Sense of belonging and students’ engagement in higher education: investigating the factors shaping medical students’ inclusion

Meaningful engagement with diversity is an important means of actively preparing college graduates to participate in rapidly changing societies. This quantitative study investigates students’ perceptions regarding the factors (senior leadership, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, community services, language learners) directing their institutional sense of belonging. The survey responses were collected from 186 students at a public health college in the State of New Jersey. The results show a positive statistically significant correlation between students’ sense of belonging and their perceptions of the marginalized groups’ retention rate on Campus, their perception of their institutional senior leadership demonstration of diversity commitments, their interaction with students from a different sexual orientation, their interaction with students whose first language is not English, their interaction with students from different religious backgrounds, and their participation in community services through their institution. Implications of these relationships are discussed with their pedagogical and institutional best practices.