Evidence for College Students’ Decreasing Sense of Belonging over Time: Direct and Moderated Results

TL;DR

College students feel less connected to their school over time, with students from minoritized racial/ethnic groups experiencing the biggest drop.

Contribution

This study provides longitudinal evidence that college students' sense of belonging decreases over time, with race/ethnicity moderating the decline.

Findings

Students' sense of belonging decreased significantly over the course of their college experience.

Students from minoritized racial/ethnic groups experienced a steeper decline in belonging over time.

The study highlights the need for institutions to address declining belonging to support student well-being.

Abstract

College students’ sense of belonging with their institution has been established as an important factor that improves their health and well-being. However, the extent to which students’ sense of belonging changes over their college experience—if at all—needs further examination. The current study employs a longitudinal design utilizing data repeatedly collected from the same students (N = 355; male 33.0% and female 67.0%; White 83.2%; baseline age range: 18–21 years) to examine changes in their sense of belonging over time. We also examined the extent to which different participant characteristics (i.e., sex, race/ethnicity, first-generation student status, and affiliation with Greek life organizations) are associated with change in belonging over time. College students’ belonging directly decreased over time, and race/ethnicity moderated this change such that being a student from a minoritized racial/ethnic group was associated with steeper drops in belonging. Educators and researchers are encouraged to further research this topic to determine how their classrooms, departments, and institutions can help foster students’ belonging and maintain that belonging over time.

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