Creating Cultures of Belonging: A Student Life Work Series (Fall 2026)

Belonging and mattering are two constructs that are critical to understanding student success, engagement, and well-being. While the terms are sometimes used as if they mean the same thing, they capture different aspects of students’ experiences. So how do we know whether students feel like they belong? And how do we know whether they feel that they matter?

In this session, we’ll explore similarities and differences between these closely related concepts and talk about the ways researchers and practitioners measure them. We’ll look at quantitative approaches, including surveys, response sets, and other assessment tools that help capture students’ feelings of connection, acceptance, value, and significance. We’ll also discuss qualitative methods such as interviews, focus groups, reflective writing, and storytelling approaches that provide a richer picture of how students make sense of their experiences.

Rather than focusing only on theory, we’ll spend time considering practical questions: What kinds of measures work best for different purposes? What can quantitative data tell us that qualitative data cannot—and vice versa? How can we combine methods to gain a more complete understanding of students’ experiences?

This session will offer ideas, examples, and tools for measuring belonging and mattering in ways that are both meaningful and actionable.

This presentation will share findings from Student Life Research’s qualitative assessment of ecological validation among U-M undergraduate students. Based on structured interviews with 37 students, the study explores how students’ identities, relationships, and campus environments shape their sense of belonging, academic persistence, and overall success. Participants described identities that extend beyond institutional demographic categories, including family roles, first-generation status, sexuality, religion, disability, socioeconomic background, immigrant experiences, and personality traits. Findings highlight the central role of peers, family, student organizations, instructors, advisors, cohort programs, and Student Life staff in affirming, and sometimes limiting, students’ experiences. Attendees will learn how identity- and strengths-based connections foster belonging, while barriers such as bias, unclear navigation, inconsistent support, and siloed campus systems can undermine validation. The session will include recommendations for integrating validating practices that strengthen a campus culture where all students can thrive. Participants will also engage in short activities to consider practical implications for their own roles and units.