1. Developing a ‘Sense of Belonging’
DEE Conference, Cardiff 9-10 September 2009
Developing a ‘Sense of Belonging’
Guglielmo Volpe
Economics Department
Queen Mary, University of London
Warning!
There is no economics in this talk! Feel free to leave the room and take a break if you wish!

2. Why? My new department ‘Confrontational’ relationship with students
Poor NSS results
No engagement with students
Research focus and little attention to T&L
Lack of collegial engagement within the Department

3. School success and failure
Classroom engagement
Academic effort
School success and failure
Situational and contextual factors
Quality of school social relationship
Sense of belonging or psychological membership in the school or classroom

4. Sense of belonging or psychological membership in the school or classroom
Extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included and supported by others in the school social environment
(Goodenow, 1993)
Experience of personal involvement in a system or environment so that persons feel themselves to be an integral part of that system or environment
(Hagerty and Patusky, 1995)
“need to belong is a fundamental human motivation and can be defined as a pervasive drive to form and maintain at least a minimum quantity of lasting, positive and significant interpersonal relationship” (Osterman, 2000)

5. Sense of belonging or psychological membership in the school or classroom
In school
Importance in life
absence leads to lowered interest and engagement in ordinary life
(Weiss, 1973)
Difficulty in sustaining academic engagement and commitment in environments where students do not feel valued and welcome
(Batcher, 1981, Zeichner, 1980, Tinto, 1987)
Belonging is a critical factor in school retention and dropout of at risk students
(Finn, 1989, Wehlage, 1989)

6. Research shows that among middle and high school students, sense of belonging leads to
Better academic motivation
Lower rates of school drop-out
Higher grade point average
Better socio-emotional functioning
(Anderman and Anderman 1999, Goodenow 1993, Anderman 2002, Wehlag et al. 1989, Shochet et al., 2006)

7. (Anderman and Freeman 2004,Hurtado & Carter 1997, Mounts 2004)
Research shows that among undergraduate students, sense of belonging leads to
Linked to lecturers caring
Greater involvement in campus organisation
Lower level of depression/loneliness among African American and Caucasian students
Less racial climate among Latino students
Students at a disadvantage may benefit more from a sense of belonging than other groups
(Anderman and Freeman 2004,Hurtado & Carter 1997, Mounts 2004)

8. Measure of sense of belonging
Two defining attributes
Fit
Perception that the individual’s characteristics articulate with the system or environment
Valued Involvement
The experience of feeling valued, needed and accepted
Antecedents or precursors to sense of belonging
Energy for involvement, potential and desire for meaningful involvement and potential for shared or complementary characteristics

9. Sense of belonging instrument (Hagerty and Potusky, 1995)
27 items questionnaire covering issues of fit, value and antecedents
4 points likert scale
Psychological Sense of School Membership (Goodenow, 1993)
18 items questionnaire
5 points likert scale
Sense of belonging instrument (Hofman et al., 2007)
26 items questionnaire distributed over five factors
Perceived peer support
Perceived staff support/comfort
Perceived classroom support
Perceived isolation
Empathetic faculty understanding

10. Pilot project: Sense of belonging of economics students at Queen Mary
Small scale summer project with aim to scale up project in coming academic year
Call for participants and eventually 7 students agreed to be involved (one third year student, three second year and three first year students)
PSSM questionnaire
Semi-structured interviews
Aims:
Measure sense of belonging
Explore factors affecting sense of belonging for students

11. Some preliminary results on ‘Sense of Belonging’ scores
Year 1 students’ average score
Student 1
3.72
Student 2
3.56
Student 3
3.78
3.69
Year 2 and 3 students’ average scores
Avg. Score 2007/8
Avg. Score 2008/9
Student 1
3.39
3.06
Student 2
3.17
4.5
Student 3
2.33
2.17
Student 4
3.61
4.61
3.13
3.59

12. From interviews Students-staff relationship
Reduce ‘distance’ between staff and students
Students-peer relationship
Importance of induction
Groups of friends – difficulty to engage with other groups
International students – ethnic minorities
Extra-curricular activities

13. Developing a sense of belonging: what are we doing?
Many things….
look at students and staff relationship
Support students engagement with their peers

14. look at students and staff relationship
Strengthen advising/support systems
Appoint senior tutor
Appoint students support manager
Introduce standard of service framework
Define timeline for feedback and enhance awareness about feedback practices

15. look at students and staff relationship
Research assistant scheme
Financial help for attendance to summer courses
Guest speaker lecture (this year: Robert Peston)
Induction has been strengthened for all students (year 1, 2 and 3)

16. Students engagement with their peers
Engage with and support Economics Society
Debate teams
Imagery competition
Peer support scheme
Student helpers
Student ambassadors
Careers and employability workshops

17. The staff vs students football competition!!!
But, the most important new initiative…..
The staff vs students football competition!!!

18. References
Anderman, L.H., Anderman, E.M. (1999). Social predictors of changes in students’ achievement goal orientations. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 24, 21-37
Anderman, L.H., Freeman, T.M. (2004). Students’ sense of belonging in school. In P.R. Pintrich and M.I. Maehr (Eds.), Motivating students, improving schools: Advances in motivation and achievement, Vol. 13, p.27-63, Amsterdam: Elsvier
Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, 30, 79-90
Hagborg. W.J. (1994). An exploration of school membership among middle- and high-school students. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 12,
Hoffman, M., Richmond, J., Morrow, J., Salomone, K. (2003). Investigating “Sense of Belonging” in first-year college students. Journal of College Student Retention, 4,
Hurtado, S., Carter., D.F. (1997). Effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial cliamte on Latino college students’ sense of belonging. Sociology of Education, 70,
Osterman, K.F. (2000). Students’ need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70,
Pittman, L.D., Richmond, A. (2007). Academic and Psychological Functioning in Late Adolescence: The importance of school belonging. The Journal of Experimental Education, 75,

19. Psychological Sense of School Membership (Goodenow, 1993)
I feel like a real part of the Economics Department
People here notice when I am good at something
It is hard for people like me to be accepted here
Other students in the Department take my opinions seriously
Most lecturers within the Department are interested in me
Sometimes I feel as if I do not belong here
There is at least one lecturer (or other person) in the Department
I can talk to if I have a problem
People in the Department are friendly to me
Lecturers here are not interested in people like me
I am included in/participate to lots of activities in the Department
I am treated with as much respect as other students
I feel very different from most other students here
I can really be myself in this Department
The lecturers here respect me
People here know I can do good work
I wish I were in a different Department/University
I feel proud of belonging to the Economics Department
Other students here like me the way I am