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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Relationship between university belonging and student outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis
AER, Vol.52, pp.2511-2534
2025
Abstract
University students experience academic demands in addition to everyday stressors, which can impact their well-being and potentially affect academic performance. University sense of belonging, a key social determinant of health and well-being, may directly and indirectly influence academic outcomes. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses to investigate whether a sense of belonging at university impacts student well-being and academic outcomes. The results revealed a significant small-to-medium positive association between university sense of belonging and academic outcomes (r = 0.20), and a significant medium-to-large positive association with well-being outcomes (r = 0.40). Additionally, the number-needed-to-treat analyses suggest that a population-based intervention to improve university sense of belonging could have a significant impact on academic and well-being outcomes. However, high heterogeneity was observed, and most studies had a high risk of bias. Future research should explore moderating factors (e.g., student type) that contribute to this heterogeneity and focus on establishing causality in these relationships.
Details
- Title
- Relationship between university belonging and student outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis
- Authors
- Gisela van Kessel (Corresponding Author) - University of South AustraliaColleen Ryan - Central Queensland UniversityLorraine Paras - University of Newcastle AustraliaNatalie Johnson - University of Newcastle AustraliaRazia Z. Zariff - University of South AustraliaHelen M. Stallman - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
- Publication details
- AER, Vol.52, pp.2511-2534
- Publisher
- Springer Dordrecht
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1007/s13384-025-00822-8
- ISSN
- 2210-5328; 0311-6999
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991127098502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Education & Educational Research
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