Limited Support for Use of a Social-Belonging Intervention with First-Year Engineering Students

First-year STEM students often interpret academic challenges as diagnostic of belonging. Studies demonstrate that a social-belonging intervention helps undergraduates reframe belonging uncertainty as temporary and universal. We implemented this intervention with first-year engineering majors. In Study 1 (N = 284), we analyzed data from engineering mathematics students. Underrepresented students in the belonging intervention reported increased belonging over the semester but did not report significantly higher belonging post-intervention than peers in a control condition. The intervention did not impact achievement. In Study 2 (N = 87), we analyzed data from pre-calculus mathematics students, not replicating the intervention findings of Study 1. In both studies, perceived belonging at beginning-of-semester was positively associated with engineering mathematics grades at semester’s end. In Study 2, use of campus supports mediated the relationship between belonging and achievement over students’ first semester. These findings demonstrate a relationship between perceived belonging and gateway engineering course outcomes but limited support for a social-belonging intervention. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.