms, nor do they all experience…

It is crucial that academic institutions offer support to their increasingly diverse student bodies. LGBTQIA+ students often report negative experiences in relation to campus climate and treatment. The aim of this qualitative research was to explore the experiences of LGBTQIA+ students who attend(ed) a collaborative (staff and student),…

Students' sense of belonging impacts their affect, motivation, well-being, and academic success. Sense of belonging is considered context-dependent as what determines one's belonging differs across contexts. This study explores how sense of belonging manifests among post-secondary, introductory chemistry students. This context is important given…

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…

Girls are consistently found to have higher literacy levels than their male peers and to consume more social narrative fiction. This study conducted interviews with four autistic girls to better understand how reading fiction can inform the camouflaging behaviours of autistic girls. Participants described how imitating characters embodying desired…

Students minoritised because of their race and/or ethnicity have a different university experience from their peers, which is reflected in degree completion statistics, awarding gaps, and graduate outcomes. One factor influencing these outcomes is students' sense of inclusion and belonging with the university, which is lower in minoritised…

Constructing school spaces where Black girls feel comfortable enough to be their full selves is essential in a system that consistently shows them that they do not matter. Cultivating these spaces, however, requires educators to understand that Black girls' identities are multiple and varied, that Black girls can be anything. Still, some identity…

This study examines how young adults evaluate gender-based social inclusion and exclusion from academic peer groups. Participants included 199 college students (M[subscript age] = 19.18; SD = 1.37, Range = 18-25), who made judgments about the acceptability of gender-based social exclusion of female and male peers from a Physics group (a…

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…

This study investigates the role of teachers' feedback on achievement and behaviour in influencing students' peer acceptance, academic trait emotions as well as school well-being. Data derives from 970 fourth graders from inclusive primary schools (51% male, 49% female; 8% with special educational needs). Results showed that students perceive an…

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for higher education institutions to take a holistic approach to early childhood teacher preparation, which includes fostering students' social connections at the university. Using an online survey, this study examined perceptions of whether and how the pandemic disrupted sense of belonging (SoB) and…

There is an increasing number of autistic students being educated alongside their neurotypical peers. However, placing a student in the general education setting is not sufficient for meaningful inclusion. Historically, autistic students have had fewer friendships, been less accepted, and experienced stigmatization. Interventions to increase peer…

The ethnic classroom composition and classmates' ethnic attitudes can affect how students experience their classroom social environment (CSE). Following the imbalance of power thesis and prior research on ethnic attitudes, this cross-sectional study examined if ethnic classroom composition (i.e., proportion of in-group and Herfindahl Index) and…

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…

Schools are critical spaces for young men from refugee backgrounds. They play an integral role in literacy development, educational attainment, and providing a sense of belonging. Inclusive education practices for this group?are?largely absent in Australian schools. Research shows focusing on these young men from a non-deficit position assists…