Exploring feelings of belonging and membership of CUNY noncitizen students

Abstract

For young immigrants who are also college students, the sense of belonging impacts not only their integration in the host society, but their school community as well. Group membership has been associated with the sense of belonging, which in turn impacts the sense of self. Self-esteem, defined as a feeling of self-worth and self-respect, is considered to be fundamental to psychological well-being. This study explores feelings of belonging and membership of noncitizen students and the impact on their mental well-being. Data were drawn from 137 participants across multiple undergraduate campuses across the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Initial findings of the CUNY Belonging Study indicate that, consistent with existing research, noncitizen students’ immigration status impacts their ability to form a sense of belonging, and belonging and membership is related to the level of institutional support they receive.

Keywords:

• Immigration
• deportation
• belonging
• membership
• undocumented
• noncitizen

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Technically speaking, DACA students are also undocumented. However, because DACA holders receive temporary protection from deportation and a work permit, we make a distinction between those fully undocumented (do not have temporary protection) students, and those who were granted DACA. As explained earlier, it is the deportable status being explored as a possible factor that impacts a student’s feelings of belonging and membership.

2 A separate article discussing the quantitative analysis of the survey results has been sent for acceptance and review. Therefore, this article will only provide a short description of those findings.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the PSC CUNY under Research Award 48.

Notes on contributors

Shirley Leyro

Shirley Leyro is an Associate Professor at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY). A critical criminologist, Dr. Leyro’s primary research focus is on immigration enforcement and the effects of deportation on non-citizens and their communities. In particular, she studies the impact of fear resulting from the vulnerability to deportation. Her research interests include immigration, deportation, social disorganization, crimmigration, and the impact of all the above on mental health.