B11: Sense of Belonging in Undergraduate Students at Miami

This study, conducted by the HASS scholars program, focuses on students’ sense of belonging in university throughout four years. To understand what affects this, we broke it down into possible factors. We sent a survey with our questions through social media to students at Miami University of Oxford, Ohio and received 50 responses. The survey began by asking students if they consider themselves people of color. This gave us insight into students’ identities, and was relevant when we tested whether students feel their race or ethnicity affects their sense of belonging. We analyzed our quantitative data through descriptive statistics, and our qualitative answers were coded for themes & word clouds were created for frequency. One major finding in our research was that most students who were white and responded felt welcomed because their skin color was the same as everyone else around them. Unfortunately, we did not have enough people of color answer the question to analyze their view. Another key finding was that involvement in the community— clubs, programs, or greek life— increased the sense of belonging of nearly every student that we surveyed. This research has been crucial for our intended careers because although we are going into different paths, it helps us understand that the most effective way to feel a part of and welcomed into a community is to join its programs, get involved, and connect with peers. Going forward, institutions and universities can implement this idea to improve students’ sense of belonging so that the students have a better transition to college life.

Author(s): Adella DeCapite, Psychology Major

Alvaro Arranz, Political Science Major

Daija Heller, Psychology Major

Terren Lewis, English Creative Writing Major

Advisor(s): Carolyn Craig, DEIB & Visiting Faculty, College of Arts and Science

Abigail Morgan, University Libraries