Date Presented 04/04/2025
Belonging can impact academic performance, student retention, and psychological health. This session describes the development of a program to foster belonging among graduate OT students using a qualitative methodology.
Primary Author and Speaker: Avital S. Isenberg
Additional Authors and Speakers: Erin L. Mathia, Ketki D. Raina
Contributing Authors: Kevin Binning, Erica M. McGreevy, Susie Chen
PURPOSE: Student belonging or one’s sense of social connectedness is an emerging indicator of academic performance, program retention, and psychological health in higher education (Brady et al., 2020; Binning et al., 2020). Low-cost, low-stakes ecological belonging interventions are efficacious (Walton et al., 2011; Binning et al., 2020), but there is limited data on belonging in graduate students. This study explores the perceptions of belonging among entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) students and describes the development of an ecological belonging program.
DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive methodology with a constructivist paradigm (Sandelowski, 2000).
METHOD: Focus groups were conducted across three cohorts of OTD students to explore student experiences of challenges, successes, and perceptions of belonging. Focus groups were protocolized based on belonging studies (Binning et al., 2020), and adapted for relevance to the OTD program. Four team members analyzed transcripts and fieldnotes to extract themes. Member checking was conducted with three additional student focus groups to ensure trustworthiness.
RESULTS: Forty-one OTD students participated in the focus groups (information gathering n=27; member checking n=14). Themes included questioning career choice, balancing school and life, anxiety and excitement about fieldwork, and feeling inadequate about entry-level practice. An ecological belonging program was developed and implemented.
CONCLUSION: Students identified a cycle of success and struggles throughout the entry-level OTD program, particularly during transition (e.g., entry, before Level II Fieldwork, Capstone, and graduation). Belonging, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome ebbed and flowed suggesting an opportunity to implement a protocolized belonging program before key transitions in the program.
IMPACT STATEMENT: Study findings can inform future program implementation to address belonging among entry-level OTD students.
References
Binning, K. R., Kaufmann, N., McGreevy, E. M., Fotuhi, O., Chen, S., Marshman, E., Kalender, Z. Y., Limeri, L. B., Betancur, L., & Singh, C. (2020). Changing social contexts to foster equity in college science courses: An ecological-belonging intervention. Psychological Science, 31(9), 1059–1070. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620929984
Brady, S. T., Cohen, G. L., Jarvis, S. N., & Walton, G. M. (2020). A brief social-belonging intervention in college improves adult outcomes for black Americans. Science Advances, 6(18). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aay3689
Sandelowski, M. (2000). Whatever happened to qualitative description? Research in Nursing and Health, 23, 334–340. https://doi.org/10.1002/1098-240x(200008)23:4<334::aid-nur9>3.0.co;2-g
Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2011). A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science, 331(6023):1447–1451. https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.1198364
