Sense of Belonging: Using the National Survey of Student Engagement

Session Abstract: Students’ sense of belonging at their college is a significant factor in persistence. Using survey data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for multivariate analysis, this study examines some of the most salient features of a campus environment from the student perspective that contribute to their overall sense of belonging on campus, specifically in the context of a single-purpose health sciences institution. A canonical correlation analysis finds that a student’s perceptions of their campus environment based on three specific engagement indicators can significantly predict their overall sense of belonging in college. In this study, students who (1) perceive that their college places a major emphasis on providing all kinds of academic and extracurricular support; (2) have experienced positive interactions with both their peers and a wide variety of campus employees; and (3) view their instructors as effective teachers tend to feel a more powerful sense of belonging.

Keywords: campus environment, sense of belonging, NSSE, multivariate analysis, student engagement, CCA