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Sense of belonging among Black business students at a predominantly White institution
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Sense of Belonging Among Black Business Students at a Predominantly White Institution
Michelle LaRoi Aitala
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
December 2024
© Copyright by Michelle LaRoi Aitala 2024
All Rights Reserved
The Committee for Michelle LaRoi Aitala certifies the approval of this Dissertation
Alan Green
Patrick Cates
Kimberly Hirabayashi, Committee Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2024
iv
Abstract
This study applied Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory (SCT) and Gray et al.’s (2018)
ecological framework to explore a sense of belonging among Black undergraduates pursuing a
degree in business. This study sought to understand how Black students perceive a sense of
belonging at the business school of City University (CU), a predominantly White institution
(PWI), and to determine whether interpersonal, instructional, and institutional structures in the
school environment influence belonging. Data analysis included open, axial, and selective coding
using in vivo and a priori codes to identify emergent themes aligned to the conceptual
framework. Findings indicate that Black students’ perceptions of belonging are influenced by
multiple factors within the business school environment. Prior community, cultural, and K–12
educational experiences shaped students’ unconscious anticipation of belonging and beliefs
about its importance. Key interpersonal factors affecting belonging included connection,
academic engagement, unconscious bias, and microaggressions experienced primarily through
peer and faculty interactions. Instructional and institutional factors in the curriculum had both
positive and negative effects on participant’s belonging. The study demonstrated triadic
reciprocity as interpersonal and instructional structures influenced participants’ belonging and
cognitions, which in turn informed their behaviors, supporting both ecological and SCT
frameworks. This research illuminates environmental factors within CU’s business school that
may influence Black students’ sense of belonging and their pursuit of business education and
careers. These findings may inform approaches to enhance programs, curricula, and institutional
structures to improve perceptions of belonging among Black business students at CU.
Keywords: sense of belonging, Black business students, business schools, predominantly
White institutions
v
Dedication
To my parents, Franco G. Aitala and Marilyn B. Aitala. Mi mancate tanto.
vi
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my dissertation chair, Dr. Kimberly
Hirabayashi, for your expertise, guidance, and encouragement. Your positivity made me believe
this impossible task could be achieved. My sincere gratitude to my committee members, Dr.
Alan Green and Dr. Patrick Cates, for your helpful insights and feedback. Thank you to all my
professors in the Rossier School of Education. It was an honor to learn from exceptional teachers
dedicated to equity and inclusion who also facilitated my sense of belonging at USC Rossier.
I am very grateful to Dr. John Bertrand, my friend and mentor. You encouraged me to
apply to the Ed.D. program and supported me while I attended classes and worked full-time.
Many thanks to Dr. Suh-Pyng Kuh, Dr. Ramandeep Randhawa, Dr. Sarah Townsend, Courtney
Brunious, Tonisha Jester, Damarea Parker, Tonii Brady, and Audrena Goodie for your advice
and assistance. I would also like to thank my colleagues-in-arms, in particular, Lesley Adams,
Mark Brostoff, and Dr. Shirley Chan, for your encouragement and patience throughout my
journey as a doctoral student. My ongoing thanks to Dr. John Teske, my first psychology
professor and mentor. You convinced my parents that psychology was a viable major and 35
years later convinced me I could achieve my doctorate degree.
I am grateful to several alumni, especially Woodrow “Red” Claybon, Miles Jackson, and
Shiressa Johnson, for providing insights into your experience as business students. A special
thank you to my friend, Jennifer Goldberger, for proofreading help as well as sharing emotional
support photos of her cat, Cookie. Many thanks to my classmates in the Educational Psychology
cohort for all your moral support and inspiration, including Afifa, Sheree, Kendra, Charlotte, and
many more. I learned so much from all of you.
vii
I would like to recognize The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, and whose
mission for more than 50 years has been to reduce the significant underrepresentation of African
Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in graduate business education. My role
as a Trustee in The Consortium and my work supporting the career goals of Consortium students
strongly influenced my dissertation topic.
Finally, my very sincere thanks to the students who shared their stories for this study,
Chiara, Erika, Michael, Samuel, and Lily. I am inspired by all of you and wish you great success
and much belonging in your future business careers.
Last, but not least, I am deeply grateful to my husband, John Shambra, for your constant
emotional support, believing in me, and taking on more than your fair share of the cooking and
chores. You encouraged me from the first click of my application to the final period of this
dissertation, and I can never thank you enough. I love you.
viii
Table of Contents
Abstract...........................................................................................................................................iv
Dedication........................................................................................................................................v
Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................................vi
List of Tables...................................................................................................................................x
List of Figures.................................................................................................................................xi
Literature Review ................................................................................................................4
Research on Sense of Belonging .............................................................................4
Sense of Belonging for College Students of Color at PWIs....................................5
Sense of Belonging for Black College Students......................................................6
Sense of Belonging Among Black Business Students ............................................8
Barriers to Solving the Problem of Practice ............................................................9
Theoretical Foundations....................................................................................................11
Positionality.......................................................................................................................13
Methods.............................................................................................................................14
Research Questions ...............................................................................................14
Context of the Study..............................................................................................15
Participants............................................................................................................16
Instrumentation......................................................................................................17
Data Collection......................................................................................................18
Data Analysis.........................................................................................................19
Credibility and Trustworthiness............................................................................20
Findings.............................................................................................................................20
Defining Belonging ...............................................................................................21
ix
Research Question 1: How Do Black Business Students Describe Their Sense of
Belonging Over the Course of a Semester at a School of Business in a PWI? .....21
Research Question 2: How Do Black Business Students Perceive the Interpersonal
(Faculty, Staff, Peers), Instructional (Curriculum, Pedagogy, course materials),
and Institutional (Policies, Practices, Structures) Factors That Influence Their
Sense of Belonging? ..............................................................................................29
Discussion..........................................................................................................................42
Recommendations for Practice..........................................................................................48
Future Research .................................................................................................................54
Limitations.........................................................................................................................55
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................56
References .....................................................................................................................................58
Appendix A: Participant Descriptions...........................................................................................78
Appendix B: Interview Protocols..................................................................................................80
Appendix C: Screening Questionnaire ..........................................................................................84
x
List of Tables
Table 1: Demographics of Study Participants 17
xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Theoretical Framework Illustrating Social Cognitive Theory With an
Embedded Ecological Lens
12
1
Sense of Belonging Among Black Business Students at a Predominantly White Institution
Strayhorn (2019) defined a sense of belonging as the perception of being important to,
respected by, and mattering to others, and feeling connected to peers, staff, and faculty.
Baumeister and Leary (1995) theorized that belonging is an essential and universal human need
rather than a desire, a “fundamental human motivation” that drives cognition, emotion, and
behavior (p. 497). A sense of belonging, therefore, may be critical a critical component for
students’ well-being and success in educational settings. Students who felt a sense of belonging
were likely to persist, be academically motivated, transition to college successfully, and exhibit
better psychological functioning (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Goodenow, 1993; Hagerty et al.,
1996; Hurtado & Carter, 1997). College students who have experienced belonging exhibited
enhanced academic effort, increased self-efficacy, and engaged in behaviors leading to academic
achievement (Freeman et al., 2007; Pittman & Richmond, 2007; Wilson et al., 2015).
Belonging research has examined the perceptions and experiences of diverse and
underrepresented university students, including first-generation college students (Duran et al.,
2020; Means & Pyne, 2017), university students of color (Hussain & Jones, 2021), and Black
collegians (Booker, 2016; Brooms, 2020; Strayhorn, 2019). Additionally, scholars have
investigated the concept of belonging among Black students in various academic disciplines,
often focusing on the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (Dortch &
Patel, 2017; Lee et al., 2020; Miles et al., 2020; Rainey et al., 2018; Stachl & Baranger, 2020;
Strayhorn, 2019; Wilson et al., 2015; Xu & Lastrapes, 2021). Given the potential relationship
between belonging and academic effort, persistence, and academic achievement, universities are
often encouraged to develop initiatives that build and maintain a sense of belonging for Black
students (Booker, 2016; Strayhorn, 2019). However, research on the perceptions of belonging
2
among Black students enrolled in business studies has been limited.
Our current sociopolitical climate makes a study on the perceptions of belonging among
Black business students highly relevant. After the Supreme Court ended affirmative action,
scholars have suggested that Black students may choose historically Black colleges and
universities (HBCUs) rather than predominantly White institutions (PWIs; Harper, 2023; Perry et
al., 2023). One year later, Amherst College and Tufts University reported declines in Black
enrollment of 8% and 2.6%, respectively (Chao-Fong, 2024). Prior to the ruling, between 2010
and 2021, overall college enrollment had risen 7.2% yet Black undergraduate enrollment fell
27% and Black students enrolling in business programs declined 2% during the same period
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2010, 2022a, 2022b, 2023, 2024). Therefore,
expanding the understanding of belonging to include the experiences of Black business students
is valuable, because:
[Belonging] influences young people as they make choices and decide where to invest
their time and energy. … As students make important life choices, the social context of
those choices looms large. These studies indicate that questions such as “Who will I be
spending my time with if I choose to pursue higher education, this college, this major, or
this profession?” seem to play an active, and perhaps central role in the choices young
people make about which goals to pursue (Murphy & Zirkel, 2015, p. 29).
The purpose of this study was to understand how Black business students experience
belonging at a PWI. The study used a longitudinal, qualitative approach to center the experiences
of Black students to learn more about the various environmental factors in a business school that
may influence their perceptions of belonging. Through three semi-structured interviews over the
course of several months, the study sought to identify the interpersonal, instructional, and
3
institutional factors influencing a sense of belonging among Black undergraduates at the business
school of City University (CU, a pseudonym), a PWI that is currently working to increase
belonging among students of color.
This study can provide valuable insights into Black business students’ experiences at CU,
as the university and the business school strive to foster a sense of belonging among diverse
students. As students choose colleges and majors, whether an educational social context provides
a sense of belonging may be critical (Murphy & Zirkel, 2015). CU does not charge differential or
tiered tuition rates for bachelor’s degrees. When undergraduate tuition costs do vary by school or
program, however, Black students are more likely to avoid higher-cost majors like business
despite the fact that business is one of the highest-paying careers post-graduation (Carnevale et
al., 2016; Libassi, 2018; Stange, 2015). This cost-averse decision making is noteworthy given
that that Black graduates carry almost 80% higher student debt than their White peers four years
after graduation (Stewart, III et al., 2022). By prioritizing belonging within CU’s business
school, Black students may feel more support to pursue business degrees, positioning them for
stronger financial futures through higher-paying career pathways.
The results of this study may inform policies and programs that increase belonging,
enhance student retention, and expand the pipeline of Black students who pursue graduate
business education. Research has demonstrated that stronger belonging correlates with better
college adjustment and higher retention rates (Allen et al., 2008; Graham & McClain, 2019),
suggesting that enhancing belonging could reduce the number of Black students who transfer,
change majors, or leave school entirely (O’Keeffe, 2013; Pedler et al., 2022). A focus on
belonging becomes particularly critical when considering that over 25% of MBA candidates
from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups hold undergraduate business degrees
4
(Consortium for Graduate Studies in Management, 2021). If Black students feel a strong sense of
belonging in business programs and related careers, the resulting increased earning power means
that the cost of a graduate degree becomes less of a barrier (Thomas, 2020). Fostering belonging
in CU’s business school may create a positive cycle: Successful Black business graduates
become business leaders and professors, serving as role models for future Black business
students and challenging what Minefee et al. (2018) terms the myth of the “leaky pipeline” of
Black business professors in higher education. Ultimately, understanding and enhancing
belonging factors could improve not only Black students’ experiences but enrich the educational
environment for all CU business students.
Literature Review
This section provides an overview of the literature on sense of belonging and on key
factors of belonging in education and among diverse student populations. First, I review early
sense of belonging research, including how a sense of belonging facilitates positive outcomes in
education contexts. Second, I examine the belonging needs of students of color on PWI
campuses. Third, I explore the factors particular to Black students’ sense of belonging, including
faculty/staff relationships, microaggressions, and intersectionality. Fourth, I provide a review of
the literature addressing the intersection of belonging among Black business students, including
the need for additional research. Finally, the section concludes with a discussion of the barriers
to solving the problem of practice.
Research on Sense of Belonging
A sense of belonging is considered to be a fundamental human motivator and a positive
influence on students’ academic experience. Once physiological and safety needs have been
attained, people seek social connection and belonging (Maslow, 1943), which drives behavior,
5
cognitive processing, and influences emotional states (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Supportive
relationships have enhanced feelings of belonging, which are negatively corelated with
depression, loneliness, and anxiety in men and women (Hagerty et al., 1996). Along with
autonomy and competence, Ryan and Deci (2000) suggested that belonging or relatedness is
required to internalize external motivators, facilitate intrinsic motivation, and promote
performance, all of which are important goals in education (American Psychological Association
[APA] 2015; Yates & Patall, 2021). Early educational research demonstrated that belonging
positively influenced academic motivation and expectations of success in middle school students
(Goodenow, 1993). A strong sense of belonging in high school translated to better adjustment
during the first year of college for young adolescents (Pittman & Richmond, 2007). Feelings of
class belonging among undergraduates were associated with academic effort, participation,
positive emotional engagement (Wilson et al., 2015) and academic self-efficacy (Freeman et al.,
2007), while a sense of university belonging was associated with academic self-competence and
higher grades (Pittman & Richmond, 2007). Perceptions of belonging have influenced interest in
a major (Murphy & Zirkel, 2015) and predicted students’ intention to persist in college
(Hausmann et al., 2007). Lastly, belonging may assume different meaning at different points in
life (Strayhorn, 2019) and change over time (Goodenow, 1993; Hausmann et al., 2007; Means &
Pyne, 2017; Strayhorn, 2019). Therefore, establishing a sense of belonging may be very relevant
for students about to transition from high school to college.
Sense of Belonging for College Students of Color at PWIs
Researchers have expanded the literature to understand how diverse and underrepresented
minoritized (URM) students experience belonging on PWI campuses. For example, selfidentified minoritized students have defined belonging using terms their privileged peers did not,
6
including “authenticity,” “safety,” and “respect” (Vaccaro & Newman, 2016, p. 936).
Meaningful sources of belonging for students of color have included positive interactions with
faculty (Means & Pyne, 2017), interactions with diverse peers (Duran et al., 2020; Hussain &
Jones, 2021; Strayhorn, 2019), and engagement in campus activities (Hussain & Jones, 2021;
Means & Pyne, 2017). In contrast, some researchers have found no association between a sense
of belonging among students of color and diverse peer interactions (Johnson et al., 2007) or
participation in campus activities (Duran et al., 2020; Whitten et al., 2020). Students of color
may not arrive on campus with a preconceived notion of belonging, whereas majority students,
typically White students, may possess an “assumed sense of social belonging in intellectually
evaluative contexts” (Walton & Cohen, 2007). Yet among all students of color, Black collegians
were most likely to express the lowest levels of belonging (Duran et al., 2020; Hussain & Jones,
2021; Lewis et al., 2019) on PWI campuses.
Sense of Belonging for Black College Students
Compared to other underrepresented students, Black university students have shown
more awareness of race as a “defining factor” of belonging (Duran et al., 2020, p. 148). This
awareness has been more salient in settings where they experienced belonging uncertainty
(Walton & Cohen, 2007), including predominantly White institutions. This remainder of this
section discusses three important elements that have shaped Black students’ perceptions of
belonging, including faculty and staff relationships, microaggressions, and intersectionality.
Faculty and Staff Relationships
Warm and engaging relationships with faculty and staff are salient to Black students’
sense of belonging. Black men have experienced increased belonging through student-faculty
engagement in and outside the classroom, faculty mentorship, and perceptions of faculty care
7
(Brooms, 2020). Staff members have served as “cultural navigators” (Strayhorn, 2022, p. 30)
facilitating Black students’ knowledge about the rules and practices of a college campus, which
reduced belonging uncertainty and enhanced belongingness. In addition to authentic faculty
relationships, belonging and persistence for Black women was also related to a safe class
environment (Booker, 2016). On the other hand, negative interactions with faculty (Johnson et
al., 2007) and a lack of Black faculty (Harper et al., 2018) obstructed feelings of belonging and
invalidated Black students’ academic identities (Miles et al., 2020). Finally, a recent study of the
business school climate found that except for the sole Black professor, business faculty members
were often “available but not always approachable” (Allen & Dika, 2020, p. 239).
Microaggressions
Microaggressions are everyday experiences that attack, minimize, demean, or exclude
people of color (Sue et al., 2007). Black students have experienced high levels of bias and
discrimination even on moderately diverse campuses (Hurtado & Alvarado, 2015) and have been
more the targets of microaggressions more frequently (Lewis et al., 2019; Nadal et al., 2014)
which decreased their feelings of belonging (Booker, 2016; Dortch & Patel, 2017; Lewis et al.,
2019). Microaggressions have influenced the decision to change majors, reduced persistence and
retention (Solórzano et al., 2000), invalidated academic identities (Miles et al., 2020), and were
associated with “anticipated ethnic discrimination” in future careers (Salami et al., 2021, p. 4).
Intersectionality
Intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991) is the “complex, cumulative way” in which multiple
marginalized identities such as race, gender, sexuality, and class intersect and serve to maintain
inequities (APA, 2021, p. 4). Black students who expressed multiple intersecting identities have
experienced isolation, discrimination, and microaggressions (Blockett et al., 2022; Dortch &
8
Patel, 2017; Duran et al., 2020; Leath et al., 2022). Students with intersecting identities are
required to navigate each identity with varying degrees of acceptance on PWI campuses
(Strayhorn, 2019). Consequently, Black men have been stereotyped on race and gender (Brooms,
2020), gay Black men have lacked the “intraracial support” of Black peers (Leath et al., 2022, p.
773), and Black women have experienced microaggressions in academic fields dominated by
White men (Dortch & Patel, 2017). Within intraracial peer networks, Black students with
intersectional identities have felt both supported and welcomed or excluded by their Black peers
(Leath et al., 2022).
Sense of Belonging Among Black Business Students
Despite extensive research on sense of belonging, the experiences of Black business
students merits further exploration. Prior belonging research has sometimes omitted diverse
individuals (Goodenow, 1993) or did not address potential racial differences (Hagerty et al.,
1996). Studies on belonging among business students have sometimes lacked sufficient sample
sizes to disaggregate participants by race and use a single non-White category instead (Kim &
Lundberg, 2016; Whitten et al., 2020). Finally, much research on belonging has focused on
Black or URM students in STEM degree programs (Dortch & Patel, 2017; Miles et al., 2020;
Rainey et al., 2018; Wilson et al., 2015) rather than in business programs.
A sense of belonging, business education, and Black student experiences have not often
been explored concurrently. Studies have assessed business student retention, or revealed higher
persistence among African American business majors, but did not involve exploring social
influences like belonging (Hsu & Bailey, 2011; St. John et al., 2004). Other research has
produced findings related to Black business students’ persistence, but focused primarily on
persistence in STEM education (Riegle-Crumb et al., 2019). While some qualitative studies have
9
taken a longitudinal approach (Booker, 2016; Harper, 2012a; Leath et al., 2022; Vaccaro &
Newman, 2016), there remains a need for longitudinal research that examines perceptions of
belonging among Black business students.
Only a small number of studies have explored the three criteria of belonging, business
education, and Black students concurrently. Allen and Dika’s (2020) research investigated
perceptions of the business school climate among Black business students’ at PWIs and the role
of faculty relationships in student belonging. David and Coats (2021) explored the
underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic/Latino protagonists in business case studies and
concluded that students may experience “feelings of alienation,” or a lack of belonging, as a
result (p. 55).
These research gaps limit the understanding of Black students’ need for belonging in
business academics and highlight the need for additional research. Thus, this study sought to
understand the experiences of Black business students that influenced a sense of belonging at a
PWI utilizing a qualitative, longitudinal approach. The findings add to the body of knowledge on
Black sense of belonging while also expanding an understanding of belonging within the
understudied academic domain of business.
Barriers to Solving the Problem of Practice
Fostering a sense of belonging among Black students is a problem of practice rooted in
the racialized history of many PWIs, including CU and its business school. PWIs and business
schools have traditionally valued “non-white [bodies]” as a means to support “claims about their
progressive, inclusive values” (Dar et al., 2021, p. 700). This has enabled PWIs to maintain the
advantages of a racialized history, such as centering White knowledge, White ways of knowing,
and Whiteness as property (Harper et al., 2018). Additionally, business schools have not always
10
emphasized issues of diversity, especially pertaining to the racialized nature of the faculty hiring
process (Grier & Poole, 2020). However, over time, Black students and Black business students
have communicated that feeling a sense of belonging is a need, not just a desire.
For decades, Black collegians have denounced racism and discrimination on college
campuses (Howard University News Service, 2007; Lee, 1990) and in business programs
(Bender, 1972; Ellis, 2022; Fuchsberg, 1992; Lamb, 2021). Business schools and PWIs have
been called to act and find solutions to reduce racism and discrimination, increase representation
of Black students and faculty, and incorporate anti-racism education while reducing Whitecentric curricula (Byrne, 2020b; Fernandes, 2019; Green, 2021; Mazhar & Yu, 2020; Medina,
2021; Thomas, 2020). These calls were highlighted again following the murder of George Floyd
in May of 2020 and increased national support for the Black Lives Matter movement (Buchanan
et al., 2020). A proliferation of “Black@” accounts emerged on Instagram, where students
recounted stories of racial discrimination and bias and called upon university leaders to take
action (Smith-Barrow, 2020). However, the slow pace of change has continued to harm Black
business students and faculty. Several prominent Black faculty members have resigned in
frustration, including Steven Rogers, one of only nine Black business professors at Harvard
Business School at the time (Byrne, 2020a; Flaherty, 2021; Griffith, 2021). A former PhD
business student, Angelica Rose Brown, filed a lawsuit against the University of North
Carolina’s Kenan Flagler Business in late 2022, stating she was forced to leave the program due
to biased treatment by three business professors (Ellis, 2022).
Embedding equity as a fundamental principle in the business school may require shifts in
policies, practices, and the structure of the institution. Some academics have called for the
dismantling of business schools entirely (Parker, 2018); however, others have advocated for the
11
inclusion of non-White and non-Western business scholarship (Everett, 2023), Black business
theories and history (Prieto et al., 2021; Prieto & Phipps, 2021), and a diverse and representative
business faculty (Grier & Poole, 2020). Thus, despite calls for change and ongoing criticism of
racism and a lack of diversity, business schools may need to make significant changes to ensure
that Black students feel a sense of belonging before arriving on campus and throughout their
four-year journey.
Theoretical Foundations
This study explored the concept of sense of belonging using a framework grounded in
Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory and further refined with Gray et al.’s (2018) ecological
lens. First, social cognitive theory (SCT) has posited that “human functioning” is influenced by
the relationships that exist between personal, behavioral, and environmental factors, and that
each factor affects and is affected by the others in a “triadic reciprocity” (Schunk & DiBenedetto,
2020, p. 2). Triadic reciprocity is evident, for example, when faculty warmth and encouragement
and peers’ social acceptance generate perceptions of belonging (Freeman et al., 2007), which
then influences behaviors such as academic effort and achievement (Pittman & Richmond, 2007;
Wilson et al., 2015).
Second, I included an ecological perspective in the SCT framework to provide clarity and
depth of understanding since various types of business school experiences may influence
belonging. Gray, Hope, and Matthews (2018) have suggested that Black students’ sense of
belonging should be examined and supported through an ecological perspective of institutional,
interpersonal, and instructional “opportunity structures” (p. 98). In this study, the business school
served as both the environmental factor of the SCT framework and the institutional opportunity
structure of the ecological model, and included the schools’ current policies, practices, and
12
structures. Students’ relationships with faculty, staff, and peers represented interpersonal
structures while the curriculum, learning materials, and pedagogy represented instructional
opportunity structures.
SCT provided a foundation to understand how Black students experience the business
school environment and how the meaning they attribute to these experiences influenced their
belonging. Situating an ecological perspective into the SCT model shed additional light on how
interpersonal, instructional, and institutional structures influenced students’ cognitions,
perceptions of belonging, and their behavior in the business school environment. Figure 1
illustrates the SCT framework with the embedded ecological lens, and includes examples of
cognitions, behaviors, and environmental factors found in this study.
Figure 1
Theoretical Framework Illustrating Social Cognitive Theory With an Embedded Ecological Lens
13
Note. The model shows Gray et al.’s (2020) ecological model situated in the Environmental
factor of Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory (SCT). Institutional, interpersonal, and
instructional contexts in the business school have positive (+), negative (–), or a combination
(+/–) of influences on perceptions of belonging. The student (Person) perceives belonging when
cognitions such as connectedness are present. Behaviors like seeking help or dropping a class are
influenced depending on whether a sense of belonging is present (+) or absent (-) in the
Environment. Adapted from Schunk, D. H. & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2020). Motivation and social
cognitive theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology. 60, 101832.
Positionality
As a business school career advisor, I have engaged in multiple conversations with Black
graduate students who openly shared their concerns about attending a PWI. These conversations
sparked my interest in researching a sense of belonging among this population. However,
educational research has frequently marginalized students of color and perpetuated deficit
frameworks. By reflecting on my positionality and epistemology, I hoped to ensure that my
research did not “marginalize and objectify” the students from whom I sought insight (Milner,
2007, p. 389). As a doctoral student, I have learned and subsequently acknowledged that being a
White, cisgender woman has provided me with access and advancement in my educational and
professional careers. This unearned privilege included access to mentors, research opportunities,
job interviews, and job offers, and as a result, I gained social capital through which I have been
able to fit in almost any workplace environment. My lived experience may not resemble that of
many Black students. Given my positionality, I sought to build trust with the participants
throughout the study by conducting multiple interviews and frequently checking my assumptions
14
and biases about the educational and career journeys of Black students.
Additionally, I recognize that business schools may oppress students of color through
inequitable systems that reinforce racialized stratification and preserve White socioeconomic
power (Stein, 2018). Competition for classes, internships, jobs, leadership roles, and professorial
attention may reinforce stratification. As a staff member in an educational system, my role
affords me the privilege and power to influence other educational leaders which may improve or
worsen experiences for Black students as a result. Therefore, I used three methods to minimize
the negative potential of my power and positionality. First, I centered the counter-stories and
narratives of Black students to “[disrupt] deficit discourse and beliefs” (Milner, 2007, p. 389).
Second, to minimize potential power dynamics, I recruited undergraduate students as participants
since my work is focused solely on graduate students. Finally, I maintained a personal journal
and engaged in conversations with two Black business graduate students to make meaning of my
reflections.
Methods
Research Questions
Over the fall and spring semesters of 2023 and 2024, I conducted three semi-structured
interviews with five participants to understand how Black undergraduates experienced a sense of
belonging at the business school of a PWI. By conducting multiple interviews with a small
sample, I sought to create a rich, “thick description” of participants’ experiences of belonging
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015, p. 30). Although many qualitative studies on belonging have been
cross-sectional in nature, a sense of belonging may change over time. By conducting multiple
interviews over a period of months, I sought to provide a richer and more complex understanding
of Black students’ sense of belonging. Thus, a longitudinal approach was appropriate given that
15
belonging may change over time depending on the participants’ experiences, thoughts and
feelings about those experiences, and how the participants built meaning around those
experiences (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).
Two research questions guided this study:
1. How do Black business students describe their sense of belonging over the course of a
semester at CU’s business school?
2. How do Black business students perceive the interpersonal (faculty, staff, peers),
instructional (curriculum, pedagogy, course materials), and institutional (policies,
practices, structures) factors that influence their sense of belonging?
Context of the Study
The business school at City University (a pseudonym), served as the setting for this
study. City University (CU), a private PWI, is located in a large and ethnically diverse city,
enrolls over 20,000 undergraduates and more than 28,000 graduate students. Black or African
American students comprise only 6% of the undergraduate student body. In 2021, CU awarded
more bachelor’s degrees in business to Black undergraduates than any other discipline, including
social sciences, engineering, or computer sciences combined. Fall enrollment data for 2022–2023
indicated that more Black students majored in business than engineering, biological/biomedical
sciences, mathematics and statistics, or the physical sciences. In 2023, CU’s graduate and
undergraduate business programs received their highest rankings as reported by U.S. News &
World Report and Poets & Quants, respectively. However, according to Bloomberg
Businessweek, the business school’s diversity ranking falls well below its academic program
rankings. Finally, Black professors represented only 5% of more than 2,000 faculty members
employed by CU in 2023–2024, and only a few of the more than 400 full- and part-time business
16
professors are Black.
Since 2019, CU and its business school have taken steps to address anti-Blackness and
systemic racism on campus. A campus-wide survey assessed the climate at CU and a large-scale
transformation program was launched to promote diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and
belonging. These initiatives resulted in the creation of new DEI leadership roles, a study of racial
profiling by campus police, the implementation of university-wide anti-discrimination policies,
DEI training for staff and faculty, and the renaming of buildings and athletic fields. The business
school at CU initiated similar measures, including DEI training for all graduate students,
expanded DEI programming, and a transfer program for Black undergraduates. In 2021, the
business school announced a faculty hiring initiative to increase the number of female and URM
professors. Lastly, the university conducted a well-being study which indicated that Black
undergraduates at CU experienced significantly lower sense of belonging than non-Black
students. However, the business school did not conduct a similar study, and thus it is unclear
whether Black business majors perceive a sense of belonging.
Participants
Five candidates were recruited for this study, including three women and two men, one of
whom was a transfer student. All participants shared several common factors, including at least
one parent who earned a bachelor’s degree, each had received tuition scholarship, each had
completed at least one internship, and all had business-related career goals. Each participant
indicated that the scholarship had influenced their decision to attend CU, except for one
participant who received a scholarship after enrollment. Participant demographics and detailed
biographies appear in Table 1 and Appendix A, respectively.
17
Table 1
Demographics of Study Participants
Note. Names shown are pseudonyms. All participants except one selected their own pseudonym.
Instrumentation
Given the nature of qualitative research, a semi-structured interview approach was
deemed appropriate. An interview protocol of approximately 10–20 questions was developed for
each of the three interviews. Interview questions were used during the first meeting to build
rapport with the participant and to understand whether a participant’s background, family
history, beliefs, and values shaped their early perceptions of belonging. Examples of these
questions included, “Tell me about your family and your family’s history?” and “Who, if
anyone, has been most influential in your life?” Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory and
Gray et al.’s (2018) ecological framework guided the development of questions used in the
second and third interviews. These questions asked about students’ beliefs, emotions, values, and
behaviors regarding: (a) experiences with business faculty, staff, and students; (b) curriculum,
pedagogy, and course material; (c) policies, practices, and structure of the business school; and
Name Gender Class
year
Home region Business focus Transferred /
changed major
Chiara Female Senior Midwest Finance/
Accounting
Changed major
to business
Erika Female Junior Mid-Atlantic Entrepreneurship No
Lily Female Junior Pacific Northwest Finance No
Michael Male Senior West Coast Joint Degree No
Samuel Male Senior South General Business Transferred as
business major
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(d) engagement in business-related activities and decisions regarding business careers. Examples
of these questions included, “How does the business course content influence your sense of
belonging, if at all?” and “What policies or rules at the business school affect your sense of
belonging, if at all?” Interview protocols are included in Appendix B.
Data Collection
The qualitative approach used to address the research questions also served to guide
participant selection criteria (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Participants were identified using
purposeful and snowball sampling meant to target certain characteristics (Johnson &
Christensen, 2017) in order to “discover, understand, and gain insight” from a “sample from
which the most can be learned” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015, p. 96). Purposeful sampling required
identifying study candidates who: (a) identified as African American or Black American; (b) had
declared business administration as a major; and (c) were current sophomores, juniors, or seniors
at the start of the Fall 2023 semester. Fall transfer students and freshmen were excluded because
they were unlikely to have formed perceptions of belonging due to limited college experiences
(Hannon et al., 2016). International students were excluded because familial or cultural norms
about belonging may differ from African American/Black American students who have firsthand
experience with historical bias and discrimination in American K–12 educational systems.
After selection criteria were identified, I contacted several faculty, staff, and student
leaders to aid in recruitment. CU’s office of Black Student Affairs and the Black Business
Students (BBS) club sent emails to the target population that described the purpose of the study
and included a link to the screening questionnaire. I attended a BBS club meeting, distributed
information sheets, and answered students’ questions. Several business professors and staff
members referred potential candidates as part of snowball sampling. Finally, potential candidates
19
were offered a $75 incentive to encourage participation.
Data was collected via a screening questionnaire, three interviews with each participant,
and participant journaling. An online screening questionnaire was used to aid participant
selection, collect background information, and maximize interview time with participants. The
nine items on the screening questionnaire gathered information including contact information,
school year, business emphasis (major), gender, and race/ethnic demographics. The complete
screening questionnaire is included in Appendix C.
Five participants completed three interviews each, lasting 35–90 minutes, and scheduled
approximately 3–4 weeks apart, for a total of 15 interviews. The first two interviews were
conducted in October and November of 2023, and the final interviews were completed by the
end of February of 2024. Participants had the choice to meet in person or via Zoom, and only
two interviews were conducted via Zoom to accommodate the participant’s schedule. In-person
interviews were conducted in a private office located in a building that did not house any
undergraduate business classes or administrative offices. Interviews were recorded and notated
by hand, and all audio recordings were transcribed using a professional transcription service.
Transcriptions were reviewed against the original recording and edited for accuracy. Only two
participants kept a journal or made notes of events that influenced their sense of belonging
between interview sessions. The journals were not collected.
Data Analysis
Data was analyzed using an iterative and inductive process of open, axial, and selective
coding to ground the research findings (Williams & Moser, 2019). Data was first analyzed
through an open coding technique using pen and paper on printed transcripts. This process
generated initial codes that were entered into a qualitative data analysis software program,
20
Atlas.ti. After coding each transcript, prior transcripts were reviewed to refine in vivo codes and
introduce a priori codes linked to the interpersonal, instructional, and institutional elements of
the ecological model. After the transcripts were entered and coded in the software, axial and
selective coding techniques were used to develop code categories and produce simple themes
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). During this time, memos and notes written during the interviews and
coding process were also reviewed. By examining the co-occurrence among codes and code
categories, the resulting emergent themes were refined to address the two research questions.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
I took several steps to maximize credibility and trustworthiness as noted by Maxwell
(2013). First, I interviewed participants three times over the span of several months to generate
longitudinal data to provide saturation as well as thick, descriptive data. Second, I employed a
self-reflection approach to identify and minimize personal biases and subjectivity. Third, I asked
clarifying questions and paraphrased participant responses during the interviews as a means of
member-checking. While I developed reflections on the interview data, I asked participants to
review and validate preliminary themes and conclusions as another form of member checking.
Finally, I included direct quotes to center the unique experiences of the participants.
Findings
This study explored how Black students experience a sense of belonging at the school of
business at City University (CU). The findings revealed how current Black business students
described their perceptions of belonging at CU, and identified interpersonal, instructional, and
institutional factors that influenced their sense of belonging at the business school. Using an
ecological model of Black belonging and a SCT framework to evaluate the data, four themes
emerged, which are presented in two subsections. The first part discusses two themes that
21
emerged which address Black students’ current sense of belonging, that (a) perceptions of
belonging vary and change over time, and (b) belonging is important but may not be anticipated
among Black business students. The second part discusses two themes which indicated the
environmental factors of belonging, including c) the influence of business professors, peers, and
staff on belonging, and d) belonging opportunities and barriers in the business curriculum. The
section begins with a definition of belonging as described by the study’s participants.
Defining Belonging
During the first interview, the participants were asked to define a sense of belonging in
their own words. From these descriptions, six broad categories of belonging emerged, including
connection through relationships and community; support, assistance, and encouragement;
engagement with others; acceptance through warmth and approachability; authenticity and
genuineness; and feeling cared about. Participants also indicated that inclusion, shared
experiences, and diversity and diverse perspectives enhanced feelings of belonging to a lesser
extent. Data analysis also revealed several threats to belonging, including
hypervisibility/invisibility, microaggressions, and lack of access to resources.
Research Question 1: How Do Black Business Students Describe Their Sense of Belonging
Over the Course of a Semester at a School of Business in a PWI?
Two themes emerged to understand how Black students currently experience a sense of
belonging at CU’s business school. First, there existed a wide variety of perceptions of belonging
among the participants, and their perceptions of belonging could increase and decrease
throughout their academic career. Second, while Black business students arrived at CU with a
lack of expectation or with low hopes for belonging, they believed that a sense of belonging was
relevant and important for academic and career success.
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This section is presented in several parts, the first of which includes three examples that
demonstrated how perceptions of belonging varied among participants and how these
perceptions changed over time. This part also discusses the presence of belonging uncertainty
and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceptions of belonging. The second part
focuses on the importance of belonging even when Black business students did not anticipate or
consider belonging prior to arriving on CU’s campus.
Theme 1: Belonging Varies and Changes Over Time
Among the students interviewed, three described feeling a moderate to strong sense of
belonging while two students expressed either indifference or a frequent lack of belonging. All
of the students noted that their sense of belonging increased and/or decreased over time.
Belonging Varies Among Black Business Students. Michael spoke the most favorably
about his belonging experiences. He chose the business school because of its joint degree
program and attended classes at three CU schools as a triple-major dual degree student. During
his interviews, Michael defined a sense of belonging as relationships with others and was
enthusiastic about building connections among his peers and the faculty. Through these
relationships, Michael shared, “The sense of belonging that I’ve felt [at the business school] has
really grown over time, and I can attribute that to the relationships I’ve created.”
Lily was the only student who felt indifferent about her sense of belonging. Raised by
parents who immigrated from Ethiopia, Lily expressed how much she valued her ethnic heritage
which had instilled in her the value of community. At CU, she built community among other
Ethiopian students, including her roommates and neighbors who were also business majors, and
members of the East African student club, many of whom were from her hometown. However,
Lily preferred to blend into her classes and rarely spoke with her professors. Describing her
23
perceptions of belonging in business, Lily shared, “I just show up to class, so I wouldn’t say
there is a sense of belonging or not a sense of belonging [for me]. I’m just kind of there, just
doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Chiara, on the other hand, often felt a lack of belonging in the business program. She had
changed majors from STEM to business, hoping that business students would be more social and
supportive. Yet, Chiara described only one strong friendship in the business school with another
Black and female student. Another important source of belonging emerged from Chiara’s
connection with a Black business dean, who was not one of her business professors. She also
described more incidents of unconscious bias and microaggressions on the part of business
faculty and peers than other participants in the study. Finally, even though Chiara expected there
would be few Black students and professors in the business school, the confirmation of her
expectation still diminished her sense of belonging: “I think that is [the lack of Black professors
and students] probably the biggest thing that takes me away from that sense of belonging.”
Belonging Changes Over Time. Three students, Samuel, Michael, and Erika felt their
sense of belonging had increased over time as business majors. Belonging increased, for
example, when students were contacted by Black staff, faculty, or alumni before enrolling,
received help or encouragement from business professors, and made connections with diverse
classmates and Black business majors. Not all students experienced a similar increase in
belonging, however. Students’ feelings of belonging decreased following incidents of racial bias
or microaggressions, when they felt unsupported by professors or peers, or as a result of the
underrepresentation or Black students and faculty.
Lily believed that her sense of belonging had changed very little over time. During her
first interview, she explained when moving to the U.S., Ethiopians often live close together to
24
create a sense of community. Further, Lily shared that obtaining an education was the most
important value instilled by her parents and ethnic heritage. As described earlier, given Lily’s
emphasis on her Ethiopian identity and her friendships with primarily Ethiopian students, it was
possible that the importance of belonging took a back seat to the value of education. Now in her
third year of school, Lily shared, “I feel like [my sense of belonging] has been pretty consistent
within the few years. I feel like not much has changed.”
Only Chiara shared that her sense of belonging had decreased more than increased.
During her interviews, Chiara shared additional details of what she suspected were episodes of
unconscious bias and microaggressions on the part of business professors and classmates. She
experienced more of these incidents than had the other participants, including one in which a
professor mistook her for another Black student and a group of White peers who ignored her
suggestions during a class project. When asked what most influenced the decrease in her sense of
belonging, Chiara shared it was the underrepresentation of Black students and professors in the
business school, saying, “I don’t always know if I feel like I belong genuinely. And I think the
number one thing, obviously, is I’m not seeing myself [Black individuals] a lot.”
Belonging Uncertainty. Chiara and Michael expressed feelings of belonging uncertainty,
or doubts about belonging, as business students. Unconscious bias, academic performance, and
being the only Black business student in a class could precipitate doubts about belonging. At CU,
Michael’s struggles with mathematics persisted in quantitative courses such as microeconomics.
His academic performance, the lecture-style class format, lack of engagement, and being the only
Black student in class intensified his belonging uncertainty. As a freshman at the time, Michael
wondered if he was cut out to be a business major. Reflecting on this experience, Michael had
thought, “I’m not doing well in this class, and I don’t see a lot of other people like me. It felt
25
like, wow, if this is what the rest of the business school is, maybe it’s not really for me.”
COVID-19 Pandemic. All of the participants mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic when
describing their college experience. The pandemic, the shift to online classes, and the return to
in-person learning made it harder to establish a sense of belonging during their freshman and
sophomore years. The usual process of integrating new and transfer students into the broader CU
community was more challenging since orientation programs, freshman leadership courses, core
classes, and residential life were held online.
After finishing his freshman year online, Michael found it hard to connect with alumni
when he returned to campus as a sophomore. He explained that since the pandemic had impacted
typical first-year welcome programs, he did not feel an authentic sense of belonging, saying,
“You’re supposed to be this [CU student] that has these values instilled within you, but you’ve
never even stepped foot on campus.” Michael felt intimidated at networking events with business
alumni who had established a strong sense of belonging at CU, sharing, “Whenever I’d go to
any sort of networking event, especially if there were very powerful people there, I kind of got
imposter syndrome. Like, what have I done to belong here?”
Theme 2: Belonging Is Important But May Not Be Anticipated
Although Black students did not anticipate feelings of belonging or had low expectations
of belonging before enrolling in college, they believed that belonging was important for
academic and professional success. Students believed that belonging, and the community that
develops as a result of belonging, could improve academic achievement, decrease burnout, and
enhance the potential for success. Moreover, relationships and community were regarded as
successes in and of themselves, alongside academic or professional achievements. Finally, the
communities in which participants were raised, their ethnic and cultural heritage, and K–12
26
experiences shaped students’ anticipation or expectation of belonging in college.
Belonging Is Important. Four students stated that a sense of belonging was important
for their academic and career success. Chiara believed that belonging was critical to her
academic success in high school, but expressed disappointment in her academic performance at
CU, sharing: “I know I could have performed even better had I felt like I had a lot of support, a
strong sense of belonging or community around me [in the business school].” Erika and Michael
agreed that the community formed from belonging contributes to success. Erika, an active leader
in Black student clubs on campus, believed that belonging and connection prevented burnout,
while relationships served as the metric by which she measured her own success, saying, “The
things that make people the happiest, or I think the parameter for happiness, is [sic] the
relationships you have with other people.” Michael agreed with this point, saying, “I want the
rest of my life to be filled with building [the] relationships I’ve made in the past and building
new relationships for the future. I think that belonging is a really crucial part of doing that.”
Lily and Chiara cautioned against assuming that belonging was not important for success,
saying that only someone who had always experienced belonging would consider it unimportant.
Chiara explained, “It’s not until you step outside of a space, [and] then you feel like you don’t
[belong]. I think you have to be aware that you don’t belong first [to understand how important it
is].” Lily agreed, and drew the point out further, saying, “They’re probably not a person of color.
I feel like they wouldn’t really understand because they’ve never really felt isolated.” Finally,
Lily suggested that making assumptions about the importance of belonging can harm Black
students, sharing, “For someone who doesn’t feel a sense of belonging, that could probably be
really offensive.”
Samuel was the only student who believed that belonging had little bearing on success.
27
Although he had expected to fit in at CU, Samuel felt isolated from some of his Black peers,
which he attributed to having lived in predominantly White neighborhoods and attended
predominantly White schools. He shared, “I feel like I face a lot of internal segregation from
other Black kids at [CU], because of where I grew up and maybe I don’t talk a certain way, I
don’t dress a certain way.” Samuel also believed the need to belong declines, saying, “When I
was younger, I needed to feel a sense of belonging. Now that I’m older, my whole mindset is
like, I’m leaving [the business school] in two, three months. Who cares if people really like me
or not?” Despite feeling isolated from his Black peers, Samuel excelled academically and had
accepted a job offer from a prestigious consulting firm. Therefore, it was not surprising that
Samuel believed belonging was unnecessary for success. “You might have haters,” or those who
are jealous of you, Samuel explained, “but at the end you’re going to be more successful.”
Belonging May Not Be Anticipated. While four participants stressed that belonging is
important for success, these students also had diminished expectations of belonging. Several
participants had not given much thought to whether they would feel belonging at CU’s business
school. The participants’ perceptions of potential belonging in college appeared to be influenced
by their communities and K–12 educational experiences prior to enrolling in college.
Michael, Lily, and Chiara had not anticipated what it would be like to be a Black business
student prior to arriving at CU. They expressed similar sentiments when describing their
expectations, such as “I just didn’t really even think of it [being a Black business student]. It
didn’t even cross my mind” (Michael), and “I wasn’t really thinking about that [being a Black
business student] before coming to [CU]. It didn’t really cross my mind” (Lily). However, once
they arrived on campus, they realized how their previous experiences in either primarily White
or primarily diverse educational settings had shaped their unconscious expectations. As Lily
28
explained earlier, her Ethiopian cultural heritage and upbringing had helped to shape her
expectations of community prior to arriving at CU. She went on to share:“I didn’t really think
about [being a Black business student] that much until I got [to CU], and [then] I felt like there
actually wasn’t that many Black people in the business school.” While she did not find a large
Black student population within the business school, she found connection in the Ethiopian
students’ community which satisfied her need to belong.
Erika was the only student who had low expectations of belonging prior to becoming a
business student. She had grown up in a diverse city and attended a racially diverse high school
with nearly equal numbers of Black, White, Latinx, and Asian students. She shared that while
considering which college to attend, the murder of George Floyd, the backlash against Black
Lives Matter, and anti-Black sentiment on college campuses began to shape her expectations of
belonging in college. Although Erika had been accepted by an HBCU, she chose to attend CU
and hoped to find community outside the classroom if not within it. She shared her doubts,
saying, “My expectations, as far as my sense of belonging was going to go, were low. My whole
life, I was in classrooms filled with majority of White students. I knew I shouldn’t expect
anything different.”
Samuel was the only participant who had anticipated he would feel a sense of belonging
at CU’s business school. He shared how his Southern upbringing, in predominantly White
environments in which bias was prevalent, had prepared him to attend a PWI more effectively
than his Black peers who had lived in more diverse settings. Samuel explained, saying, “I was
better equipped to handle an environment like [CU]. I didn’t have any issues dealing with my
whole class being White, and I might be the only Black kid there.”
Finally, Chiara was the only participant to express how her future expectations of
29
belonging in business influenced her current sense of belonging as a student. She had expected to
see only a small number of Black students and professors at CU’s business school. However, as
she completed upper-division business courses and worked as a business intern, Chiara began to
expect that this number would continue to decline over time:
At first, when I’m taking all these classes, at least I have some classes where I can see all
these other [Black] kids. It’s like, oh, we’re here [at CU]. But the more you get up [in
advanced business courses], and that’s true when I graduate – if I’m taking these jobs and
hopefully getting promotions – unfortunately, [Black people] just fall off and not that
many get to the top [in business].
Research Question 2: How Do Black Business Students Perceive the Interpersonal (Faculty,
Staff, Peers), Instructional (Curriculum, Pedagogy, course materials), and Institutional
(Policies, Practices, Structures) Factors That Influence Their Sense of Belonging?
Black business students in this study experienced varying degrees of belonging that
changed over the course of their academic experience at CU. The ecological model of belonging
proposed by Gray et al. (2018) provided a framework to respond to the second research question
that aimed to uncover the interpersonal, instructional, and institutional opportunity structures
affecting and influencing perceptions of belonging among Black business students. Two themes
emerged that addressed this question: (a) the influence of professors, peers, and staff on
belonging; and (b) the belonging opportunities and barriers in the business curriculum.
Theme 3: The Influence of Professors, Peers, and Staff on Belonging
Within the ecological framework, interpersonal interactions with business professors and
peers were the most influential upon participants’ sense of belonging. Furthermore, relationships
with peers and professors had a complex effect on belonging because these interactions had the
30
potential to increase and decrease belonging among the study’s participants . Staff interactions
were less frequent, and participants, with the exception of two students, reported few strong
connections with staff members. The section is divided into three subsections, the first two of
which address how professors and peers exerted a strong influence a sense of belonging. The
section concludes by describing how staff members of color influenced belonging among some
participants.
Influences of Professors on Belonging. All five participants described feeling an
enhanced sense of belonging due to a positive relationship or interaction with a business
professor. Professors who enhanced belonging demonstrated support, encouragement, inclusion,
and engagement by sharing job or internship opportunities, writing recommendation letters,
encouraging class participation, and building a connection with the student outside of class. In
addition, Black faculty members consistently exhibited behaviors that increased feelings of
belonging among participants.
Samuel described how his Latino management professor took the time to learn students’
names, saying, “One of the things that [my professor] really emphasized was building a personal
connection with the students, and that’s something I really appreciated.” Chiara shared how she
wanted to discuss her course grade with her White microeconomics professor, who redirected the
conversation to reassure Chiara that earning the business degree was well within her reach.
Chiara shared, “I felt very much like I belonged in that situation. If I’m being honest, I don’t feel
that feeling often, but when it does come, I’ve noticed it, and I hold onto it.”
Lily enrolled in statistics twice, after her first professor was frequently unsupportive and
unavailable. Her second professor, who was also Black, was patient, approachable, and willing to
create a personalized plan that helped Lily pass the class. Lily even felt competent enough to
31
assist other students with statistics and Excel during her internship, saying, “[This professor]
really helped me feel more confident in my ability to not only perform, but actually learn the
content.” The fact that the professor was her first Black teacher also made an impression on
Lily, who shared, “I don’t think I’ve had a Black teacher before. So, I would say that was one
way I felt that I belonged.”
However, four students reported that that their sense of belonging diminished following
an interaction with a business professor. Samuel shared how he began to worry about his
academic performance after a friend had died, and he reached out for help from a White
professor. The professor did not respond, however, and referred him to a teaching assistant
instead. Samuel shared how the lack of empathy and the additional barriers to communicate with
the professor added to his mental and emotional distress, saying, “It didn’t really feel like I was
being supported. It was like, you have to email a class coordinator, you can’t even talk to me.
And I was like, it’s just too much going on.” As a result, Samuel dropped the class.
All three women in the study experienced situations in which they or a classmate faced
unconscious bias or microaggressions on the part of a professor. Chiara experienced two such
incidents. During a class discussion in which she was the only Black student, Chiara noticed that
the White professor wrote other students’ comments on the board but not her own. She
confirmed feeling confused and worried about whether her remarks really were unintelligent or if
the professor had acted out of racial bias, saying: “Is this me, or because of me?” Chiara
expressed frequent concerns over being hypervisible, or “being perceived” in a negative way,
which reduced her sense of belonging as a result:
I am conscious of how I’m being perceived in a lot of my classes. I am aware if I sound
dumb saying this, it’s going to drive me crazy all day and I’m going to think about it on
32
my way home. I think that’s kind of another piece that takes me away from feeling
belonging or like I belong.
Belonging confusion also occurred when a professor exhibited inconsistent behaviors.
Chiara described how the same professor who had sent her internship postings and increased her
belonging, later mistook her for another Black student. Additionally, this professor would ask
students to respond to questions based on their nationality or assumed language proficiency.
Chiara expressed concern, saying, “She always talks about, you’re the exchange students, you
guys are the Italians, how do the Italians say it? And she’ll have them pronounce words in class.
And I’ll always be like, dang, do they feel weird about that?” The professor’s inconsistent
behavior drove Chiara’s doubts about belonging as well as the professor’s sincerity to foster it: “I
kind of felt like I don’t where her motives always lie. What’s the line between being authentic or
superficial? I think back to the whole emphasis on who we are.”
Erika described feeling hypervisible and tokenized when a White professor called on her
to comment on the subject of parole in class, sharing:
He pointed at me and asked, what do you know about parole? And I’m the only Black
student in class. I answered the question and then I had to walk out, ‘cause I was like,
ain’t no way that just happened.
Afterwards, she approached the professor and pointed out his unconscious bias. Although he
acknowledged he likely had biases, he did not offer an apology. Despite this episode, the
professor became one of Erika’s favorite instructor. However, the experience served as a
reminder to Erika that racism and bias can appear in any situation.
Finally, observing an act of microaggression or unconscious bias against another student
of color reduced perceptions of belonging among the female participants. When a Latino student
33
arrived late to class, Lily’s professor shouted, “Are you even in this class?” not recognizing that
the student had been in attendance all semester. She felt disheartened by the professor’s
behavior, and explained how that Latino student was made to feel invisible: “That reflects not
being seen. For the professor to call [the student] out in front of a 150-student class, that was
really uncalled for. That class is mandatory attendance, so obviously he has been showing up
every week.” Shortly thereafter, Lily shared, the student dropped out of the invitation-only, yearlong leadership class.
Business faculty had the potential to increase or decrease a sense of belonging among the
study’s participants. When professors demonstrated support, care and encouragement,
participants reported increased feelings of belonging regardless of the professor’s race. However,
when professors lacked empathy or support, or demonstrated bias or microaggressions, even if
directed at other students of color, belonging decreased, particularly for female participants, who
were often also the only Black student in class. Finally, professors who promoted belonging also
had the potential to engage in behaviors that reduced belonging or created belonging uncertainty.
Influence of Peers on Belonging. Four study participants reported having close peer
friendships in the business school as well as multiple acquaintanceships with diverse peers that
enhanced a sense of belonging. Peers of any race or ethnicity increased feelings of belonging
among participants by actively reaching out, asking for help or to study together, offering
support, sharing resources, or providing encouragement. Despite their obvious differences,
Samuel felt a strong sense of belonging when a classmate reached out to him, saying, “She’s just
like, oh, do you want to study for the test together? And that formed a good friendship
throughout the year. … She’s little L.A. White sorority girl and I’m a Black southern kid. Two
worlds collide!”
34
Chiara, unlike the other study participants, only described one close friendship with
another Black and female business student that provided a sense of belonging. She shared how
other business students felt more like acquaintances, and during group discussions in class she
sometimes felt like an outsider as the only Black student, saying, “It does feel a little bit like
[I’m] outside looking in. I wouldn’t say ostracized, but just trying to find where I fit, trying to
find where I can insert myself, so I don’t feel ostracized [is difficult].”
However, two students reported that peer interactions reduced feelings of belonging,
often as a result of racial bias or microaggressions. Lily joined an entrepreneurship group hoping
to start her own business, but as the only Black student assigned to a team of Asian students, she
felt she did not fit in and quit soon afterwards. When asked to elaborate, Lily shared that during a
club event, her teammates and other club members sang along to a song that included the nword. Lily quit because, she explained, “As the only Black person [in the club], that [behavior]
signals that these people aren’t maybe the best people to be around.”
Chiara described feeling ostracized and delegitimized while working on a class project
with a team of White students. She explained that despite sending several messages to her
teammates, the team ignored her and only responded when a White student made similar
suggestions. As a result, Chiara shared that she reduced her involvement and effort in the project,
saying, “[I felt] like I was kind of pulling the weight a little bit, and then after a while, I just
didn’t really know how else to get everyone to contribute, so I kind of just took a step back.”
Chiara continued to question whether her teammates had acted out of bias even several weeks
after the project concluded, saying, “I still feel as though it may have had to do something with
the fact that it’s coming from me trying to usher the group together. But when other members of
the group do it, it’s like, no problem.”
35
The majority of participants described positive relationships with friends and
acquaintances at the business school, which increased a sense of belonging. However, Lily and
Chiara’s stories demonstrated how Black students’ sense of belonging can be influenced by their
peers’ unconscious biases and microaggressions. Being the only Black student in a group of nonBlack peers and classmates also intensified feelings of anxiety and reduced belonging.
Influence of Staff on Belonging. Participants shared that it was difficult to form
connections with business school staff or admitted they had not utilized services such as career
services or academic advising. Three student described issues such as frequent staff turnover,
inaccessibility, or a lack of personal outreach by staff as barriers to belonging. Erika and Chiara
shared that new technology platforms were improving academic advising and career services.
Among all the participants, only Samuel and Chiara experienced an increase in belonging
due to a staff member at the business school. Samuel developed a strong relationship with the
Black program director of the diversity transfer program that brought him to the business school,
sharing, “[The program director] has been my rock throughout my time at [CU]. She’s really
been my mom away from home and she’s helped me a lot with just everything.” Samuel also
valued his Latina academic advisor, who took direct action by providing resources and emailing
deans and faculty on his behalf after his friend passed away.
Chiara shared how a Black business dean and professor sent a congratulatory email after
she won a scholarship to attend CU and before she enrolled at the university. They formed a
strong relationship, and their ongoing connection became a primary source of belonging once
Chiara became a student. Even though Chiara never attended a class taught by this professor, the
initial outreach and resulting relationship with a Black leader and professor was influential,
Chiara explained, saying, “That’s something that not only convinced me partially to go to [CU],
36
but to just feeling like even though you don’t always see [Black individuals in the business
school], you do belong.”
Samuel and Chiara’s experiences showed that staff can positively influence belonging for
Black students when they reach out, express care and concern, and build long-term connections.
However, in both Samuel and Chiara’s experiences, the staff member was a Black individual or
person of color. Other participants in the study were unable to name a non-Black staff member
who had facilitated similar feelings of belonging.
Theme 4: Belonging Opportunities and Barriers in the Business Curriculum
As the participants described their experiences in CU’s business program, themes
emerged that pointed to opportunities or barriers in the curriculum that influenced their
belonging as business students. Opportunities in the curriculum that enhanced perceptions of
belonging included qualitative classes, group projects, and guest speakers. Barriers to belonging
included quantitative classes and the course materials. Further, a subtheme of unconscious bias
and Black underrepresentation at the institutional level emerged. Lastly, participants were asked
to imagine a business class designed to increase belonging among Black students and the section
concludes with their ideas for the future.
Curriculum Opportunities. When describing business classes that enhanced a sense of
belonging, participants unanimously indicated qualitative, discussion-based courses, such as
business communications and management strategy facilitated belonging. Students shared that
whole-class discussions typical of qualitative courses strengthened connections and fostered
engagement with both the professor and their peers. For example, although Lily frequently
described herself as shy, she appreciated that her business communications course required
participation in class discussions. She shared that these discussions facilitated relationship-
37
building, saying, “You find yourself connecting a lot more with the students and the professor,
because you are expected to talk and get to know each other … that helps with feeling like you
belong in that classroom.”
Group projects were another instructional method common in qualitative courses that
provided another opportunity for peer engagement, fostering relationship-building, mutual
support and encouragement. Group projects enhanced a sense of belonging among four students
in the study, with the exception of Chiara as described earlier. Working on semester-long team
projects enabled the participants to interact with classmates of diverse backgrounds or
perspectives, as well as with peers who would otherwise be outside of their normal social circles.
Samuel shared, “Even if [I’m] in a group with people who I might not have the most favorable
opinion of outside of class, we’ve still been able to get along and contribute together.”
Qualitative courses often featured guest speakers who introduced new perspectives into
the classroom, increased diverse representation, and served as role models. Samuel and Erika
praised CU’s business school for bringing in racially and ethnically diverse business
professionals as well as CU staff and administrators. When the Black director of CU’s incubator
program was invited to speak to her entrepreneurship class, Erika shared how her sense of
belonging increased, saying, “Being able to see myself, if not in my professors, [then] in the
[guest speakers] that they’re able to bring in, from there I feel more of a sense of what I want to
do is achievable.” Erika’s identity as a business student and sense of belonging was enhanced
even if the guest speaker was a current business student. After two student entrepreneurs, a
White female and a Black male student, spoke about their start-up businesses, Erika expressed a
sense of hope, saying, “There’s so many amazing people, great people I can connect with on
campus or who are so close to me [like students]. [I feel] definitely a sense of, I can do this too,
38
or I see myself in them.”
Curriculum Barriers. Four participants shared that the lecture-style instructional
method often used in quantitative classes limited engagement with the professor and other peers,
factors that frequently facilitated belonging in their qualitative classes. Samuel stated that
professors often expected the class to remain silent during lectures. Lily emphasized this point,
saying, “There’s the professor that just dances in front of the class and just talks the entire class.
And those are usually our finance classes or our stats classes, more math heavy classes.”
For a participant with a history of academic difficulty in math, being the only Black
student in a predominantly White quantitative class intensified a lack of belonging or belonging
uncertainty. After describing his difficulty with math-based classes, Michael shared his feelings
during a microeconomics course, saying, “I felt alone and [with] imposter syndrome, because
it’s [my] first time I’m on campus, I’m not doing so well in this class, and I don’t see a lot of
other people like me in the class at all.” Michael also avoided seeking out quantitative professors
for one-on-one help, expecting they would explain the topic the same way it was taught in class.
Instead, he relied on his friends who understood the topic and had the patience to teach the
material to him. Michael admitted his academic persistence would wane, saying, “In my micro
and macro [economics] classes, there came a point in every semester where I’d feel lost. Then
after that I just wouldn’t even pay attention at all anymore.”
Finally, Erika emphasized that lecture-based courses present fewer opportunities for
students to gain social capital. She explained that discussion-based courses enhanced studentprofessor connections through dialog and helped the student gain social capital through positive
acknowledgment from both the professor and peers who observed the exchange. Although a
student sacrificed the comfort of being invisible in class, Erika believed that the opportunity to
39
gain social capital made engaging with the professor worthwhile, particularly for Black students,
because, she said, “We look to those [Black] students, whether we recognize it or not, just as
model students, but almost as spectacles [sic] of what we could be doing [in class].”
Course materials presented another curricular barrier to belonging. Participants shared
that the course materials in CU’s business classes did not include examples of Black business
leadership or Black-owned businesses. Business cases, textbooks, and articles often focused on
examples from large corporations and used race-neutral names for fictional characters. Lily,
Michael, and Chiara shared that the materials did not reflect their race or ethnic identity, and
Chiara felt that none of the course materials included any diversity at all. Michael and Samuel
shared that they had not expected the material would feature diverse protagonists. While
considering the question, Michael laughed and said, “I probably would be more surprised if there
was a Black person in [the material] than there not being a Black person in [the course
material].” He believed that adding more diversity in the course materials would align with the
school’s message of business diversity, saying: “It would match what the [business] school
preaches a little bit better than just having non-representative content in what they’re lecturing
and teaching.”
Unconscious Bias, Microaggressions, and Underrepresentation. Unconscious bias,
microaggressions, and underrepresentation became recurring themes in many of the participants’
narratives. When participants discussed situations in which their belonging decreased, these
elements were often present in their stories. For example, guest speakers had the potential to
bring unconscious bias and microaggressions into the classroom as much as peer and professors.
Chiara described how a White music industry professional made disparaging remarks about rap
music in a class where she was the only Black student. Chiara shared that because everyone in
40
the classroom had the “position” of being White, she felt this instance of bias was taken less
seriously, saying:
What she said about rap music wasn’t a big deal, but I think it’s not a big deal because of
her position and everyone else’s position in that classroom [as White]. So, they don’t
even realize the impact [on me].
Black underrepresentation in the business faculty, student body, guest speakers, and
course materials might be interpreted as institutional bias on the part of the business school.
Chiara shared that this underrepresentation, combined with a lack of corporate Black leaders,
signaled to her how she would be allowed to gain acceptance and belong as a Black individual in
a predominantly White business environment. Chiara mentioned that she never wore her hair
“out” and code-switched, or changed her manner of speaking, during her internship at a
predominantly White company. She believed that “I have to pivot or change myself to fit in,” to
gain entry to the business world and explained that “the only reason I want to fit in is I want to
bring [the Black] community up so everyone can fit in.” The irony of this situation, Chiara
shared, becoming upset, was that she felt she had to become her own oppressor, saying, “I’m
supposed to be oppressed, but [also] I’m a part of the side that’s supposed to be an oppressor.”
Black underrepresentation among business faculty and in the curriculum appeared to act as an
institutional level of unconscious bias, which sent a subtle message to Black students about who
belonged in business.
The underrepresentation of Black faculty, an institutional barrier as well as a curricular
barrier, was the most noticeable factor that influenced Black business students’ sense of
belonging. Four participants expressed disappointment with the number of Black business
professors, and three could not name one Black professor in the business school. Even though
41
each participant had been taught by a Black professor at CU, only two students had taken a class
taught by a Black business professor. Chiara stated the need to hire Black faculty plainly, saying,
“[The business school] needs to hire more Black professors. I think [the business school] has the
money, they have the access to get the right professionals that they need. I think they need to
hold themselves accountable.”
A Business Class to Inspire Belonging. While some schools at CU have offered courses
that consider the perspectives and influences Black history, culture, and politics, participants
shared the business school does not. Four of the participants were asked to imagine creating a
business class that would enhance a sense of belonging for Black business majors. They
described a course featuring topics not commonly discussed in business courses, taught by Black
professors, and highlighting Black business leaders as guest speakers. Participants pointed out
that since White students often enrolled in film, music, and history courses at CU that explore
Black and diverse viewpoints, they believed that a business course emphasizing Black
perspectives would similarly attract White students and contribute to their professional growth.
Samuel envisioned a class on the socioeconomics of race that would showcase
community activists and successful Black business owners from the region. Chiara imagined a
course on the impact of capital markets on urbanization in Black communities, adding, “Having
case studies on successful Black businesses . . . would help to establish Black presence in the
business world.” Lily believed a class focused on diversity and inclusion in business would
prepare students to work more effectively with diverse people. Finally, Michael said he would
establish a course highlighting the history of Black business ownership because:
“It’s important to show that it’s not just a recent thing that Black owned businesses and
Black success stories are becoming prevalent, but it has always happened. It’s not like
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[Black business owners] are less smart or we’re just catching up to everybody else, but
we’ve been here too, just in the background. And I think it’s really important to know
where that came from and know where we can take it in the future.”
Discussion
This study sought to understand how Black students currently perceive a sense of
belonging in the business school at City University (CU), a PWI, and the environmental factors
that influence their belonging perceptions over time. The study explored the experiences of five
Black business students using a longitudinal, qualitative approach to collect data over the course
of several months. By situating the results in a framework of social cognitive theory (Bandura,
1986) and Gray et al.’s (2018) ecological model, it is evident that the interpersonal, instructional,
and institutional factors within CU’s business school environment influence perceptions of
belonging among Black business students, which in turn influences students’ behaviors.
Additionally, the findings support research that indicates faculty relationships, microaggressions,
and intersectionality influence Black business students’ perceptions of belonging.
Perceptions of belonging vary widely among the Black business students in this study.
Participants agree that engagement and connection with professors and peers facilitate early
feelings of belonging, enhance academic self-confidence and social capital, and influence
behaviors such as academic effort and persistence. These outcomes support similar research that
indicates faculty and peer relationships can be positive influences on belonging (Brooms, 2020;
Hussain & Jones, 2021) and belonging influences behaviors related to academic success
(Freeman et al., 2007) among Black students. In addition, a triadic relationship (Schunk &
DiBenedetto, 2020) connects Black students’ perceptions of belonging and their behaviors with
the interactions that take place in the business school environment.
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Feelings of belonging fluctuate over time, include episodes of belonging uncertainty, and
become more positive during the participants’ final years in college. These findings align with
similar research that belonging changes over time (Goodenow, 1993; Means & Pyne, 2017;
Strayhorn, 2019) and that Black students attending PWIs experience belonging uncertainty
(Walton & Cohen, 2007). Although the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted typical firstyear classes and orientation programs, most participants believe that their belonging improved
over time despite these disruptions. That belonging can improve suggests that CU’s business
school has several opportunities to enhance belonging over the academic lifetime of Black
students, even if their early feelings of belonging are less than positive.
Students may experience a lack of expectations of belonging before coming to CU. Only
after enrolling might they discover how early their experiences within diverse or predominantly
White educational and community contexts form their unconscious assumptions about
belonging. Students are likely cognizant of their minoritized status at a PWI and may reserve
judgment about belonging until they experience business school life firsthand. This finding adds
to research suggesting that Black students are likely to be aware they will be underrepresented in
academic settings (Cohen et al., 1999; Walton & Cohen, 2007). Despite their early uncertainties,
most of the students strongly believe that belonging is important for academic and career
success. Thus, CU’s business school should not assume that belonging is unimportant if
incoming Black students lack belonging expectations. Eliminating programs and practices meant
to facilitate belonging could undermine the significance of Black students’ lived experiences and
the importance they place on belonging as related to future success.
It is important to note that all five participants received a tuition scholarship at CU. Four
students stated the scholarship had precipitated early feelings of belonging and influenced their
44
decision to attend CU (one student received a scholarship after enrolling). While some research
suggests that institutional supports like need-based scholarship programs can boost belonging
among incoming students (Means & Pyne, 2017), participants in this study shared they felt
obligated to remain at CU because of these scholarships, regardless of their sense of belonging.
Further, unlike the four scholarship recipients in the study by Means and Pyne, the tuition
scholarships received by students in this study are not associated with an ongoing, cohort-based
comprehensive program designed to foster community and belonging. Therefore, the degree to
which a merit-based scholarship alone influences a sense of belonging is not clear.
As discussed earlier, the school environment, with its interpersonal and instructional
contexts, shapes students’ perceptions of belonging, their cognitions, and behaviors through
triadic reciprocity (Schunk & DiBenedetto, 2020). A key finding in this study suggests that
students’ anticipated sense of belonging in these contexts influences their cognitions and
behaviors as did their realized perceptions of belonging. For example, Chiara changed from a
STEM major to business, anticipating she would experience stronger feelings of belonging. This
finding complements research which states that students will make decisions based on
anticipated belonging (Murphy & Zirkel, 2015). In addition to perceptions of belonging, events
in the school environment also affected other cognitions which also informed participants’
behaviors, such as dropping a class, seeking help from a professor, disengaging from a class
discussion, or quitting a career-related club. These findings add to research which suggests
belonging can influence academic beliefs and behaviors such as academic motivation, selfefficacy, academic effort and engagement (Freeman et al., 2007; Wilson et al., 2015), and
therefore underscore the importance of belonging to the academic success of Black collegians.
Furthermore, Chiara’s story highlights how anticipation of future belonging can influence
45
current perceptions of belonging. Chiara shared that she anticipated a future decline in the
number of Black business professionals and executives as she climbed the corporate ladder,
which diminished her anticipation of belonging in the future and her sense of belonging in the
present. Her anticipation parallels the “broken rung” phenomenon (Hancock et al., 2021; Thomas
et al., 2023), where inequitable promotion practices prevent people of color and especially Black
women from advancing to management positions. Given the historical and cyclical
underrepresentation of Black business students, professors, and business executives (Association
to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business [AACSB], 2021; Minefee et al., 2018; Nagpaul,
2024; Telford, 2022), it is concerning that Black students may expect to encounter the broken
rung phenomenon throughout their educational and professional careers. PWIs and their business
schools may need to consider initiatives and programs that will enhance Black students’
anticipation of belonging in future business careers as well as their perceptions of belonging
while in school.
In examining interpersonal influences on belonging, two factors emerged as most
influential: connection and academic engagement enhanced belonging, while microaggressions
and unconscious bias diminished belonging among Black students in this study. These four
interpersonal factors occurred most frequently during interactions with professors and peers in
and outside of the classroom. Thus, participants confirmed that relationships with faculty and
peers were the most influential to both positive and negative perceptions of belonging. These
insights are congruent with prior belonging research on bias, microaggressions, connection, and
engagement (Booker, 2016; Brooms, 2020; Dortch & Patel, 2017; Hagerty et al., 1996) and the
roles of peers and professors (Booker, 2016; Duran et al., 2020; Means & Pyne, 2017) on Black
students’ sense of belonging. Participants infrequently mentioned interactions with staff
46
members, and belonging was enhanced for these students only when the staff member actively
supported the participant and was a Black or diverse individual. These findings reify the
importance of positive relationships with faculty and classmates for Black students’ sense of
belonging and fit, while also highlighting the need to examine ways to improve interactions with
staff members in the business schools’ career services and academic program offices.
Black students are more likely to experience incidents of microaggressions and
unconscious bias in PWI settings (Lewis et al., 2019). However, only the women in this study
reported experiencing unconscious bias and microaggressions, or witnessing an act of bias or
microaggression directed at another student of color, which reduced participants’ sense of
belonging in both situations. This finding supports existing knowledge on belonging, bias, and
microaggression, including the role of tokenism and others’ expectations to act as a racial
spokesperson (Booker, 2016). Through an intersectional lens, Black women in business
programs likely experience challenges to belonging similar to those documented among Black
women in predominantly White, male-dominated STEM fields, including hypervisibility,
invisibility, skill delegitimization, and tokenism (Dortch & Patel, 2017; Wilkins-Yel et al.,
2019). Therefore, CU’s business school may choose to pay special attention to the belonging
experiences of Black women who may be more likely to experience or recognize instances of
microaggression and unconscious bias.
The business curriculum had a complex effect on participants’ sense of belonging as both
instructional and institutional factors influenced belonging. Through an instructional lens, the
course format provided a good indicator of belonging perceptions. Among the participants in this
study, discussion-based, qualitative classes enabled opportunities for engagement and
connection, which increased belonging. In contrast, the lecture-style format of quantitative
47
classes lacked significant opportunities for engagement and thus diminished belonging. Among
the study’s participants, qualitative courses also increased positive feelings of visibility and
social capital gain, while quantitative classes worsened belonging uncertainty and doubts about
academic identity, reduced academic persistence, and decreased help-seeking. These insights
support current research suggesting that class engagement enhances belonging (Brooms, 2020)
and that business professors may be perceived as unapproachable (Allen & Dika, 2020) and
expands this notion to suggest that a professors’ approachability may depend whether the course
uses a lecture-based instructional format. The findings regarding quantitative, lecture-based
classes raise concerns because these courses comprise a large portion of the core curriculum
among freshmen and sophomores during a period when new students may be very concerned
with developing a sense of belonging.
From an institutional standpoint, the business school and faculty have the authority to
make structural decisions regarding faculty hiring, curriculum development, course content and
materials, and pedagogy. However, the institutional practices and policies of PWIs have roots in
historical racism, Whiteness, and White knowledge (Harper et al., 2018) that emerge in business
education as inequitable curricular experiences for diverse students. For example, participants in
this study reported that the lack of Black business faculty and diverse course materials decreased
their sense of belonging even though they had expected such Black underrepresentation in
predominantly White educational spaces. These findings expand the existing research that
underrepresentation in faculty and course materials diminishes belonging for diverse students
(David & Coats, 2021; Harper et al., 2018). Thus, the policies and practices which perpetuate the
underrepresentation of Black individuals, business knowledge, and perspectives could be
considered institutionalized forms of racism and bias that diminishes belonging among Black
48
students and reifies who belongs in business settings.
Many academics advocate for business schools to diversify the curricula, de-center White
knowledge, and include examples of Black business challenges and successes (Dar et al., 2021;
Prieto & Phipps, 2021). QuantCrit scholars have called for a more critical lens to examine
equitable teaching practices in STEM courses (Priddie, 2021; White et al., 2021), a lens
applicable to the business curriculum. As Dar et al. (2021) assert: “The near wholesale omission
of our knowledge from the business management curricula reinforces to our students of colour
that they, and their critique of the field, have no real place in the Business School” (p. 698).
Recommendations for Practice
The business school environment serves as a laboratory in which Black students’
identities as business professionals are tested through interpersonal and instructional engagement
with professors and fellow students. In other words, among the experts who teach businessrelated skills and knowledge and the associates with whom Black business students will be
expected to engage in corporate settings. Therefore, by implementing programs, policies, and
practices that enhance Black students’ sense of belonging, City University’s business school can
improve self-competence, validate a business identity, and demonstrate acceptance among all of
its students as future business professionals (Gray et al., 2018; Miles et al., 2020). This study
presents evidence suggesting there are several opportunities to foster Black business students’
sense of belonging through the intersection of interpersonal, instructional, and institutional
factors.
Based on the study findings, the recommendations that follow fall into three main
categories: increasing institutional URM representation, enhancing instructional practices and
pedagogy, and strengthening interpersonal belonging. These recommendations address both
49
immediate actions the business school can take, and longer-term strategic changes needed to
create a more inclusive environment. Specific steps to enhance belonging are presented within
each category, beginning with increasing school-wide diversity that can provide the foundation
for broader transformation.
Given that engagement and connection with others emerged as critical components of
belonging among study participants, increasing the numbers of URM faculty, staff, and students
in CU’s business school could be a primary goal. To meet this goal, several “authority
structures” (Moshiri & Cardon, 2019, p. 117) or teams of faculty, staff, and students can be
created to review goals, suggest programs and policies, and provide accountability. Authority
structures could review the diversity faculty hiring initiative launched in 2021, examine equitable
hiring and advancement practices for staff, and implement practices to reduce social closures to
graduate education. Removing social closures, which include discriminatory evaluation
practices, hoarding of knowledge and resources, and preserving dominant group identities
(Minefee et al., 2018, p. 82), can enable and encourage more Black and diverse students to
complete MBA and PhD degrees. Achieving diversity objectives can strengthen new policies and
initiatives designed to foster belonging, while also improving experiences for current and future
Black members within CU’s business school community.
The instructional context offers several opportunities to enhance belonging in the
business school environment. Instructional approaches that can support belonging in the
classroom include developing inclusive course syllabi, implementing early intervention
strategies, applying QuantCrit approaches in math-based courses, and integrating diverse
perspectives into course content. These recommendations are presented below, beginning with
suggestions that are easily implemented followed by more complex, long-term initiatives.
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The syllabus can be the initial instructional opportunity to promote a more inclusive
learning environment. Syllabi can include a statement of the professor’s positionality and
intention to use diversity and inclusion practices (Castillo & Babb, 2024; Sheridan Center for
Teaching and Learning, n.d.), including outlining expectations for classroom discussions and
student participation in group projects (Strayhorn, 2019). Syllabi often include available campus
resources for mental health and academic support services. Adding contact information for
diversity resources such as DEI and Title IX offices, affinity centers, and student affinity clubs
(Eberly Center, n.d.) would be relatively simple. Finally, to ensure an inclusive environment for
all students, a copy of classroom agreements, anti-racism practices, and precautions against
unconscious bias can be provided to guest speakers in advance.
The business school might adopt an early intervention program (Hausmann et al., 2007)
to increase belonging at the start of the freshman year. One program is Social Belonging for
College Students, a free online intervention that normalizes belonging uncertainty and has been
proven to enhance students’ perceptions of belonging growth (Project for Education Research
That Scales [PERTS], n.d.; Walton et al., 2023). This program has demonstrated long-term
benefits among Black participants several years after graduation, including career satisfaction,
success, and well-being (Brady et al., 2020). However, the program is most effective when the
school environment provides adequate belonging opportunities, and therefore relying only on an
intervention program is not advised. CU’s business school should continue to assess the efficacy
of new and existing programs and practices designed to foster a sense of belonging among URM
students.
Quantitative business classes offer a unique opportunity for building belonging. An
important first step could be recognizing the educational debt owed to Black and diverse students
51
(Ladson-Billings, 2006; Van Dusen et al., 2022) who have historically had unequal access to K–
12 STEM instruction and resources. A QuantCrit lens, borrowed from inclusive practices in
STEM education, can support this effort and assist instructors to examine “the mindset they
adopt when assessing and interacting with students” (White et al., 2021, p. 331). For example,
class discussions could examine how data collection and interpretation have influenced corporate
strategies and perpetuated racial and social injustices. Instructors can use equitable instructional
methods such as culturally-relevant collaborative learning (Priddie, 2021), interactive projects,
and real-world business applications of quantitative methods. Finally, strategies from inclusive
chemistry instruction can be applied in quantitative business courses without reducing academic
rigor: peer-to-peer teaching activities, alternative grading practices, academic identity
interventions, and adopting a growth mindset to “shed the dated and deficit-based belief that
[quantitative] classes serve to “weed out” unsuitable students” (White et al., 2021, p. 331).
Finally, a long-term set of initiatives can focus on incorporating course content, topics,
and materials to transcend historically White, Euro-centric, and male perspectives in business
history and management (Dar et al., 2021). Including course materials featuring Black business
examples and protagonists (David & Coats, 2021) can be the first, but not the only step in the
process. Department heads may consider incorporating the roles of racism, settler colonialism,
and chattel slavery into aspects of the curriculum to reflect the historical frameworks of business
and capitalism (Everett, 2023). Lastly, a course focused on Black business history, practices, and
perspectives (Dar et al., 2021; Prieto et al., 2021; Prieto & Phipps, 2021) could benefit the
learning and belonging experience of all business students including non-Black peers who,
according to the participants, commonly enroll in non-business courses that center Black and
ethnic perspectives and history. Students could serve as pedagogical consultants to instructors to
52
develop the course (Healey et al., 2014), with a side benefit that such collaborations have
enhanced belonging for both students and instructors (Mercer-Mapstone et al., 2021).
Pursuing interpersonal opportunities in the business school environment which enhance
belonging among Black business students is important. However, PWI’s frequently expect Black
professors and staff to serve as mentors and support systems for Black students (Anderson, 2021)
without additional compensation or recognizing the increased mental and emotional tax this can
generate. Furthermore, Black students are frequently subjected to deficit mindsets in school and
are expected to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps (McGee, 2020). Therefore, the
business school should remain accountable for increasing belonging through programs and
policies that do not create additional burdens for Black students, faculty, and staff. Several
recommendations to enrich interpersonal belonging are presented below. While interactions with
Black faculty, staff, students, and alumni may be the most influential on belonging among Black
students, non-Black members of the business school community should be invited to participate
in and contribute to efforts that foster interpersonal belonging among all URM business students.
During the application process, Black and diverse alumni may be invited to participate in
admissions and scholarship interviews, which can foster early feelings of belonging and
potentially shape Black students’ enrollment decisions. When students are accepted into the
business program, congratulatory letters, emails, and text messages (Patturelli, 2021), as well as
small gifts bearing the business school logo (Hausmann et al., 2009) from Black and non-Black
business professors, staff, and alumni can also increase belonging anticipation. Before starting
college, a summer bridge program could help Black students build social networks with faculty
and staff while also learning “effective ways to navigate the campus” (Harper, 2012a, p. 21).
Connecting and engaging with staff and faculty in and outside of the classroom was
53
beneficial to the participants’ sense of belonging. Once on campus, welcome events such as
departmental open houses, informal mixers, and social events (Kim & Lundberg, 2016) can help
Black students to develop relationships with their peers, staff, and faculty. These events can also
aid in identifying potential mentors or diverse professors teaching courses of interest to URM
students. A formal mentorship program might match Black business students with alumni (Allen
& Dika, 2020) or with Black upperclassmen (Harper, 2012a; Leath et al., 2022) who act as
cultural navigators (Strayhorn, 2022) to support students’ academic and career journeys. These
relationships would also promote anticipated feelings of belonging among Black students when
considering their future business careers.
Finally, interpersonal belonging should start with the business schools’ faculty and staff.
A new workshop for faculty, instructors, and graduate assistants could focus on the use of wise
feedback (Cohen et al., 1999), a method of feedback which emphasizes high academic standards,
yet reassures Black students of their ability to meet such standards. Wise feedback can enable
faculty to communicate care and support regarding students’ academic achievement and may
elevate students’ sense of belonging in business environments. To support the diversity hiring
initiative, the school could implement a series of faculty and staff discussions about the meaning
of diversity, meritocracy and colorblindness, and the racialization of diverse faculty in hiring
committees (Grier & Poole, 2020). Finally, although more diverse business schools are less
likely to make diversity training mandatory (Moshiri & Cardon, 2019), given the wide-spread
dismantling of diversity programs in higher education, CU’s business school should continue to
offer voluntary DEI programs for faculty, staff, and graduate assistants. One option could include
cultural competency workshops (Allen & Dika, 2020) that “address microaggressions, systemic
oppression, [and] implicit bias” (p. 243) which frequently persist in predominantly White
54
universities and business schools.
Future Research
Future research could expand existing knowledge and address additional questions
regarding belonging for Black and non-Black business students at CU and other PWIs. A multiyear longitudinal study, including quantitative surveys as well as a large sample of students from
all class years, would provide a richer understanding of the environmental factors that affect
belonging. A mixed methods approach could identify changes in belonging over time and the
effects of existing and new programs or policies on students’ perceptions of belonging. Including
non-Black students would provide insight into their experiences of belonging compared to those
of their diverse peers and identify issues around belonging to add further insight beyond factors
of race. Additionally, future research might explore whether scholarships combined with
comprehensive, cohort-based community programs foster longer-lasting perceptions of
belonging than merit-based scholarships alone.
Prior research has mostly focused on how microaggressions and bias affect Black female
students’ sense of belonging in STEM fields dominated by White men. Comparable issues of
intersectionality, microaggressions, and bias are likely to exist in business programs as well,
where Black women face similar circumstances that can undermine their sense of belonging.
Future research might focus on Black women’s perceptions of belonging and their experiences
with bias and microaggressions, such as invisibility and hypervisibility, in undergraduate and
graduate business programs. Such research could provide recommendations to enhance Black
women’s belonging while pursuing business degrees and potentially increase their representation
in corporate leadership roles and within the business school faculty.
55
Limitations
This study includes several limitations. As a White female researcher interviewing Black
participants, my positionality may have influenced student’s responses as a result of reactivity
(Maxwell, 2013), reducing the study’s validity. My positionality and epistemology while serving
as the “primary research instrument” (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017, p. 95) may have influenced the
research process and the interpretation of the results, and thus reduced the study’s
trustworthiness. Additionally, this study focused on a problem of practice in the specific context
of City University, and the findings may not generalize to Black students enrolled at other PWI
business schools. For example, the participants may have conflated a sense of belonging at the
business school with an overall sense of belonging at the university. Further, due to the small
number of participants, the findings may not be generalizable to the entire population of Black
students at CU’s business school. In addition, to attract volunteers, students were offered a
financial incentive, and this may have influenced who participated in the study and their
responses to interview questions.
The study took place over the course of a few months in one school year, which limited
the amount of data to understand how a sense of belonging changes over time. Future research
on the perceptions of belonging among Black business students would benefit from a multi-year
longitudinal design across multiple business schools. An extended study with a significant
increase in the sample size might yield richer data and improve credibility and generalizability.
Finally, there may be unknown factors which motivate Black students to pursue and
persist in a business program even if they lack a sense of belonging. All the students in this study
were awarded full- or partial-tuition scholarships, and many indicated this influenced their
decision to attend and remain at CU, regardless of their perceptions of belonging. Several
56
participants also aspired to pursue business careers to create belonging and career opportunities
for members of the Black community. This may indicate the existence of self-transcendent
motivations which provide meaning among Black students pursuing business careers (Yeager et
al., 2014), even if they lack a sense of belonging as business students. However, pointing out this
limitation is not meant to relieve business schools of the responsibility to provide programs and
initiatives that facilitate belonging simply because diverse students may receive a scholarship.
Nor is it meant to suggest that CU’s business school should consider programs to promote
student “grittiness,” which have been criticized for adopting a student-deficit approach that
places the burden to change on diverse students (Davis & Museus, 2019; McGee & Stovall,
2015).
Conclusion
PWIs nationwide, including City University, have struggled to attract and retain Black
college students. Although previous research on belonging in higher education has frequently
focused on the experiences of Black STEM students at PWIs, there has been a few studies on
Black students’ belonging in business programs. Through a series of qualitative interviews, this
study found that Black business students at CU place a high value on belonging and believe it is
critical to their academic and professional success. Importantly, Black students in this study view
a business degree as an avenue to elevate themselves and other members of the Black
community to achieve financial success, belonging, and representation in business contexts.
Since the start of this study, the political landscape has shifted dramatically, including the
Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action, Donald Trump’s reelection as the 47th
president, the escalation of anti-DEI legislation, and the erasing of racial history and critical
perspectives in education. New legislative policies and attacks by conservative political activists
57
are forcing universities and corporations to end DEI policies and programs, dismantle diversityrelated hiring, implement race-blind admissions practices, rebrand affinity spaces, and
discontinue DEI training (Danziger, 2024; Gretzinger et al., 2024). Given the current
sociopolitical uncertainty and concerns about the next presidential administration, the outlook for
Black students’ sense of belonging in predominantly White universities and corporations
does not appear promising.
The study’s findings and recommendations must be viewed in light of this changing
context, as political and stakeholder pressure on DEI and diversity programs in higher education
will likely be a contentious issue over the next four years. Consequently, Black business students
may be even more selective when choosing educational and career settings that promise
belonging, authenticity, and welcoming environments conducive to success. Thus, to maintain a
diverse student population, PWIs and business schools must continue to identify and implement
opportunities that foster a sense of belonging for all students, including Black and diverse
students.
58
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Appendix A: Participant Descriptions
Chiara is a senior finance and accounting major, originally from the Midwest, who spent
much of her childhood was split between two neighboring cities, one diverse and the other
predominantly White. Her father completed a bachelor’s degree in business. She was originally a
STEM major but changed her major to business because she felt disconnected from the material
and her STEM peers. She presented as soft-spoken but animated and excited when talking about
her favorite activities. She sometimes questioned her perceptions of incidents of potential bias,
which caused her to doubt her sense of belonging at the business school.
Erika is a junior from the mid-Atlantic region. She attended a diverse high school as part
of a specialized academic program in which she actively contributed to increasing student
diversity. Both of her parents attended HBCUs, and her family history includes military service
and political activism. She planned to attend an HBCU but chose CU because she received more
scholarship funding. While at CU, Erika has participated in several student organizations and
held leadership positions in Black student organizations. Erika conducted the longest interviews,
laughed easily, and spoke candidly about her experiences as a Black student at CU and the
business school. Her sensitivity to bias, microaggressions, intersectionality, and hypervisibility
was likely enhanced by her efforts to promote diversity during high school.
Lily was born in the United States to Ethiopian parents and was raised in the Pacific west
in a close-knit community of other Ethiopian families. One of her parents attended college and
graduate school. She studies finance and accounting and described herself as shy and someone
who tries to blend into the classroom. After attending a very diverse high school, Lily felt
surprised at the lack of diversity in the “real world” of CU. While none of her K–12 teachers
were Black, she is one of only two participants who had a Black business professor. Lily seemed
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to be the most neutral about her feelings of belonging at the business school.
Michael is a senior and a student in a joint degree program offered by the business school
and another school at CU. His parents were raised in but born outside of Nigeria, and both
earned MBA degrees. Growing up on the west coast, Michael was the only Black student in his
private, predominantly White schools until high school, when he finally met other Black
students. His parents highly valued education and encouraged him to be the best student possible.
Michael’s father provided strong support while he sometimes struggled with math in middle and
high school. Michael credits his sense of belonging at the business school to his efforts to build
strong relationships with diverse peers.
Samuel, currently a senior, was the most formal and reserved during his interviews,
which were typically shorter. He grew up in the South in a predominantly White and wealthy
neighborhood and attended predominantly White private schools. Samuel’s parents both earned
undergraduate degrees at HBCUs, and one went on to earn an MBA. Samuel transferred to the
business school as part of a program for Black applicants who had previously been denied
admission. He believed his educational experiences had prepared to deal with racial issues and
White spaces, which he cited as a possible cause for his feeling of being “segregated” from other
Black students. Overall, Samuel had a positive attitude toward the business school and a strong
sense of belonging. He was the only participants who had secured full-time employment prior to
graduation.
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Appendix B: Interview Protocols
Interview 1
1. [Describe purpose of study, read and share Information Sheet] Now that I have reviewed
the purpose of the study, do you have any questions about participating in the study?
2. Tell me a little about yourself and your background (before you came to the University).
3. Tell me a little about your family and your family’s history? Parents? Grandparents?
4. Who, if anyone, has been most influential in your life? How? Why?
5. What are you most proud of, if anything? Why?
6. How has your racial/ethnic/cultural background shaped who you are today, if at all?
7. How did you decide to choose business as a major?
8. How did you decide to attend this University and the business school?
9. Before your arrival at school, what expectations did you have, if any, about being a Black
student in the business school?
10. What have your experiences been like so far as a Black student in the Business school?
11. As a Black business major, what three words would you use to describe yourself?
12. What does a sense of belonging mean to you?
a. Experienced in the past, if at all? Where? When? Who?
13. In general, how would you describe your feelings of belonging (positive or negative) as a
Black student at the Business school?
14. Some people say that belonging means you matter to others, feel respected and cared
about by them, and that you feel safe to be your authentic self. How does the Business
school do this for you, if at all?
15. Do you think your feelings of belonging have changed as a business major, if at all?
81
How? Why/why not?
16. You have reached your ___ year as a business major. How has your sense of belonging
impacted your decision to stay in the major, if at all?
17. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about today in our first interview?
Interview 2
18. [Briefly check in with participant and remind participant of ability to opt out at any time.]
19. Before we start this next interview, do you want to talk about anything that happened that
affected your belonging since the last time we spoke? (Journal)
20. Do you have a favorite business professor, if any? Who? Why? Example? (Black?)
21. What business classes are you taking now? Which do you enjoy most? Why/why not?
22. Have any business professors influenced your sense of belonging, if at all? Example?
Who? When? Then what?
23. Professors have different styles to how they teach courses and manage their students and
class discussions. Has the way a professor taught a class or managed student discussions
ever influenced your feelings of belonging, if at all? Please explain.
24. Think about business classes you’ve completed, the course materials, case studies, texts,
readings, speakers, and so on. How have the course materials and course curriculum
reflected your identity, if at all?
25. How does the business course content influence your sense of belonging, if at all?
26. If you could create a business class, and that class would promote a sense of belonging
for Black business students, what would that class be like?
a. Who teaches? Topic? Speakers? Texts/readings? Students? Why?
82
27. The business school includes a lot of non-academic offices like admissions, career
services, academic advising, etc. Thinking in general about the office, do you feel these
services impact your feelings of belonging? How? Why/Why not?
28. Do you have a favorite staff member, if any? Who? Why? Example? (Black?)
29. How has a staff member, if at all, influenced your sense of belonging? Example?
30. What policies or rules at the business school affect your sense of belonging, if at all?
b. (E.g., grading, late work, extra credit, extensions, job interviews, class
attendance, class registration, tuition payments, scholarships, etc.)
31. How do these policies or rules create barriers to your belonging?
Interview 3
32. [Briefly check in with participant and remind participant of ability to opt out at any time.]
33. Before we start this next interview, do you want to talk about anything that happened that
affected your belonging since the last time we spoke? (Journal)
34. Do you have friends in the business school? Who?
35. How do your business school friends influence your sense of belonging, if at all?
Example? Who? When? What?
36. How do other business students influence your feelings of belonging, if at all?
37. How have you created your own belonging in (outside) the business school, if at all?
38. Some people might say business school students do not create a sense of belonging for
Black students. Given this, what would you say to a Black prospective student about the
business school?
39. What business-related activities do you engage in at the business school?
a. (clubs, research, ambassador, consulting mentorship, career/ employment/ intern)
83
40. How do these activities influence your sense of belonging at the business school, if at all?
41. What do you want to do after you graduate?
42. How has your perception of belonging as a Black student in the business school impacted
your career decisions, if at all?
43. Some people might say that a feeling of belonging is not necessary for academic success
or for a career in business. What are your thoughts on this perspective?
44. What other insights would you like to share about sense of belonging for Black business
students that I might not have covered?
84
Appendix C: Screening Questionnaire
Screening Section
1. I identify as:
African American/Black American OR African American/Black American + one or more
additional race/ethnic/cultural identities
Another race, ethnic, or cultural identity, not including African American/Black American
2. I am currently majoring in business. Yes No
3. I am currently:
a freshman, dual undergraduate and graduate business student, or a graduate student
a sophomore, junior, or senior
4. I am a transfer student to CU’s School of Business:
No
Yes – Fall 2023 is my first semester at CU’s School of Business
Yes – And I have completed one full semester at CU’s School of Business prior to the Fall
2023 semester
5. I am an international student or an exchange student studying at the business school on a
student visa: Yes No
6. I am 18 years of age or older Yes No
Demographics Section
1. I am a sophomore junior senior
2. I prefer to describe myself as: (complete any that you wish)
African American/Black American
African American/Black American and additional race or e
85
(Please list below, optional) ____________
I additionally use the following cultural, ethnic, or countries of origin to describe myself:
____________
3. Business __________ my first choice of major. was was not
4. My business concentration or emphasis is
Business Analytics
Communications
Entrepreneurship + Innovation
Finance
International Relations
Leadership + Innovation
Marketing
Real Estate Finance
Risk Management
Other/Unknown/No Emphasis
5. I prefer to describe my gender as ________
6. My preferred pronouns are _______
7. Please provide your email. You will only be contacted if you are selected for the study so that
we can communicate and schedule interviews. ______
8. Please provide your first name (and last, if you wish) ________
9. To protect your identity, this study will only refer to you with a pseudonym or a false FIRST
name. Your real name will never be used. If you prefer to create your own pseudonym, please
write it here: ___
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
This study applied Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory (SCT) and Gray et al.’s (2018) ecological framework to explore a sense of belonging among Black undergraduates pursuing a degree in business. This study sought to understand how Black students perceive a sense of belonging at the business school of City University (CU), a predominantly White institution (PWI), and to determine whether interpersonal, instructional, and institutional structures in the school environment influence belonging. Data analysis included open, axial, and selective coding using in vivo and a priori codes to identify emergent themes aligned to the conceptual framework. Findings indicate that Black students’ perceptions of belonging are influenced by multiple factors within the business school environment. Prior community, cultural, and K–12 educational experiences shaped students’ unconscious anticipation of belonging and beliefs about its importance. Key interpersonal factors affecting belonging included connection, academic engagement, unconscious bias, and microaggressions experienced primarily through peer and faculty interactions. Instructional and institutional factors in the curriculum had both positive and negative effects on participant’s belonging. The study demonstrated triadic reciprocity as interpersonal and instructional structures influenced participants’ belonging and cognitions, which in turn informed their behaviors, supporting both ecological and SCT frameworks. This research illuminates environmental factors within CU’s business school that may influence Black students’ sense of belonging and their pursuit of business education and careers. These findings may inform approaches to enhance programs, curricula, and institutional structures to improve perceptions of belonging among Black business students at CU.
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Sense of belonging among Black business students at a predominantly White institution
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University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Repository Email
cisadmin@lib.usc.edu
Tags
Black business students
business schools
predominantly White institutions
sense of belonging