Cultivating a Sense of Belonging
The engagement of faculty and students with international students and their home cultures can contribute to the development of a sense of belonging. Additionally, by facilitating a classroom setting that is infused with tools for acculturation support, inclusion, and empathy, faculty can create a space in which students are able to preserve their own identities and also explore the intersection of cultural identities that exists within the U.S.
Establishing a sense of belonging has always been a vital element of international student support. However, due to recent increases in xenophobia and messages that international students don't belong here, it is more pressing than ever.
What is a "Sense of Belonging"?
The human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group is called "belongingness". Considered one of Maslow's five basic human needs, the need to belong is a significant source of human motivation; so much so that Roy Baumeister and mark Leary argue that the consequences of not experiencing belongingness can be devastating.
In the context of the international student experience, the question we must ask ourselves is
How can we support students in their development of mattering and belonging?
The "How" and "Why" of Belonging
Initiatives at U.S. Universities
Scholarly Articles
The Impact of Student Organizations on Sense of Belonging for International Students (Indiana University)
Seeking a Sense of Belonging: Social and Cultural Integration of International Students with American College Students (Journal of International Students)
Do We Belong? A Conceptual Model for International Students’ Sense of Belonging in Community Colleges (Journal of International Students)
A Social-Belonging Intervention Improves STEM Outcomes for Students Who Speak English as a Second Language (Science Advances)
“It’s Both Ways”: How International Students Negotiate Belonging in Local and Global Contexts (Journal of News Brunswick Studies)
The Development and Validation of the University Belonging Questionnaire (The Journal of Experimental Education)
Blogs
Sense of Belonging for International Students: How Can We Foster It and Why Do We Need To? (The Evolllution)
A Sense of Belonging (FIUTS - University of Washington)
Coming to America (Inside Higher Ed)
News Articles
We Don't Belong Here (Inside HigherEd)
How can Universities Help International Students Feel at Home? (The Guardian)
'Relationship-Rich' Education (Inside HigherEd)
Pixar on Belonging
Purl | Pixar SparkShorts
"Purl, directed by Kristen Lester and produced by Gillian Libbert-Duncan, features an earnest ball of yarn named Purl who gets a job in a fast-paced, high energy, bro-tastic start-up. Yarny hijinks ensue as she tries to fit in, but how far is she willing to go to get the acceptance she yearns for, and in the end, is it worth it?"
References
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497-529.
Belonging. (2016). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgT-GQvwZ9k&ab_channel=PierreIeong.
Belongingness. (2020, September 11). Retrieved October 26, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belongingness
Borstad, A. (2020, October 12). With the right resources, Pepperdine students will RISE with resilience . Pepperdine Graphic. http://pepperdine-graphic.com/with-the-right-resources-pepperdine-students-will-rise-with-resilience/.
Filonova, I., & Barriga, P. (2020, October 12). Advice for international graduate students who come to study in the U.S. (opinion). Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/10/12/advice-international-graduate-students-who-come-study-us-opinion.
Garcia, H. A., Garza, T., & Yeaton-Hromada, K. (2019). Do we belong? A conceptual model for international students' sense of belonging in community colleges. Journal of International Students, 9(2), 460–487. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v9i2.669
Gieg, S., Oyarzun, L., Reardon, J., & Gant, J. C. (2016). The impact of student organizations on sense of belonging for international students. Journal of the Student Personnel Association at Indiana University. https://spa.education.indiana.edu/journal/editions/2016/1%20Impact%20of%20Student%20Organizations.pdf
Jaschik, S. (2020, November 3). 'Relationship rich' education. Authors discuss their new book on relationships in higher education. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/03/authors-discuss-their-new-book-relationships-higher-education?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed.
Kusnadi, M. (2019, May 20). A sense of belonging [web log]. https://www.fiuts.org/blog/asenseofbelonging.
Lacosse, J., Canning, E. A., Bowman, N. A., Murphy, M. C., & Logel, C. (2020). A social-belonging intervention improves STEM outcomes for students who speak English as a second language. Science Advances, 6(40). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6543
Libbert-Duncan, G. (2019). Purl | Pixar SparkShorts. Pixar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6uuIHpFkuo&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=Pixar.
Pawa, V. (2019, September 9). Sense of belonging for international students: How can we foster it and why do we need to? The EvoLLLution . https://evolllution.com/attracting-students/retention/sense-of-belonging-for-international-students-how-can-we-foster-it-and-why-do-we-need-to/.
Poteet, M., & Gomez, B. (2015). “It’s both ways”: How international students negotiate belonging in local and global contexts. Journal of New Brunswick Studies / Revue d’Études Sur Le Nouveau-Brunswick, 6(1).
Rivas, J., Hale, K., & Burke, M. G. (2019). Seeking a sense of belonging: Social and cultural integration of international students with American college students. Journal of International Students, 9(2), 687–703. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v9i2.943
Saar, B. (2020, October 2). Iowa Wesleyan university opens center for international education on the campus in Mount Pleasant. The Hawk Eye Newspaper. https://www.thehawkeye.com/story/news/2020/10/02/center-international-education-finds-home-iwu/3591123001/.
Shin, J. (2020, October 5). International student advisory board launches buddy program. The Wesleyan Argus. http://wesleyanargus.com/2020/10/05/international-student-advisory-board-launches-buddy-program/.
Simon Fraser University. (2020, October 15). Student experience initiative lauded for innovative student consultation process. SFU News. https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2020/10/student-experience-initiative-lauded-for-innovative-student-cons.html.
Shaheen, M. (2020, July 14). We don't belong here. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/07/14/international-student-denounces-immigration-and-customs-enforcements-new.
Slaten, C. D., Elison, Z. M., Deemer, E. D., Hughes, H. A., & Shemwell, D. A. (2017). The development and validation of the university belonging questionnaire. The Journal of Experimental Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2017.1339009
Stokes, R. (2017, September 18). How can universities help international students feel at home? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2017/sep/18/how-can-universities-help-international-students-feel-at-home.