Social Class and Belonging: Implications for Graduate Students' Career Aspirations

Ostrove, Joan M.; Stewart, Abigail J.; Curtin, Nicola

doi:10.1080/00221546.2011.11777226

Cited by 45 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Sense of belonging has been studied in relationship to mental health, well-being, and quality of life (e.g., Böhnke, 2005;Choenarom, Williams, & Hagerty, 2005;Hagerty, Lynch-Sauer, Patusky, Bouwsema, & Collier, 1992;Rosenberg & McCullough, 1981;Young, Russell, & Powers, 2004). In higher education, sense of belonging has been tied to key educational outcomes such as academic self-concept, self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, academic success, and persistence (Freeman, Anderson, & Jensen, 2007;Hausmann, Schofield, & Woods, 2007;Lovitts, 2001;Ostrove, Stewart, & Curtin, 2011;Strayhorn, 2012). Sense of belonging has been found to influence college student retention and persistence for undergraduate students (Freeman et al, 2007;Hausmann et al, 2007;Strayhorn, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

O’Meara

Griffin

Kuvaeva

et al. 2017

IJDS

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Aim/Purpose: The purpose of our study was to gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to graduate student sense of belonging and gain insights into differences in sense of belonging for different groups of students. Background: Sense of belonging, or the feeling that a person is connected to and matters to others in an organization, has been found to influence college student retention and success. Literature on sense of belonging has, however, focused primarily on undergraduate students and little is known about graduate students’ sense of belonging. Methodology: We conducted an exploratory, cross-sectional survey study of graduate students at four public doctoral and comprehensive universities in Maryland, USA. All four institutions were participating in the NSF-funded PROMISE program, which strives to support the retention and academic success of women and underrepresented minority (URM) graduate students. A total of 1,533 graduate students from these four institutions completed the survey. To analyze our data, we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test direct and indirect effects of multiple latent variables (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, STEM affiliation, critical mass of women, participation in the PROMISE program, sense of belonging) on each other. Contribution: Research found that sense of belonging influences graduate student retention and success. Thus, gaining a better understanding of the factors that influence graduate student sense of belonging can help improve retention and completion rates, an important issue as national seven-year completion rates have hovered around 44% in the United States. Completion rates have been even lower for women and URM students (i.e., African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders) compared to White students, making sense of belonging an important topic to study for these populations. Findings: We found that professional relationships matter most to graduate student sense of belonging. Professional relationships influenced graduate student sense of belonging more than reported microaggressions and microaffirmations, though they also played a role. We also found differences based on students’ identity or group membership. Overall, microaffirmations played a bigger role in female graduate student sense of belonging and the eco-system of non-STEM programs seemed to have more facilitators of sense of belonging than the ecosystem of STEM programs. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend that graduate programs think strategically about enhancing sense of belonging in ways appropriate to the distinct culture and nature of graduate education. For example, departments can make efforts to support sense of belonging through creating community-oriented peer networks of students, transparent policies, and access to information about resources and opportunities. Programs such as PROMISE can support the retention and success of women and URM graduate students, but aspects of these programs also need to be incorporated into graduate programs and departments. Impact on Society: Because graduate student sense of belonging has been found to impact stu-dents’ interest in careers in academia, fostering graduate student sense of be-longing could be a tool for improving pathways to the professoriate for groups that are typically underrepresented in academia such as women and racial or ethnic minorities. Increasing the number of women and URM faculty could, in turn, positively impact the support available to future URM students, which could positively influence future URM students’ sense of belonging. Future Research: Sense of belonging is an important area for future graduate education research and should be studied through survey research with a larger sample of U.S. students than the current study. Sense of belonging is relevant to graduate education worldwide. Future studies might explore graduate student sense of belonging in different national contexts and the role culture plays in shaping it. Moreover, changes in graduate student sense of belonging over the course of their program should be assessed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

O’Meara

Griffin

Kuvaeva

et al. 2017

IJDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Students enter graduate programs with specific goals linked to career and professional development and change (Gardner & Barnes, 2007;Ostrove, Stewart & Curtin, 2011). Their expectations of what graduate study will offer are linked to the new opportunities they want to embrace and the new identities they need to develop (Benishek & Chessler, 2005;Coulter et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining the Graduate College Experience: What it “Should” versus “Does” Include

Hardré

Hackett

2015

IJDS

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Gaps between expectations and actual educational experience may influence motivation, learning and performance. The graduate college experience (GCE) is shrouded in myth and legend that may create unrealistic expectations, while its reality includes elements of politics, economics and organizational psychology. This study examined 1,629 present and former graduate students' perceptions of what their graduate school experiences should and did include. The sample was analyzed as a whole and also divided and tested for subgroup differences by: degree types (masters and doctorate); at four different points along their degree paths (entrance, midpoint, exit, alumni); and by disciplinary subgroups (hard sciences, social sciences, arts, interdisciplinary). Statistically significant differences were found between subgroups on perceptions of what the GCE "should" and "does" include separately. Further, within-groups comparison of what the graduate college experience "should" and "does" include showed significant differences for the whole group and all subgroups. In addition, the differences between graduate students' expected and actual experience (should -does) negatively predicted overall satisfaction with their graduate experience. These contrasts of students' actual and expected graduate experiences present potential to explain some of graduate students' dissatisfaction and non-completion, and offer information to support program improvement and retention of graduate students.

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“…Curtin, 2011;Rubin & Wright, 2015;Soria, Stebleton, & Huesman, 2013;Wiederkher, Bonnot, Krauth-Gruber, & Darnon, 2015). As Keefer, Goode, and Berkel (2015) found the relevance of the class consciousness in the social and political psychology literature, it is shown that the current use of subjective measure misses some important picture about social class.…”

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confidence: 99%

Measurement issues of the social class in social psychology of education: Is it a category mistake?

Sinha¹

2017

Polish Psychological Bulletin

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Social Class and Belonging: Implications for Graduate Students' Career Aspirations

Cited by 45 publications

References 44 publications

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

Sense of Belonging and Its Contributing Factors in Graduate Education

Defining the Graduate College Experience: What it “Should” versus “Does” Include

Measurement issues of the social class in social psychology of education: Is it a category mistake?

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