1. Understanding Belonging to Improve Persistence: A Gender Study Tamara Floyd-Smith, Tuskegee University Denise Wilson (Project Lead) and Diane Jones, University of Washington Melani Plett, Seattle Pacific University Rebecca Bates, Minnesota State University, Mankato Nanette Veilleux, Simmons College 2012 World Engineering Education Forum Buenos Aires, Argentina Tuesday, October 16 th

2. Outline Overview of the Full Study Objective of the Current Study Belonging Constructs Results Summary and Implications Example of Belonging to a University Community: HBCU Choir Belonging - frequent, local and pleasant connections with others (Baumeister and Leary, 1995)

3. Why Study Belonging? Physiological Needs: Food and Water Safety, freedom from fear, order Social needs, sense of belonging Appreciation, recognition, esteem Self actualization Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Bloom’s Taxonomy

4. Background Why Does Belonging Matter? Evidence of the importance of belonging and other connections to community: In G6-12: Increased engagement Decreased drop-out rates In higher education Retention in STEM fields Student/faculty success and fulfillment In the workplace Increased feelings of security, stronger self- concept, self-respect and coping abilities

5. Overall Project Goals Conceptualizing the role of community in higher education Assessing how various connections to community influence academic engagement Transferring successful communities to other STEM environments

6. Participating Institutions Northwest Research 1, Engineering and Computer Science Midwest Comprehensive, Computer Science and Engineering Northwest Faith-based, Engineering Northeast Women’s College, Computer Science Southeast Historically Black College/University (HBCU), Engineering Research 1 Institution (> 40,000 students) HBCU (< 4,000 students)

7. Overview of the Full Study (Year 1) Conceptual model development (  ) (Year 2) Instrument development and validation (  ) (Years 2-4) Longitudinal study of community targeting sophomores and juniors (  -) (Year 5) Attempt to transfer results to other STEM environments

8. Full Study Methods Survey – Likert Scale Items – General student information: GPA, year in school, parental level of education Focus Groups/Interviews Classroom Observations SurveysFocus Groups Classroom Observations

9. Objective and Motivation of Current Study Objective: Provide insight into belonging for STEM students with a focus on gender

10. Belonging to Class I feel accepted in this class. I feel comfortable in this class. I feel supported in this class. I feel that I am part of this class. Entails Is measured by Connections to Community  = 0.88

11. Belonging to Major I feel accepted in my major. I feel comfortable in my major. I feel supported in my major. I feel that I am part of my major. Entails Is measured by Connections to Community  = 0.85

12. Belonging to University as Institution I feel like I really belong at this school. I really enjoy going to school here. I wish I had gone to another school instead of this one.* I wish I were at a different school.* Entails Is measured by Connections to Community  = 0.87 *Reverse Coded

13. Belonging to University as Community People at this school are friendly to me. I feel that there is a real sense of community at this school. I feel like there is a strong feeling of togetherness on campus. Entails Is measured by Connections to Community  = 0.80

14. Classroom Belonging Sample SophomoreJuniorSeniorTotal  Female15.43.015.22.716.52.315.52.8 Male15.12.815.12.615.12.915.12.9 Total15.22.815.12.615.42.815.22.7 Female students reported greater class belonging than male students.

15. Major Belonging Sample SophomoreJuniorSeniorTotal  Female15.53.216.22.417.02.716.12.8 Male15.43.116.32.815.92.616.02.8 Total15.53.116.32.716.12.716.02.8 Differences by gender are not statistically significant.

16. Freshmen Data Sample ClassMajor University- Institution University- Community  Female17.22.116.82.417.13.011.82.2 Male16.02.415.82.615.53.311.01.7 Total16.32.316.12.615.93.311.21.8 Female students report higher class belonging.

17. Summary and Implications Summary: Either female students reported higher belonging or differences were not statistically significant. Implications: Efforts to improve female representation may need to focus on prospective freshmen

18. Acknowledgements National Science Foundation for funding (DRL- 0909817, 0910143, 0909659, 0909900 and 0990850) Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.