Project description:BackgroundSociocultural competence is essential for health professions education (HPE) students. However, the relationships between university campus environment, sense of belonging, and sociocultural engagement of HPE students remain unclear. We hypothesized that a university environment promoting students' participation in social activities enhances their sociocultural engagement, which is mediated through the students' sense of belonging, ultimately increasing their satisfaction with university experience.MethodsThe study included undergraduate HPE students (n = 638) at Gulf Medical University. We used a validated questionnaire for measuring sociocultural engagement of students (13 items). In addition, we used scales for measuring the supportive campus environment (8 items), quality of student relationships (4 items), students' sense of belonging (5 items), and student satisfaction with university experience (one item). We examined the relationships between the study variables using path analysis.ResultsThe campus environment had direct significant effects on the two dimensions of sociocultural engagement: sociocultural interactions and sociocultural adaptation (β = 0.18 and 0.24, P < .001, respectively). Similarly, the quality of student relationships had direct significant effects on sociocultural interactions and sociocultural adaptation (β = 0.29 and 0.26, P < .001, respectively). In addition, a supportive campus environment and student relationships had direct significant effects on the students' sense of belonging (β = 0.41 and 0.35, P < .001, respectively). Furthermore, the sense of belonging directly affected student's satisfaction with the university experience (β = 0.50, P < .001), and indirectly mediated the relationship between the supportive campus environment, student relationships, and student satisfaction (β = 0.33 and 0.26, P < .001, respectively). However, there was no direct significant effect of either supportive campus environment, student relationships, or sociocultural engagement of students on their satisfaction with university experience.ConclusionsA supportive campus environment and positive student relationships significantly affected sociocultural engagement and sense of belonging among HPE students. Moreover, the sense of belonging serves as a partial mediator, linking the campus environment and the quality of student relationships to overall satisfaction with the university experience. While student satisfaction is primarily driven by the sense of belonging, sociocultural engagement did not have a significant direct impact on student satisfaction with university experience.

Project description:In the face of a challenging climate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) higher education that is resistant to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts aimed to increase and retain students from historically excluded groups (HEGs), there is a critical need for a support structure to ensure students from HEGs continue to be recruited retained. The Biology Undergraduate and Master's Mentorship Program (BUMMP) embodies this commitment to fostering scientific identity, efficacy, and a sense of belonging for first-generation and historically underserved undergraduate and master's students at UC San Diego. The mission of BUMMP is to cultivate a sense of belonging, instill confidence, and nurture a strong scientific identity amongst all its participants. At its core, the three pillars of BUMMP are (1) mentorship, (2) professional development, and (3) research. Quality mentorship is provided where students receive personal guidance from faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and industry leaders in navigating their career pathways. Complementing mentorship, BUMMP provides paid research opportunities and prioritizes professional development by offering workshops designed to enhance students' professional skills. These three pillars form the backbone of BUMMP, empowering students from all backgrounds and ensuring their retention and persistence in STEM. So far, we've served over 1350 mentees, collaborated with 809 mentors, and had over 180 mentees actively engaged in BUMMP-sponsored research activities. The primary focus of this paper is to provide a programmatic guideline for the three pillars of BUMMP: mentorship, professional development, and research. This will offer a blueprint for other institutions to establish similar mentorship programs. Additionally, the paper highlights the impact of the BUMMP program and surveyed mentees who have participated in the mentorship and research component of BUMMP. We showed that mentorship and research experience enhance students' sense of belonging, science identity, and science efficacy, which are key predictors of retention and persistence in pursuing a STEM career. Overall, BUMMP's expansive efforts have made a tremendous impact at UC San Diego and will continue to foster a community of future leaders who will be prepared to make meaningful contributions to the scientific community and beyond.

Project description:BackgroundHealth interventions aimed at facilitating connectedness among seniors have recently gained traction, seeing as social connectedness is increasingly being recognized as an important determinant of health. However, research examining the association between connectedness and health across all age groups is limited, and few studies have focused on community belonging as a tangible aspect of social connectedness. Using a population-based Canadian cohort, this study aims to investigate (1) the associations between community belonging with self-rated general health and self-rated mental health, and (2) how these associations differ across life stages.MethodsData from six cycles of a national population health survey (Canadian Community Health Survey) from 2003 to 2014 were combined. Multinomial logistic regressions were run for both outcomes on the overall study sample, as well as within three age strata: (1) 18-39, (2) 40-59, and (3) ≥ 60 years old.ResultsWeaker community belonging exhibited an association with both poorer general and mental health, though a stronger association was observed with mental health. These associations were observed across all three age strata. In the fully adjusted model, among those reporting a very weak sense of community belonging, the odds of reporting the poorest versus best level of health were 3.21 (95% CI: 3.11, 3.31) times higher for general health, and 4.95 (95% CI: 4.75, 5.16) times higher for mental health, compared to those reporting a very strong sense of community belonging. The largest effects among those reporting very weak community belonging were observed among those aged between 40 and 59 years old.ConclusionThis study contributed to the evidence base supporting life stage differences in the relationship between community belonging and self-perceived health. This is a starting point to identifying how age-graded differences in unmet social needs relate to population health interventions.

Project description:BackgroundThe concept of social belonging has been shown to be important for retention and student success in collegiate environments and general surgery training. However, this concept has never been explored in relation to medical students' impressions of orthopaedic surgery careers.Question/purposeTo investigate medical students' sense of belonging in orthopaedic surgery and how it affects their interest in pursuing orthopaedic surgery careers.MethodsMedical students from four medical schools were invited to participate in telephone interviews aimed to investigate medical students' reasons for considering (or not considering) orthopaedic surgery as a future career. Students were selected using random sampling and theoretical sampling methods (selecting participants based on specific characteristics) to obtain a diversity of student perspectives across medical school year, gender, race, age, and interest in orthopaedics. Semistructured interviews with open-ended questions and face validity were used to minimize bias in the interview process. Analysis was performed using grounded theory methodology, a rigorous and well-established method for creating conceptual models based on qualitative data. The result seeks to be a data-driven (as opposed to hypothesis-driven) theory that provides perspective on human behavior. Interviews were conducted until the point of thematic saturation, defined as the point when no new ideas occur in subsequent interviews; this was achieved at 23 students (16 self-identified as women, 12 self-identified as underrepresented minorities).ResultsMedical students articulated stereotypes about orthopaedic surgeons, in particular, that they were white, male, and athletic. Students derived their sense of belonging in orthopaedic surgery from how closely their identities aligned with these stereotypes about the field. Students who felt a sense of belonging described themselves as being part of a cultural "in-group," and students who did not feel a sense of belonging felt that they were in a cultural "out-group." Members of the in-group often reported that orthopaedic experiences further reinforced their positive identity alignment, which typically led to increased interest and continued engagement with the field. Conversely, students in the out-group reported that their exposures to orthopaedics further reinforced their lack of identity alignment, and this typically led to decreased interest and engagement. Many students in the out-group reported pursuing other specialties due to a lack of belonging within orthopaedics.ConclusionStudents derive their sense of belonging in orthopaedics based on how closely their identity aligns with stereotypes about the field. Importantly, there were gender and racial factors associated with orthopaedic stereotypes, and thus with belonging (self-identifying as the in-group). Moreover, out-group students tended not to choose orthopaedic surgery careers because of a lack of belonging in the specialty.Clinical relevanceWith knowledge of the factors that influence students' sense of belonging, academic orthopaedic departments can focus on interventions that may lead to a more diverse pool of medical students interested in orthopaedic surgery. These might include explicitly addressing stereotypes about orthopaedics and cultivating positive identity alignment for students from diverse backgrounds through targeted mentorship fostering partnerships with affinity organizations, and creating space to talk about barriers. Targeted interventions such as these are needed to interrupt the cycle of in-group and out-group formation that, in this small multicenter study, appeared to deter students with underrepresented identities from pursuing orthopaedic surgery careers.

Project description:This article is a descriptive study of two groups who came together through service-learning: The first group is graduate art therapy students enrolled in a research class, who partnered with six community agencies to help them prepare assignments for undergraduate service-learning students in a subsequent semester. The art therapy research students also assisted the agencies with program evaluation. The second group is the six directors of the community agencies who were preparing for service-learning students enrolled in an art history class titled Art as A Social Practice. Service-learning is an experiential pedagogy where community service is integrated into an academic course, and where the services performed meet genuine community needs. The hyphen in service-learning represents the ideal that both the students and community agencies experience benefits from the relationship, although in reality, it is often the experiences of the students rather than the agencies that receive greater attention in the scholarly research literature. The present article places focus on the community agencies that, in the process of planning for service-learners, made two unexpected requests: First they requested that the service-learners stay longer than one semester, and secondly, they requested assistance with evaluating the effectiveness of their programs. This article is about the efforts to respond to these requests through the assistance of art therapy research students. With growing trends in community-based art therapy practice, greater attention to the community agencies where art therapists work is necessary and valuable to art therapy preparation. The present article describes six distinctive communities, illustrating new frontiers of practice. The research students' experiences and the experiences of the community partners were assessed using qualitative methods that included pre and post-questionnaires, written reflections of students, interviews of agency directors and agency, student, and researcher focus group transcripts. This study will inform other art therapy programs who may want to use a service-learning approach to teaching research. A discussion of the promising practices of service-learning and research, as well as the challenges leads to recommendations for art therapy education.

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Cultivating university students' critical sense of belonging through community-responsive scholar-activism

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