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Date of Award
Spring 2024
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)
Restricted/Unrestricted
Restricted
Abstract
A secure sense of belonging is a fundamental aspect of student well-being, academic outcomes, and long-term success. Although there is a robust body of research on belonging in students’ current academic environment, little has been done to address the effect of students’ anticipated belonging, or the expectation of how a student (or people like that student) will potentially belong in a future context. This study details the development and testing of an intervention designed to promote anticipated college belonging among high school juniors from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The intervention yielded no significant effect on anticipated college belonging, but the intervention effect size for anticipated college belonging was similar to other belonging intervention studies, suggesting that the small sample size of this initial study may have limited our ability to detect the effect. The participants in the intervention condition did, however, report a significantly higher appreciation of different backgrounds and experiences for college. Additionally, we coded participants’ responses to their open-ended responses and found that participants were able to connect the intervention materials to their own lives in several key ways. Although this iteration of the intervention did not fully produce the intended benefits, understanding the participants’ responses to the intervention material will help in further development of anticipated belonging interventions. Overall, this type of intervention shows promise and future research should continue to work to improve students’ perceptions of their backgrounds and experiences as valuable for college, as one way to improve anticipated college belonging.
Mentor
Chris Rozek
Recommended Citation
Strayhorn, Danika, "Anticipated Belonging in College: An Intervention to Increase College Access" (2024). Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses. 60.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/undergrad_etd/60