On the Outside Looking In? Faculty Perceptions of Disciplinary Culture and Their Sense of Belonging

Abstract

Faculty sense of belonging necessarily incorporates not only how much faculty feel they belong in their institutional community but also, even implicitly, how they feel they belong within their disciplinary community. While disciplinary differences in faculty work is studied frequently, little is known about whether and faculty perceptions of their disciplinary cultures relate to feelings of belonging. This study contributes to the literature on disciplinary cultures and sense of belonging by investigating faculty perceptions of their disciplinary cultures and faculty members’ alignment with the perceptions of their disciplinary peers. Results suggest some limited connection between perceptions of disciplinary cultures and an institutionally-focused sense of belonging.