Abstract
ABSTRACT Diversity in engineering, and STEM in general, is essential to address societal challenges, yet women and individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds remain underrepresented. Belonging has shown promise for recruiting and retaining these groups, prompting further exploration. This review investigates the impact of (anticipated) belonging on the pursuit and persistence in engineering education among underrepresented groups. Through a systematic literature review, 480 articles from the Scopus database were screened, with 20 articles selected for analysis. Multiple definitions of belonging were revealed, leading the authors to propose a core definition that distinguishes it from closely related concepts like identity alignment and social support. Additionally, a complex network of concepts affecting the relationship between belonging and recruitment/retention emerged, including social capital, engineering identity, self-efficacy, and academic experience and representation. The authors present a simplified conceptual model capturing the role of belonging in the recruitment and retention of underrepresented students in engineering education.
Published Version
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