THE PROJECT

Student Voices Initiative

Amplifying Student Perspectives to Instigate System Change

THE CONTEXT & CHALLENGE

As we research, implement, and iterate on Belonging supportive practices, we continuously see the effects Belonging can have on student success, retention, and well-being across a wide range of educational contexts.1,2 These impacts can be particularly powerful for students from historically underserved backgrounds, including first-generation college students and students from racially-marginalized groups.3,4 However, supporting Belonging is not just about shifting students’ beliefs. It’s also about taking a systemic approach to creating more supportive educational environments. The Student Voices Initiative focuses on authentically listening to students to understand what strengthens or undermines their sense of belonging at their institutions, and using their voices and activism to drive actionable, systemic change within their institutions.

THE PARTNERSHIP & APPROACH

What started out as a pilot project with a community college system in the Southern US has blossomed to a national level. We have partnered with over 40 higher-ed institutions across 17 states and territories ranging from Guam to New York to implement the Student Voices Initiative protocol. At its core, the Student Voices Initiative is a student focus group protocol meant to surface aspects of their institution that either thwart or promote their sense of belonging.5 These aspects, in the research world, are otherwise known as Opportunity Structures.6 A key twist of this protocol is that students are not only participants in the focus group, but also their facilitators and, ideally, data collectors and analyzers. This approach to conducting research is referred to as Participatory Action Research (PAR),7 which allows students to serve as activists and co-researchers who actively shape the research process, from identifying issues and collecting data to interpreting findings and using those findings to advocate for meaningful change. In this way, students are leading and driving the entire initiative. The same students who are leading the research and participating in focus groups are benefitting from their participation and supporting future students!

WHAT DOES A BELONGING FOCUS GROUP LOOK LIKE?

Below is a short video tutorial, given to focus group facilitators in addition to formal training. This is a quick overview of what your belonging focus groups may look like. In this video we include tips and answers to frequently asked questions around focus groups.

THE LEARNINGS

In general, we find that by elevating student voices institutions gain actionable insights while simultaneously strengthening the very outcome they seek to improve. This includes:

✓ Students feel a greater sense of belonging by being valued, heard, and connected to their campus

✓ Institutions gain evidence-based insights that they can leverage to better support students

✓ Campus communities build capacity for sustained change

In particular, our research and applied work with over 40  institutions and over 1800 students reveals something powerful: simply giving students space to share their perspectives significantly increases their sense of belonging.8 The process of being heard is itself an intervention. 

Furthermore, institutions learn about how they can better support their students. As a result of participating in this initiative, many institutions have implemented significant changes designed to support their students. Some of our favorite institutional outcomes include:

  • The creation of a LatinX student center
  • Cafeteria menu options changing to be more inclusive of dietary options during Ramadan
  • Newly acquired grant funds that resulted in the ability to hire additional academic counselors
  • Incorporation of student voices data into institutional strategies, including quality enhancement plants (QEPs), grant applications, publications, and program evaluation efforts

NEXT STEPS

We are actively looking for partners to continue this work; not just implementing the protocol but helping us to improve it and improve impact. For example, we are creating new ways of leveraging the pedagogy behind this work. We have found a desire for institutions to think about how our effective focus group protocol can be adapted for parents, faculty, staff, and administrators. We are also ramping up our evaluation efforts and partnering with schools to more rigorously test the effectiveness of implementing the student voices initiative protocol on systemic change efforts. Finally, we have recently created new materials to support institutions to better leverage existing data as a way of identifying the best topics for future focus groups and to test the efficacy of implementation efforts. 

Interested in Bringing SVI to Your Campus?

Learn how elevating student voices can transform belonging and retention at your institution.

When students are heard, belonging grows.

Schedule a call

REFERENCES

1 Tibbetts Y, DeCoster J, Francis MK, Williams, C. L., Totonchi, D. A., Lee, G. A., & Hulleman, C. S. Learning Mindsets Matter for Students in Corequisite Courses. Strong Start to Finish, Education Commission of the States; 2022.

2 Tibbetts, Y., Himmelberger, Z. M., Barron, K. E., Speicher, M. R., & Hulleman, C. S. (2024). Learning mindsets and well-being and ill-being among osteopathic medical students. JAMA Network Open, 7(6), e2418090.

3 Totonchi, D. A., Tibbetts, Y., Williams, C. L., Francis, M. K., DeCoster, J., Lee, G. A., Hull, J. W., & Hulleman, C. S. (2023). The cost of being first: Belonging uncertainty predicts math motivation and achievement for first-generation, but not continuing-generation, students. Learning and Individual Differences, 107, 102365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102365

4 Xue, M. A., Adams, V. G., Totonchi, D. A., Lubin, A., Davis, J., Moya, S., Vite, A.,
Lexow, M., Tibbetts, Y. & Hulleman, C. S. (August, 2022). Opportunity Structures that Impact Belonging for Students of Color: A Qualitative Study. American Psychological Association, Minneapolis, MN.

5 Tibbetts, Y, Totonchi, D., Davis J., Rai P., Carpenter, R., Ybarra, D., Wagner, E., Hillyard, C., Blake, E., Stotter, J., Ortiz, A., & Hulleman, C.S. Elevating Student Voices to Instigate System Change: The Student Voices Initiative [manuscript under review]. Motivate Lab.

6 Gray, D. L., Hope, E. C., & Matthews, J. S. (2018). Black and belonging at school: A case for interpersonal, instructional, and institutional opportunity structures. Educational Psychologist, 53(2), 97-113. doi: 10.1080/00461520.2017.1421466

7 Caraballo, L., Lozenski, B. D., Lyiscott, J. J., & Morrell, E. (2017). YPAR and critical epistemologies: Rethinking education research. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 311-336. doi: 10.3102/0091732X16686948