Christine Lancaster, Ph.D. Program, Educational Leadership

Christine Lancaster presented at the 2019 Graduate Research Conference (GRC) with an oral presentation entitled, "Sense of Belonging and Its Influence on College Student Success Factors." She was one of nine winners of the GRC Abstract Contest. Christine also works as Director of Student Support, Teacher Preparation Unit in the College of Education.

GRC Abstract:

This presentation will discuss a study exploring sense of belonging and its influence on college student success factors. Using Structured Equation Modeling (SEM), the study seeks to assess what pre-college, demographic, and college environmental factors influence sense of belonging for college students as well as the relationship of sense of belonging to retention, grade point average (GPA), and cumulative completion rate (CCR). The mediating effect of engagement will be discussed. Demographic, social, and economic information such as ethnicity, age, gender, family income, and first generation status will be considered. Further, the constructs of intersectionality will be used to analyze the impact of engagement and sense of belonging on retention, GPA, and CCR taking into consideration complex identities. The purpose of the study is for educational leaders to have a greater understanding of what campus conditions may promote student success.