How Does a Social Belonging Intervention Affect College Students From Historically Underrepresented Groups? A Mixed Methods Investigation

Predominantly White institutions have attempted to find ways to support the sense of belonging felt by entering college students who are members of historically underrepresented groups. First-generation (FG) college students and those from underrepresented racial/ethnic minority (URM) groups attending a predominantly White institutions may interpret such efforts in unique ways. This study employed a mixed methods approach to investigate how first-year students fromhistorically underrepresented groups experienced an intervention designed to enhance their sense of belonging. Participants (N =1,178; 79.2%FG, 40.7%URM, 64.3% women) were randomly assigned to a social belonging intervention or control condition. The intervention featured two peer testimonials designed to normalize belonging struggles during the transition to college, followed by two reflective essay prompts. Quantitative multigroup structural equation modeling was used to examine the intervention’s effects on students’ sense of belonging, cumulative first-year GPA, and second-year retention. Qualitative analyses of students’ reflective essays provided a rich description of how historically underrepresented students interpreted the social belonging intervention. Despite some benefits, the institutional intervention designed to increase belonging did not have the expected effects among FG andURM students. Differential effects may be partially explained by the considerable variability in how students from historically underrepresented groups interpreted and responded to peer testimonials. Implications for how social belonging interventions may (or may not) support FG and URM students are discussed.