Abstract:

Belonging refers to the desire of social interaction or socialization in situations where one feels accepted. Sense of belonging is associated to the sense of community, and feelings of being socially at ease. Belonging factors contribute to psychological health and well-being of students, which consequently result in better academic performance and higher retention rates. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed academia towards remote education. Despite of the opportunities of creating and validating distinct learning practices, this new online environment also arises challenges in education related to self-isolation.

According to literature, there are many factors related to the sense of belonging, including identification, uncertainty reduction, social interaction, social exchange and acceptance. Identification is related to commitment and sharing of same values in the community. Uncertainty reduction refers to the desire to reduce the uncertainty regarding the group operation. Social interaction means the desire for peer companionship and awareness of others, being related to socialization, and interpersonal connectivity. Social exchange is the desire to exchange resources and practices. Acceptance refers to the desire for approval and it is related to self-confidence.

In this paper, we are interested in assessing the sense of belonging in Engineering students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to understand if the experienced isolation can damage students’ belonging and consequently affect negatively the quality of learning outcomes. We design a questionnaire considering belonging factors in the school community. Regarding identification and uncertainty reduction, we investigate if students know about the culture and structure. Social interaction and social exchange factors lead us to evaluate the intensity of interactions with peers and professors. Considering acceptance factor, we assess students’ feelings: if they feel part of the community and if they feel accepted. Finally, students report how motivated and participative they are during the pandemic.

We submitted the questionnaire to 31 engineering students of an Engineering institute. This school has an interesting characteristic that is that students live together in dorms and have access to facilities inside the campus. Respondents were in the second year of a five-year course, which is significant since they were physically in the school for only two months before the pandemic. We found that the community was able to transmit its culture and structure to the new students. The interactions with peers occurred, but less than students desired. The interactions between students and professors diminished drastically. Almost half of students reported to fell alone and not accepted. Despite of the online challenges, the majority of students considered themselves as community members and could keep motivation and engagement. Our initial results indicate that the pandemic indeed affected negatively factors related to the sense of belonging of Engineering students. We also found that identification is an essential aspect of belonging; since students, by sharing community values, could remain positive and motivated. Academia have then an opportunity to explore effective ways to overcome isolation barriers when using remote learning, in order to make students (especially the new ones) to feel accepted and to recognize their relevance to the entire educational scenario.

Keywords:

Sense of belonging, Engineering education, COVID-19 pandemic.