APS
2026 APS Annual Convention
Beyond “Fitting In”: Belonging As an Interpretive Contextual, and Malleable Process across Academic and Workplace Contexts
Four mixed-method studies follow 300 undergraduates, 656 STEM PhD students, 731 postdocs, and 836 employees in the United States and China. Using longitudinal field experiments, large-scale surveys, interviews, and open-ended responses, we test how people interpret belonging across academic and work contexts and identify meaning-centered, interaction-focused targets for intervention.
Chairs & Discussants
- Shannon BradyChair
Wake Forest University - Yue JiaCoChair
Stanford Graduate School of Education
Presentations
- Trajectories of Belonging: Students’ Retrospective Interpretations of Their Early College TransitionShannon Brady
- How PhD Students Interpret Advising Interactions: A Longitudinal Field Experiment on Belonging TrajectoriesSteve Juarez
- Belonging across Roles, Institutions, and Communities: Identity-Based Differences In Postdoctoral SuccessChelsie Burchett
- What Does It Mean to Belong at Work? Cultural and Psychological Pathways In the U.S. and ChinaYue Jia
