Isis Artze-Vega, Ed.D., is a research professor in American University’s Advancing College Teaching for Student Success National Center.

Like critical thinking before it, belonging has become one of those terms everyone uses, but not everyone defines the same way. Most faculty know belonging matters. Fewer know what they can realistically do during the first weeks of class to strengthen it. After a quick refresher on belonging and its impact, I’ll describe the academic-based realm of belonging (sometimes called academic belonging) and suggest a few ways to validate your students’ academic belonging at the start of the fall semester.  

The need to belong is present at birth, much like other fundamental needs (think Maslow’s hierarchy), and the consequences of not belonging are acute. Perhaps the best way to understand belonging is thus through its absence, suggests Omid Fotuhi, Ph.D., scholar of belonging, motivation, and performance. Sometimes, the absence of belonging comes in the form of belonging uncertainty—that is, when individuals are uncertain of the quality of their social bonds. At other times, the absence of belonging is more pronounced and consequential. Stanford professor and author of Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides, Geoffrey L. Cohen, explains that “feeling excluded is experienced much in the same way physical pain is, with both activating many of the same neural networks in the brain.”  

In short, belonging is something we all need; it’s not just a student need. At the same time, college students often experience belonging uncertainty—especially new students, those whose families have limited experience with college, and those who don’t see others who look like them or share other identities at their institutions or in a particular discipline or course. Even when they enroll in our institutions, many students are still not sure whether they belong in college. This uncertainty not only feels unpleasant; it taxes students’ sociocognitive bandwidth, which means they can’t be fully present in our courses.    

While many colleges and universities have promoted student engagement outside of the classroom to help students recognize that they absolutely belong there, research suggests that 1) faculty members may have the greatest influence on student belonging (Kim, Y. K., & Sax, L. J) and 2) the start of an academic term is an opportune time for belonging conversations and interventions (Fotuhi). Why faculty? For one, faculty are the only individuals at most institutions with guaranteed, sustained contact with students. Students also interpret faculty comments, feedback, and grades as indicators of their academic belonging. Academic belonging refers to students’ sense that they are legitimate members of an academic community—that they are capable of learning, valued by their instructors, and expected to succeed. 

The start of an academic term is an ideal time to support student belonging because it sets the tone for students to fully engage in the course and make connections with peers and faculty that will strengthen their belonging, learning, and success. In contrast, “students or employees with early experiences that confirm belonging uncertainty can quickly become solidified and resistant to change,” explains Fotuhi.  

Fortunately, communicating academic belonging doesn’t require redesigning your course. Here are three relatively small changes that can have an outsized impact during the first weeks of the semester.

1. Begin by communicating that your students already have something valuable to contribute.

This approach, inspired by Laura Rendón’s (1994) validation theory, entails proactively telling students that you know they bring a great deal of knowledge and varied strengths to your course. A general statement along these lines in a syllabus, introductory video, or first-class welcome message could work, but tailoring this message to your discipline and course would be much more effective. Consider: What did you learn from students when you taught the course in previous semesters? How have you seen students use their strengths (e.g., linguistic skills, resourcefulness, innovation, etc.) to succeed in your class? Detailed examples from previous courses are more likely to resonate and will begin to cultivate students’ trust.  

For instance, in my first-year writing course, I tell bi-/multilingual students that the languages they speak are academic assets. They have access to primary and secondary sources that many of their classmates cannot read, and they bring familiarity with rhetorical traditions that can enrich our discussions and strengthen their writing. An economics professor might remind students who work part- or full-time that they already make economic decisions every day and therefore bring relevant experiences to class discussions. A biology instructor might point out that students who care for family members have firsthand observations about health and the human body that can enrich classroom conversations.

2. Tell students your belonging story.

Many students assume their professors were always straight-A students who never struggled, yet most of us can recall moments of struggle and times when we weren’t sure we belonged. Being vulnerable with students is a powerful way to begin earning their trust. Whether you tell your story in a brief video in your learning management system or at the start of a class session during the first couple of weeks of the term, stories like these also normalize struggle without lowering expectations. They communicate that moments of doubt are part of learning—not evidence that students don’t belong. The Student Experience Project provides excellent guidance on how to identify which story to tell and shares faculty examples from across disciplines.

3. Take another look at your grading system.

I’ve partnered with enough faculty to know this is a sensitive topic, but grades are so important to students’ academic belonging that I would be remiss not to offer this suggestion. If your current grading system includes an early high-stakes assessment that is worth so much that students would not be able to recover from earning a poor grade on it, consider the message students may receive about whether they belong and can ultimately succeed in your course. They may interpret their grade as evidence that they don’t belong—whether in your course or your discipline, or even in college.

Small adjustments to bolster academic belonging (without compromising academic rigor) include making that early assessment worth fewer points or weigh less in the final grade and/or adding an exam wrapper assignment through which students can reflect on their performance, learn what they missed in the assessment, and earn back some points. Unit 5 of The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching describes the latter strategy and other ways to create contexts of belonging (click here for your free ebook access).

One final suggestion: Belonging isn’t only something we cultivate for students. Faculty need it, too. Take a moment to reflect on your own belonging—in the courses you teach, your department, your institution. If this reflection elicits belonging uncertainty or exclusion in any of these realms, remember that trusting human connections can be restorative salves. How might you turn a solitary task into a more relational one? Consider signing up for (or creating/leading) opportunities for teaching, research, writing, or wellness-focused collaboration; reaching out to colleagues you’ve lost touch with; or mentoring a new colleague. 

The beginning of a semester is always full of uncertainty—for students and faculty alike. It’s also full of possibility. The messages we send during those first few weeks, intentionally or not, help students decide whether they belong in our classrooms and in our disciplines. Fortunately, many of the most powerful messages require only small changes: noticing students’ strengths, normalizing struggle, designing opportunities to recover from setbacks, and investing in our own sense of connection. These seemingly modest choices can shape not only how students experience our courses, but how they see themselves as learners.

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Works Cited

Cohen, Geoffrey L. Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides. W. W. Norton & Company, 2022. 

Fotuhi, Omid. “Here’s How to Get the Belonging Message Right.” WGU Labs, 27 Apr. 2022, https://wgulabs.org/posts/heres-how-to-get-the-belonging-message-right.  

Kim, Young K., and Linda J. Sax. “The Impact of College Students’ Interactions with Faculty: A Review of General and Conditional Effects.” Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, edited by Michael B. Paulsen, vol. 32, Springer International Publishing, 2017, pp. 85–139. Springer Link, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48983-4_3.  

McLeod, Saul. “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Simply Psychology, 6 Feb. 2026, https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html. 

Rendón, Laura I. “Validation Theory.” Laura I. Rendón, https://www.laurarendon.net/validation-theory/.