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Applying an Integrative Belonging Framework to Explore Students' Perspectives at HSIs

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Voices of Diversity: Perspectives and Experiences in STEM Education

Tagged Division

Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/46590

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Paper Authors

biography

Sarah Hug Colorado Evaluation and Research Consulting

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Dr. Sarah Hug is director of the Colorado Evaluation & Research Consulting. Dr. Hug earned her PhD in Educational Psychology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research and evaluation efforts focus on learning science, technology, engineering. She leads a social science and evaluation organization that focuses on inclusive excellence, broadening participation, and democratizing science.

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biography

Suzanne Eyerman Fairhaven Research and Evaluation

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Suzanne Eyerman, Ph.D. is a researcher and evaluator for STEM programs in higher education, K-12 classrooms, and afterschool programs. A former classroom teacher, Dr. Eyerman has investigated learning in a variety of contexts, including school playgrounds and children’s museums. Currently, her work focuses on diversifying the STEM workforce through education and out-of-school activities. Dr. Eyerman received her B.A. in Psychology from Monmouth University and her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research interests are in the areas of identity and diverse participation in STEM fields, plus engineering and computer science in K-12 education.

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Abstract

The concept of belonging is ubiquitous in recent literature about undergraduate engineering and computer science recruitment and retention, yet conceptualizations of the construct can be ill-defined. While quantitative, survey-based efforts can show correlations between a students’ self-described belonging and other variables, qualitative studies are necessary to learn how and why students develop a sense of belonging in their discipline. In our study, we focus on one interview item related to departmental fit, and categorize the complex ways students perceived their own belonging, or lack of belonging. This study adopts a comprehensive framework based on the work of Allen and colleagues for considering belonging and applies the framework to interviews focused on student belonging to their academic department. As students described whether or not they felt they belonged to their academic department, they described what contextual factors supported feelings of belonging, and which did not. They also described elements of their embodied identities that supported feelings of belonging, such as personality traits and demographic markers. Authors coded based on the four elements of belonging as defined by Allen- competencies from belonging, opportunities to belong, motivations to belong, and perceptions of belonging. Interview data from 70 undergraduate computing students suggest great variability in student perspectives of belonging, with individual characteristics, or traits of the individual, and contextual characteristics from the academic environment serving to sustain a sense of belonging. In addition, our dataset from Hispanic Serving institutions and emerging Hispanic Serving Institutions shows characteristics of departments that support student opportunities and competencies that promote belonging. In this paper, we document these characteristics and provide recommendations for departmental belonging.

Hug, S., & Eyerman, S. (2024, June), Applying an Integrative Belonging Framework to Explore Students' Perspectives at HSIs Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46590

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