Sense of Belonging in College Freshmen at the Classroom and Campus Levels

The importance of studentsʹ sense of school belonging for many adaptive outcomes is becoming well established; however, few researchers have focused on college-aged populations. In this study, the authors examined associations between undergraduate studentsʹ sense of class belonging and their academic motivation in that class, their sense of class belonging and perceptions of their instructorsʹ characteristics, and their class and campus-level sense of belonging. They distributed questionnaires to students at a southeastern university; freshmen (N = 238) completed the questionnaire. The authors found associations between (a) studentsʹ sense of class belonging and their academic self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and task value; (b) studentsʹ sense of class-level belonging and their perceptions of instructorsʹ warmth and openness, encouragement of student participation, and organization; and (c) studentsʹ sense of university-level belonging and their sense of social acceptance. The authors found smaller effects on studentsʹ sense of university-level belonging for faculty pedagogical caring and for class-level sense of belonging.