Hope for the best, expect the worse: a framework for understanding belonging fulfillment among Black graduate students

Across disciplines, Black graduate students continue to show some of the highest levels of attrition (Lively, 2022). Although there can be numerous reasons why they may leave, lack of belonging is a common theme among them (Burt et al., 2018). Because a sense of belonging is related to student academic achievement and retention (Strayhorn, 2019), a way to improve Black graduate student retention is to gain insight into their sense of belonging. Unfortunately, there is a lack of literature that explores how students develop their sense of belonging. A study by Wirth and colleagues (2017) found that those who expect to belong and then don’t, experience greater negative feelings those who do not expect to belong and then don’t. Thus, it can be inferred that expectations may play a critical role in belonging development. This phenomenon is known as belonging fulfillment (Rayford et al., 2023). However, belonging fulfillment has not been fully theorized. This study aimed to understand how a sense of belonging develops by creating a framework of belonging fulfillment through the lens of Black graduate students. To this end, I pose: How do Black graduate students develop and experience the process of belonging fulfillment in their program, or lack thereof? Using Constructivist Grounded Theory Methodology, 16 Black doctoral students in the United States were interviewed. The results highlight a framework that has four processes —adjustment, bootstrapping, connection, support— and six factors— advisor & program faculty, geographic location, funding, program peers, program opportunities, and racial experiences. This study contributes to the literature in understanding a sense of belonging by advancing the constellation of belonging theories by providing a framework that further explains the nuances of this phenomenon, and that can be situated within this new context — graduate studies.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Rayford, Taiylor R

Contributors dc:contributor

• Marchand, Aixa
• Baber, Lorenzo
• Hardesty, Jennifer
• Vaccaro, Annemarie

• Belonging Fulfillment
• Sense of Belonging
• Black
• Graduate Studies

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Taiylor Rayford

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132619

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132619