Workplace belonging of student employees in a student affairs department at a public land grant research university

Colleges and Universities are particularly interested in student success, including what factors, both inside and outside of the classroom, that lead to or distract from success. One of the activities in which college students spend significant amounts of time is student work. According to national statistics, over 40% of students work while going to college (COE - College Student Employment, n.d.; Perna, 2010). Research on student employment has focused on two things, the impact of work on academic achievement and the development of skills for future careers. Findings show that working more than 20 hours per week has a negative impact on course success and increases disruptions to degree completion (Pike et al., 2008; Riggert et al., 2006). However, limited research has focused on the work experience itself. Sense of belonging, and workplace belonging in particular, is one avenue in which to study the experience of student employees. According to Baumeister and Leary (1995), sense of belonging is a basic human need strong enough to elicit thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and is also context specific, including in the workplace. Workplace belonging is specific to feeling a part of the organization where one works and maintains that one must feel they are valued in their work (Ali & Jaaffar, 2020; Kachchhap & Horo, 2021). Some factors that contribute to workplace belonging are relationships with supervisors, feeling like one is making valuable contributions, and relationships with colleagues (Ali & Jaaffar, 2020; Kachchhap & Horo, 2021; Raza et al., 2020). The factors associated with belonginess present an opportunity to study these in the context of student employment as student employment positions include opportunities to work with peers, staff, and faculty, and can include significant responsibility and opportunities for growth. The purpose of this study is to explore how student employees within student affairs make sense of their belonging in their on-campus job. The research question being asked by this study is in what ways do college students perceive workplace belonging through their on-campus, student affairs, employment? More specific questions include: What aspects of student employment lead to sense of belonging? Why does their sense of belonging matter to student employees? To answer the questions, a descriptive qualitative study with in-depth interviews was conducted with undergraduate student employees working in a singular department within Student Affairs at a large midwestern university. Thematic Analysis was used to evaluate and interpret the data. The overall findings were that work provided the opportunity to create community on campus; student employees make sense of their belonging through their identity as a student; working on campus provides a sense of purpose and pride for student employees; and peer relationships at work are more important than relationships with supervisors for student employees in creating belonging. Workplace belonging was fostered when students developed relationships at work, felt like their work was valued, and felt supported by their supervisor. This mattered to students because it created a sense of connection and purpose on campus and because it helped them to develop their professional identity for future careers. Overall, the findings demonstrate the need to create quality work experiences to support students in their college experience.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Houston, Jami L

Contributors dc:contributor

• Oh, Eunjung
• Baber, Lorenzo
• Roegman, Rachel
• Huang, Wenhao

• Student Employees
• Workplace Belonging
• Student Workers
• Sense of Belonging
• Mattering

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Jami Houston

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129431

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129431