Variations in Sense of Belonging in Undergraduate Computing Students Through the COVID-19 Pandemic

Student sense of belonging, or belongingness, is important and has been associated with motivation, persistence, and other outcomes. However, belongingness varies according to factors such as race/ethnicity and gender [2]. In previous work, there have been statistically significant differences in the belongingness of computing students identifying as women and as part of a minority [2]. During the COVID-19 pandemic there was a reduction in the belongingness of students identifying as men, and those not identifying as being part of a minority, and an increase in the belongingness of women identifying as a minority [3]. Our current work shows that the belongingness of men and women not identifying as being part of a minority has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, despite returning to campus, and a further statistically significant drop in the belongingness of men who identify as part of a minority. This work shows that further efforts need to be made to restore student belongingness to pre-pandemic levels and may yield insight into how events affect belongingness.