Incorporating our Contemporary Issue into Building a Sense of Belonging

Jen Imel & Riley Sparks

Contemporary Issues Committee

Throughout the history of higher education, universities have been challenged and tasked with confronting our shortcomings in areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Beginning by looking at the discriminatory conception and leading up to where universities have fallen short today, it is no wonder our current contemporary issue focuses on creating equitable and socially— just practices on our campuses, specifically in our housing and residence life departments. Our president, Quiana Stone, has selected Cultural Equity Practices in Housing and Residential Life: A Call to Activism and Social Change as our contemporary issue for the 2021-2022 term. This asks the question; how do we turn our discussions into actionable steps to support diverse populations on and off our campuses? The Contemporary Issues Committee plans to put forth materials with each Trends publication that will help GLACUHO members think deeply about how our institutions are cultivating these environments, where we fall short, and how we can actively work to affect positive change on our campuses. To begin, we will examine our current understanding of sense of belonging and how universities and practitioners can do more to support a sense of belonging for our students, staff, and faculty.

Sense of Belonging Defined

Sense of belonging can be defined through how comfortable, connected, and supported a campus community feels. According to Gopalan and Brady (2019), “In college, feeling a sense of belonging may lead students to engage more deeply with their studies, leading to persistence and success.” Students who feel a greater sense of belonging are more likely to be retained on campus, access resources that will help them succeed, and create lasting connections (Goplan et al, 2019).

In many ways, we can also translate these findings to how we feel as staff and faculty. Carr, Reece, Kellerman, and Robichaux state that up to 40% of people report having a low sense of belonging at work (2019). If we as employees of the university are not feeling that we belong in our departments, that we are connected, how can we be the resources that students rely on to provide them with a sense of belonging as well? Another important experience that is linked to belonging is identification (Carr et al, 2019). In a system that is founded and built on white supremacy, it is no wonder research suggests minoritized students do not feel a strong sense of belonging, primarily at four-year institutions (Johnson 2020). Many universities idealize the concept of sense of belonging for their students, but if we take a look at the foundational theories many of us utilize in aiding in creating a sense of belonging, we can see our minoritized students are often left out of the narrative. ne of the ways we are able to assess our effectiveness in creating a sense of belonging for marginalized students is utilizing our knowledge of student development theories that give student affairs practitioners a greater understanding of how to build that sense of belonging for students. Some foundational theories to highlight include Baxter Magolda's theory on Self-Authorship, Sanford's theory of Challenge and Support, and Astin's theory of Student Involvement. Utilizing these theories is how we have created environments that support students in their holistic development and growth. Creating those environments of care and support is what’s needed to ensure students feel that sense of belonging in their communities. Unfortunately, as we know, these foundational theories often ignore identities that have been historically marginalized in higher education, as well as the changing demographics both among our students and within our departments. As much as we rely on these theories and incorporate their findings into our practice, we must also consistently examine how they hinder our progress when we do not critically view their theoretical limitations. To decentralize whiteness from our practice, we need to explore theories that decolonize student affairs work, question our comfortability, and prioritize the experience and belonging of our marginalized students.

A Look Ahead for the Contemporary Issues Committee

As stated in the GLACUHO Presidential Contemporary Issue statement by Quiana Stone, our mission and goals for creating cultural equity within housing and residence life departments start with our actions. How are we challenging oppression, prejudice, and discrimination on our campuses? How are we responding when student’s call on us to join them as catalysts of change? In many ways, it all starts with a strong sense of belonging in our communities. The Contemporary Issues Committee looks forward to engaging GLACUHO members in multiple dialogues, webinars, and articles around sense of belonging, inclusive leadership, and equitable practices. In future Trends articles, we will examine how we can cultivate a stronger sense of belonging for all members of our communities through inclusive leadership praxis and equitable practices in programming and campus policy