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College Students’ Sense of Belonging
Abstract
This book explores how belonging differs based on students’ social identities, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or the conditions they encounter on campus. Belonging—with peers, in the classroom, or on campus—is a critical dimension of success at college. It can affect a student’s degree of academic adjustment, achievement, aspirations, or even whether a student stays in school. The 2nd Edition of College Students’ Sense of Belonging explores student sub-populations and campus environments, offering readers updated information about sense of belonging, how it develops for students, and a conceptual model for helping students belong and thrive. Underpinned by theory and research and offering practical guidelines for improving educational environments and policies, this book is an important resource for higher education and student affairs professionals, scholars, and graduate students interested in students’ success. New to this second edition: A refined theory of college students’ sense of belonging and review of current literature in light of new and emerging theories; Expanded best practices related to fostering sense of belonging in classrooms, clubs, residence halls, and other contexts; Updated research and insights for new student populations such as youth formerly in foster care, formerly incarcerated adults, and homeless students; Coverage on a broad range of topics since the first edition of this book, including cultural navigation, academic spotting, and the…
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“suggesting a lack of a sense of belonging”
From "It Just Makes It Feel Like You're Not Alone": A Qualitative Study of a Social Support Group for High-Achieving, Low-Income STEM Majors (2024) · cites this paper as Strayhorn, 2018
In the citing paper
“As defined by Strayhorn [104], 'sense of belonging refers to students' perceived social support on campus, a feeling or sensation of connectedness, and the experience of mattering or feeling cared about, accepted, respected, valued by, and important to the campus community or others on campus such as faculty, staff, and peers.'”
From "I'd Never Actually Realized How Big An Impact It Had Until Now": Perspectives of University Students with Disabilities on Generative Artificial Intelligence (2025) · cites this paper as [104]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Strayhorn, T. L.
- Corresponding author
- Strayhorn, Terrell L.
- Venue
- Routledge eBooks
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Published
- 2018-09-03
- OpenAlex
- W4239060293
- Cited by
- 803
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 219 · 2025: 156 · 2024: 155 · 2023: 106 · 2022: 80 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 36.03
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Practises and Engagement
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Career Development and Diversity
- Keywords
- sense of belonging, university students, social identity, academic adjustment, student retention, student success, student support services, campus climate, race, gender, sexual orientation, formerly incarcerated students, homeless students, cultural navigation, residence halls, classroom belonging
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