Understanding Belonging to Improve Persistence: A Gender Study

Tamara Floyd-Smith, Tuskegee UniversityDenise Wilson (Project Lead) and Diane Jones, University of Washington

Melani Plett, Seattle Pacific UniversityRebecca Bates, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Nanette Veilleux, Simmons College

2012 World Engineering Education Forum Buenos Aires, ArgentinaTuesday, October 16th

Outline• Overview of the Full

Study• Objective of the

Current Study• Belonging Constructs• Results• Summary and

Implications

Example of Belonging to a University Community:

HBCU ChoirBelonging - frequent, local and pleasant connections with others (Baumeister

and Leary, 1995)

Why Study Belonging?

Physiological Needs: Food and Water

Safety, freedom from fear, order

Social needs, sense of belonging

Appreciation, recognition, esteem

Self actualization

Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsBlo

om’s

Taxo

nomy

BackgroundWhy Does Belonging Matter?

Evidence of the importance of belonging and other connections to community:

In G6-12:• Increased engagement• Decreased drop-out rates

In higher education• Retention in STEM fields• Student/faculty success and fulfillment

In the workplace• Increased feelings of security, stronger self-concept,

self-respect and coping abilities

Overall Project Goals

• Conceptualizing the role of community in higher education

• Assessing how various connections to community influence academic engagement

• Transferring successful communities to other STEM environments

Participating Institutions• Northwest Research 1, Engineering

and Computer Science• Midwest Comprehensive, Computer

Science and Engineering• Northwest Faith-based, Engineering• Northeast Women’s College,

Computer Science • Southeast Historically Black

College/University (HBCU), Engineering

Research 1 Institution (> 40,000 students)

HBCU(< 4,000 students)

Overview of the Full Study• (Year 1) Conceptual model development () • (Year 2) Instrument development and

validation ()• (Years 2-4) Longitudinal study of community

targeting sophomores and juniors (-) • (Year 5) Attempt to transfer results to other

STEM environments

Full Study Methods• Survey– Likert Scale Items– General student information: GPA, year in school,

parental level of education• Focus Groups/Interviews• Classroom Observations

Surveys Focus Groups Classroom Observations

Objective and Motivation of Current Study

• Objective: Provide insight into belonging for STEM students with a focus on gender

Belonging to Class•I feel accepted in this class.•I feel comfortable in this class.•I feel supported in this class.•I feel that I am part of this class.

Entails Is measured by

Connections to Community

a= 0.88

Belonging to Major•I feel accepted in my major.•I feel comfortable in my major.•I feel supported in my major.•I feel that I am part of my major.

Entails Is measured by

Connections to Community

a= 0.85

Belonging to University as Institution •I feel like I really belong at this

school.•I really enjoy going to school here.•I wish I had gone to another school instead of this one.*•I wish I were at a different school.*

Entails Is measured by

Connections to Community

a= 0.87

*Reverse Coded

Belonging to University as Community •People at this school are friendly

to me.•I feel that there is a real sense of community at this school.•I feel like there is a strong feeling of togetherness on campus.

Entails Is measured by

Connections to Community

a= 0.80

Classroom Belonging

SampleSophomore Junior Senior Total

m s m s m s m s

Female 15.4 3.0 15.2 2.7 16.5 2.3 15.5 2.8

Male 15.1 2.8 15.1 2.6 15.1 2.9 15.1 2.9

Total 15.2 2.8 15.1 2.6 15.4 2.8 15.2 2.7

Female students reported greater class belonging than male students.

Major Belonging

SampleSophomore Junior Senior Total

m s m s m s m s

Female 15.5 3.2 16.2 2.4 17.0 2.7 16.1 2.8

Male 15.4 3.1 16.3 2.8 15.9 2.6 16.0 2.8

Total 15.5 3.1 16.3 2.7 16.1 2.7 16.0 2.8

Differences by gender are not statistically significant.

Freshmen Data

SampleClass Major University-

InstitutionUniversity-Community

m s m s m s m sFemale 17.2 2.1 16.8 2.4 17.1 3.0 11.8 2.2Male 16.0 2.4 15.8 2.6 15.5 3.3 11.0 1.7

Total 16.3 2.3 16.1 2.6 15.9 3.3 11.2 1.8

Female students report higher class belonging.

Summary and Implications• Summary: Either female students reported

higher belonging or differences were not statistically significant.

• Implications: Efforts to improve female representation may need to focus on prospective freshmen

Acknowledgements

• National Science Foundation for funding (DRL-0909817, 0910143, 0909659, 0909900 and 0990850)

• Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.