Fostering School Engagement and Social Support in Postsecondary School: The Roles of Ethnic Studies and Sense of Community and Belonging

Background: Ethnic studies has been found to foster students' school engagement and social support in schools. However, to date, there has been no study that has specifically examined the relationships of ethnic studies with the three psychosocial dimensions of students' school engagement (i.e., emotional, behavioral, and cognitive) and their social support, as well as the potential factors that mediate these relationships. Method: We conducted 17 in-depth interviews with university students with varying exposures to ethnic studies to examine how ethnic studies fostered their school engagement and social support, and how sense of community and sense of belonging mediated these positive effects of ethnic studies. Results: From our thematic analysis of our interview data, we identified two main themes: (1) opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, and (2) barriers to learning from ethnic studies. Conclusion: In-class, teacher-facilitated, student-led class discussions in ethnic studies and active participation in university-sanctioned, ethnoracial minority-centered registered student organizations provided underrepresented students considerable opportunities to promote their peer-to-peer learning and gain greater sense of community and sense of belonging in postsecondary school, which in turn, fostered their emotional and behavioral school engagement and social support. Future research could focus on strategies to address barriers to learning from ethnic studies.