Campus Location

Dallas Campus (Online)

Date of Award

5-2020

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3461-2980

Document Type

Dissertation

Department

Organizational Leadership

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Myron Pope

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Simone Elias

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Tara Hornor

Abstract

The number of minority students enrolling into college is increasing. However, minority students are likely to experience feelings of isolation and a sense of not belonging on college campuses, specifically predominantly White institutions. A sense of belonging among minority students may contribute to a higher chance of academic persistence, academic achievement, and positive feelings about one’s self. Therefore, creating and cultivating a sense of belonging among minority students at predominantly White institutions is crucial to these students’ well-being and overall academic success. Key components in creating and cultivating a sense of belonging are student involvement and positive relationships with faculty, staff, and friends. A basic qualitative study was conducted to describe the experiences of minority students enrolled at a southeastern state flagship university. Data collected consisted of one-on-one individual interviews with 13 minority students enrolled at this predominantly White institution. The findings highlighted each participant’s experiences at this university. The findings suggested that support from campus involvements and relationships and the school’s environment all played a role in the students’ experiences at this university. Further, these factors either contributed or did not contribute to their overall sense of belonging.

Keywords: minority student, involvement, relationship, belonging, support

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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