Posters

Streaming Media

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Summer 8-7-2026

Abstract

Graduate students experience substantial academic, personal, and professional demands that can negatively affect well-being and persistence. For students enrolled in professional programs, belonging may develop within two overlapping communities: the academic institution and the emerging profession. Institutional and professional belonging can provide connection, support, engagement, and opportunities for identity and professional development. This paper synthesizes literature on these two forms of belonging and proposes a conceptual framework describing their potential relationship with whole-person formation and flourishing. Whole-person formation extends graduate education beyond knowledge acquisition and professional competence to include development across interconnected dimensions of the person. Within the proposed framework, relationships and participation in academic and professional communities provide contexts through which belonging may contribute to this formative process. By intentionally fostering institutional and professional belonging, graduate programs may create environments that support students in moving beyond persistence toward personal and professional flourishing while preparing them to contribute meaningfully to their professions and communities.

This project was an output for The Belmont Formation Scholars Cohort for Character Research and Writing, which received generous support funding from The Kern Family Foundation.

I gratefully acknowledge peer review feedback on this project, and I am accountable for writing of this product without generative AI and in alignment with the aspirations of Belmont’s AI policy and the Psalm 8 AI Taskforce as of this date.

Download

Share

COinS