Aiyar, C. [TED]. (2019, May 28). How To Build Community When You Feel Isolated  [Video].https://www.ted.com/talks/chitra_aiyar_how_to_build_community_when_you_feel_isolated/up-next

Chitra Aiyar’s talk “How To Build Community When You Feel Isolated” described the usual process of students who feel like an outcast. Aiyar pointed out that these students will have poor performance in class and will eventually drop out of the university. Aiyar emphasized that the students just need someone who can they easily share their problems with and have a safe place to talk about what they are going through. Aiyar cited one great example of an institution, Xavier University, where students are introduced with the thought of investing in each others success. This is a fantastic example of an institution who makes sure that their students are not discriminated, have a strong sense of belonging and feel more connected to each other. Chitra then highlighted three ways on how to recover from the shame and stigma of being an outcast: first is to think about someone’s success as a community success, second is be occupied with an activity that will let you grow and contribute to other people and lastly is to find that chance where you see yourself as a supporter or helper and not just a member of marginalized youth.

Hussain, Maryam and Jones, James. “Discrimination, Diversity and Sense of Belonging: Experiences of Students of Color.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education; Mar2021, Vol. 14 Issue 1, p63-71, 9p.

Hussain and Jones conducted a study in a White institution somewhere in mid-Atlantic state, with their participants who are students who identified themselves as Asian, Black or Latino. Their purpose is to better understand or recognize the experiences of students of color with discrimination and prejudice on one’s sense of belonging which can be diminished by the support and commitment from their university and social interaction with their peers. The authors determined that when students interact with different people and participate in conversations and activities, they result to higher levels of connection to the institution. And eventually when students feel more connected to their college, it will elicit positive effects such as the feeling of persistence and having a goal – which is to graduate or simply finish their education. Hussain and Jones proposed that universities should provide safe spaces for students of color and provide them equal opportunities, may it be outside or inside the classroom where they can freely take part in discussion with diverse peers. Another proposal from the authors is for the university leaders to incorporate more multi-cultural courses and introducing diversity topics just to reaffirm to students that they indeed belong in the institution.

Liu, H., Zhang, M., Yang Q., and Bin Yu. “Gender Differences in the Influence of Social Isolation and Loneliness on Depressive Symptoms in College Students: A Longitudinal Study.” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiologist. 2020. 55. p251-257.

Previous studies have constantly indicated that females are more likely to come down with depressive symptoms than male. Generally, females have larger social networks and participate more in social activities compared to males. It has also been found that females are even more sensitive and prefer greater interpersonal connection than males and are more prone to the effects of negative mental health and of poor social connections. The authors’ goal is to examine if social isolation and loneliness is associated with depression in a longitudinal study from 741 college students at Tianjin Medical University. After measuring depressive symptoms with the Chinese version of Self-Rating Depression Scale which is a valid measure for the Chinese population and determining social isolation by merging six items to construct an index, they gathered that for female college students, both loneliness and social isolation were correlated with depressive symptoms whereas for male college students, only social isolation was linked with increased depressive symptoms. The authors suggested for an increase in social connection since it may be beneficial for both male and female students but did not provide any specific recommendation on how the students will combat the feeling of isolation and loneliness.

Sandstrom, Gillian M. and Rawn, Catherine D. “Embracing Chattering Students: They May Be Building Community and Interest in Your Class” Teaching of Psychology. v42 n3 p227-233 Jul 2015. 77p.

Sandstrom and Rawn’s article examined the redeeming qualities of chatter in class based on the reports from their research participants who are 223 students who finished an online questionnaire on which they reported their interactions, belonging, and enjoyment in their class. Based on past research, Sandstrom and Rawn agreed that a student’s grades and perception of  study can be affected by a brief social interaction which can ultimately promote a sense of belonging. Therefore, the authors predicted that students who engaged more socially in class would feel a significant sense of belonging, thus, resulting to even better grades and class performance. They also claimed that including group works and discussion which is a collaborative learning will definitely improve academic achievement. The authors believe that allowing students to partake even in informal conversations should not be interpreted as a waste of time since this technique may offer new insight on why supporting peer to peer interactions may improve the learning process and sense of belonging of students. Sandstrom and Rawn also presume that the potential mechanism with their findings is because active learning works in part since group works result to improved learning outcomes than individual work.