Assessing Sense of Belonging for Student Success: New Findings from NSSE

Abstract

Sense of belonging influences student persistence and success. NSSE 2020 findings from 521 bachelor’s granting colleges and universities show most first-year students feel comfortable being themselves and feel valued and a part of the community at their institution, yet notable differences were found for traditionally marginalized subpopulations. This session will provide an overview of findings through an interactive discussion and publicly available data visualization. Facilitators will provide examples of how institutions have used their data to assess and impact belongingness. Participants will identify actions their institution can take to influence the sense of belonging on their campus for marginalized student populations.