Belonging and Motivation Go Hand-in-Hand: Evidence-Based Practice for Understanding and Regulating Student Belonging for Academic Success

Belonging and Motivation Go Hand-in-Hand: Evidence-Based Practice for Understanding and Regulating Student Belonging for Academic Success

On Thursday, February 20, we hosted Dr. Jill Allen to discuss how integrating belonging and motivation in teaching practices can improve student retention, engagement, and learning outcomes in STEM.

The Leaky STEM Pipeline

According to data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, progress has been made over the last 10-15 years in gaining more representation from historically excluded groups in STEM fields (Diversity and STEM: Women, Minorities, and Persons With Disabilities 2023, n.d.) However, Dr. Allen continued, disparities still exist. To find out the reason for these differential experiences, Allen went back to the STEM pipeline to see if there were any clues there. Ellis et al. (2016) found that rates of interest in STEM subjects were equitable through elementary and early middle school. However, by 7th grade, their data showed that interest in math began to diverge, making the STEM pipeline “leaky” and ultimately decreasing the pool of qualified individuals who choose to pursue or persist in STEM fields.

The Role of Stereotype Threat

One potential explanation for this diverging interest is stereotype threat. Stereotype threat refers to a belief held by an individual from a traditionally underrepresented group that they will be viewed through the lens of a negative competence-based stereotype. Dr. Allen’s research focuses on understanding how students regulate their interest and sense of belonging when confronted with stereotype threat.

Her work is informed by the Motivational Experience Model of Stereotype Threat (Figure 1). From the top down, this model shows how the experience of stereotype threat influences both motivation and goal orientation for a student. Goal orientation refers to whether a student engages in a task in order to achieve a reward (‘approach’) or avoid a negative consequence (‘avoidance’). In every moment of engagement, students’ behavior is driven by interest (“feeling like it”) and sense of belonging (“fitting in”). Stereotype threat can also influence students’ regulation of motivation through both the starting and the sustaining of a task. Overall, students’ decisions about whether and how long to persist in a task are the result of a complex interplay of internal and external motivational factors. (Thoman et al., 2013).

Fig. 1 Motivational Experiences Model of Stereotype Threat

Translation to Teaching

Dr. Allen’s research program has investigated interventions that could help students regulate their motivational experiences in order to counteract anxiety over “confirming a negative competence-based stereotype,” which can “disrupt or derail students’ academic and career motivations.” (Thoman et al. 2013). From her findings, Dr. Allen presented “teaching translations” (or evidence-based teaching practices) across five domains that can be adapted in classrooms to mitigate some of the negative consequences related to stereotype threat and enhance student experiences and outcomes. Those domains are:

  • Self-regulation of motivation
  • Communal utility value
  • Relationship building
  • Communal instructional design
  • Program development

Caveats

Dr. Allen emphasized that the strategies listed below are meant to be customized differently depending on the discipline, institution, or cultural or historical contexts. The list includes strategies that can be implemented at individual, interpersonal, or systems levels. Most of the recommendations are from research in STEM, but Dr. Allen argued that some transcend STEM disciplines and are just good overall teaching practices. Again, she did acknowledge that one size does not fit all, but she hopes the strategies offer “a different way to cultivate motivation and belonging, which is always worth the effort.”

Domain

Communal Utility Value

Evidence

An emphasis on how course content can be applied to a community or society increases positive perceptions of research/science and future career motivation (Brown et al., 2015). We can increase students’ motivation by increasing their belief that science has communal, rather than only individual value.

Application

  • Help students connect course content and activities to real-world applications.
  • Create assignments where students brainstorm the societal impact and/or model concept during lecture.
  • Provide opportunities for community-engaged learning with individuals who benefit from the research.
  • In lab settings, ask mentors to communicate the applied value of their work.
  • Develop ‘legacy assignments’ that have impact beyond the classroom (e.g., graphic design projects, podcasts, social media posts).

Domain

Relationship Building

Evidence

Other people can be a source of interest that motivates students (Thoman et al., 2019).

Application

  • Provide opportunities for students to build peer relationships in even small ways (e.g., think-pair-share).
  • Consider connecting students with alumni or ask them to craft a letter to a future student.
  • Get creative! There is not a prescribed format for how interpersonal connections should form and grow.

Domain

Instructional Design to Promote Belonging

Evidence

Students reporting daily characterized only 12% of their science learning experiences as interpersonal, even though interpersonal experiences are strongly and positively associated with motivation and belonging. (Allen, 2024).

Application

  • Share welcome messages in the syllabus, via e-mail, or through Canvas.
  • Use technology to allow students to engage with their peers and you (the instructor).
  • Think about times when students need connection the most – capitalize on those by using grading tools like audio or video feedback.
  • Create low-stakes opportunities for peer engagement.
  • Build in at least one opportunity for interpersonal interaction every week.

Domain

Self-regulation of motivation

Evidence

When engaged in a tedious task that needs to be finished, people will make creative adjustments that make the task more interesting (Smith, Wagaman, & Handley, 2009).

Application

  • Especially in elective courses, use a pre-semester survey to gauge students’ motivation for the course.
  • Especially in required courses, send out announcements or have informal conversations that help students focus on their goals and aspirations (as opposed to duty and obligations).
  • Recognize students who self-regulate spontaneously (e.g., making games or study guides).
  • Survey students who have completed a challenging course to identify successful self-regulation strategies.

Considerations for Academic Programs

  • Prioritize recruitment and hiring of diverse faculty, staff, and students.
  • Engage in (even small) recruitment and retention initiatives (e.g., spotlighting students or supporting affinity group events)
  • Use websites and marketing to nullify stereotypes and promote shared experiences.
  • Foster authentic faculty-student interactions outside the classroom.

Further reading: Integrating belonging and motivation

Perceptions of Science Research
Diekman, A. B., Brown, E. R., Johnston, A. M., & Clark, E. K. (2010). Seeking congruity between goals and roles. Psychological Science, 21(8), 1051–1057. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610377342

Belonging
Rattan, A., Good, C., & Dweck, C. S. (2011). “It’s ok — Not everyone can be good at math”: Instructors with an entity theory comfort (and demotivate) students. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(3), 731–737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.12.012

Intrinsic Interest in Science
Linnenbrink-Garcia, L., Durik, A. M., Conley, A. M., Barron, K. E., Tauer, J. M., Karabenick, S. A., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2010). Measuring situational interest in academic domains. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 70(4), 647–671. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164409355699

Persistence
Smith, J. L., Wagaman, J., & Handley, I. M. (2009). Keeping it dull or making it fun: Task variation as a function of promotion versus prevention focus. Motivation and Emotion, 33(2), 150–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9118-9

References

Allen, J. (2024). Unpublished data. Drake University.

Allen, J., Brown, E. R., Ginther, A., Graham, J. E., Mercurio, D., & Smith, J. L. (2021). Nevertheless, she persisted (in science research): Enhancing women students’ science research motivation and belonging through communal goals. Social Psychology of Education, 24, 939–964. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-021-09639-6

Brown, E. R., Smith, J. L., Thoman, D. B., Allen, J. M., & Muragishi, G. (2015). From bench to bedside: A communal utility value intervention to enhance students’ biomedical science motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(4), 1116–1135. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000033

Cohen, G. L. (2022). Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides. New York, W.W. Norton & Company.

Diversity and STEM: Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities 2023. (n.d.). NSF – National Science Foundation. https://www.nsf.gov/reports/statistics/diversity-stem-women-minorities-persons-disabilities-2023

Ellis, J., Fosdick, B.K., Rasmussen, C., (2016) Women 1.5 Times More Likely to Leave STEM Pipeline after Calculus Compared to Men: Lack of Mathematical Confidence a Potential Culprit. PLoS ONE 11(7): e0157447. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157447

Smith, J. L., Wagaman, J., & Handley, I. M. (2009). Keeping it dull or making it fun: Task variation as a function of promotion versus prevention focus. Motivation and Emotion, 33(2), 150–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9118-9

Thoman, D. B., Smith, J. L., Brown, E. R., Chase, J., & Lee, J. Y. (2013). Beyond performance: A motivational experiences model of stereotype threat. Educational Psychology Review, 25, 211-243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-013-9219-1

Thoman, D. B., Lee, G. A., Zambrano, J., Geerling, D. M., Smith, J. L., & Sansone, C. (2019). Social influences of interest: Conceptualizing group differences in education through a self-regulation of motivation model. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 22(3), 330-355. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430219838337