An official website of the United States government
The purpose of this research study is to test whether LGBTQ network homophily predicts higher sense of belonging among LGBTQ students, and if this relationship differs between STEM and non-STEM majors. Network homophily describes how sameness and difference within a person’s social network provides access to different types of resources, and we hypothesize that LGBTQ STEM students have access to fewer LGBTQ sources of support than their peers outside of STEM. The study comprised 315 LGBTQ students from four U.S. research universities nationally. In this sample, 66% of participants were STEM majors, and 29% identified as transgender, gender nonconforming, or nonbinary (TGNC). Multiple regression analyses were performed to test the effect of being a STEM major and homophily within students’ social networks on sense of belonging. Results demonstrated several nuances in the relationship between network homophily and sense of belonging. Cisgender LGBQ students reported significantly higher sense of belonging than their TGNC peers. LGBTQ students relying exclusively on cis-hetero sources of academic support reported lower belonging than those with at least some LGBTQ network members. Few differences were observed between STEM and non-STEM students, meaning that gender identity and network homophily play a stronger role in sense of belonging than being a STEM major. Overall, these findings support the conception of homophily as an indicator of a supportive STEM learning environment for LGBTQ students, fostering equitable education. This emphasizes the need for targeted support mechanisms within academic disciplines to enhance the persistence and success of LGBTQ students in higher education.
more »
« less
This content will become publicly available on December 1, 2025
Thinking you're different matters more for belonging than being different
Belonging to a community is essential for wellbeing, but potentially unattainable for those dissimilar from a group. In the present work, we ask whether belongingness is better predicted by acting and thinking like peers or believing you act and think like peers. Students (N = 1181) reported their belonging and how much they, their friends, and an “average student” endorsed local behavioral norms and general values. We calculated difference scores for behaviors and values capturing perceived similarity to the average, actual similarity to the average, and accuracy around the norm. Key results indicate that perceived behavioral similarity to the average, when controlling for other differences, predicts belonging and most robustly mediates between identity and belonging. Using social network analysis, we find behavioral differences from friends are meaningfully linked to network density and racial homophily. Efficient interventions for enhanced belonging could highlight similarities between students and their peers.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2145385
- PAR ID:
- 10500155
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Scientific Reports
- Volume:
- 14
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2045-2322
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Abstract Students from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds can experience stigma in undergraduate educational settings but little research on this topic has been conducted at the PhD level. Lower‐SES PhD students may feel lower levels of social integration as they experience incidents of interpersonal disconnection from others inside and outside of academia. Interpersonal disconnection may be a mechanism by which lower‐SES leads to a lower sense of social integration. In this prospective study of first‐year PhD students at three North American universities (N = 608), we assessed students’ perceived social integration and their interpersonal perceptions inside and outside of academia 2–8 times throughout their first year of graduate school. Relative to higher‐SES students, lower‐SES students perceived lower levels of social integration. They had difficulty making academic friends, felt dissimilar to their academic peers, and perceived a lack of understanding about their work in graduate school from non‐academic families and friends. They also lost non‐academic social ties. These interpersonal disconnections prospectively mediated the association between lower SES and lower levels of perceived social integration. Lower‐SES PhD students are at risk of impaired interpersonal relationships. Institutional policies to promote social connections among PhD students may help lower‐SES students integrate into academia.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)In this Research Full Paper we examine the reported experiences of Black students who are majoring in or switched from electrical (EE), computer (CPE), or mechanical (ME) engineering. Prior work has shown different persistence trajectories for Black students in these majors relative to White students, as well as differences between Black men and Black women. We surveyed 79 students at four institutions in the USA, three Predominantly White Institutions and 1 Historically Black University. In all, 33 students who had ever majored in ME, 27 in CPE, and 19 in EE completed a pre-interview survey that asked about aspects of the learning environment, faculty and peer relationships, and perception of belonging. Fifty-six students persisted in these majors while 23 switched to other majors. Compared to switchers, persisters are more likely to feel that the quality of instruction is higher, feel more encouraged by professors and peers to continue, and feel a greater sense of belonging in their departments. ME students are much more likely to experience group learning in their classes than either EE or CPE students and their ME peers are more likely to encourage them to persist. The difference in persistence between EE and CPE may be explained in part by the attraction of the computer science major as an alternative option for computer engineering majors; half of our CPE switchers switched to computer science. However, teaching quality may be an additional factor as CPE students perceived teaching quality to be lower than EE students did. Future research will explore these findings in the context of our in-depth interviews with these students. Keywords—Black Students, Persistence, Classroom Experiences, Faculty-Student Interaction, MIDFIELDmore » « less
-
First-generation college students often experience greater social alienation and marginalization due to a mismatch of their cultural values compared to those of their university and often report lower academic satisfaction and sense of belonging. The effects on sense of belonging and satisfaction are intensified when first-generation college students have identities that intersect with other stigmatized social and cultural identities, like low socioeconomic status, Black or Latinx racial identities or religious identities, specifically for STEM majors. Students’ holistic health and well-being, including their sense of belonging, is highly correlated to their academic achievement, persistence, and overall student success, especially for underrepresented minority groups. However, there has been limited consideration for the nuanced experiences of first-generation college students with multiple stigmatized identities, and for how the academic STEM environment shapes student’s perceptions of inclusivity considering their social identities. To address these concerns, we used the Bioecological Systems theory to contextualize drivers of sense of belonging for students with stigmatized social and cultural identities by allowing space to explicitly consider institutional, departmental, classroom and societal-level phenomena that may operate to erode or fortify belonging for some individuals over others. Findings were organized contextually first, revealing how broader societal and familial values shaped their perceptions of their first-generation identity. Next, we reported how various forms of engagement and interactions with institutional agents impacted their perceptions of support at the institutional level. We then documented behavioral patterns within STEM departments that culminated to reveal how first-generation college students’ sense of belonging was impacted by perceived departmental culture. Last, we revealed interactions within STEM classrooms that signaled inclusivity through humanizing and intentional pedagogical practices. Infused throughout all findings are instances where student experiences were mediated through their multiple identities and were shaped by dual global pandemics of 2020, that being COVID-19 and the racial unrest resurfaced by the murder of George Floyd. Implications for this work have the potential to restructure how institutions provide support for first-generation college students given the salience of their intersecting stigmatized identities in shaping their institutional, disciplinary, and classroom belonging.more » « less
-
This study examines university students’ Sense of Belonging and Satisfaction with their university during the pandemic using the Adapted Perceived Cohesion scale. Data collected from students attending a large midwestern university were used for confirmatory factor analysis and linear regression (n = 1,613). Results confirm the scale is consistent with the original instrument, and Satisfaction can be used to predict 65% of Sense of Belonging. On average, students reported low cohesion (M = 6.7, SD = 1.9), with students reporting a lower Satisfaction (M = 3.3, SD = 1.0) than Sense of Belonging (M = 3.4, SD = 0.8). Students who started their degree before the pandemic reported a lower Perceived Cohesion than students who started during the pandemicmore » « less
