Measuring the Sense of Belonging of Students With and Without a Migration Background in Dutch Higher Education: Design and Psychometric Quality of the UB-ARCS Scale

Student populations in higher education have diversified internationally. Enhancing students’ sense of belonging is linked to educational success; yet, the applicability of existing measures in the diversified context is questioned. We developed and validated a sense of belonging measure in a population of students with and without a migration background. Study 1 involved creating the measure and testing its factor structure, reliability, and measurement invariance with 374 students from a large urban university. Study 2 confirmed the factor structure and examined construct validity with 151 students from a technical university. The “University Belonging – Acceptance, Recognition, Commonality and Support” (UB-ARCS) scale comprises 16 items across four dimensions. Metric invariance was found between students with and without a migration background. Strong correlations with “belongingness” and “academic efficacy” demonstrated convergent validity, while divergent validity was demonstrated with “conscientiousness.” Therefore, we found preliminary evidence of the validity and reliability of the UB-ARCS scale. Additional research is necessary for refining the suitability of the UB-ARCS for minoritized student groups and revealing the stories behind the numbers, offering deeper insights into the complex nature of belonging and marginalization in HE.