Abstract
Many undergraduate college students find the need to work either on or off campus in order to pay for their tuition and expenses. It is unknown whether or not employment impacts a students ability to be involved in the department or feel like they belong and not typically reported for Kinesiology programs. PURPOSE: To assess the impact employment had on college students in relation to their sense of belonging and involvement with their home department and to investigate belonging and involvement in Kinesiology students. METHODS: Undergraduate college/university students (18+ years) at a public institution in Southern California were recruited via flyers, social media, announcements and word of mouth to participate in an IRB approved online research study. The cross-sectional Qualtrics survey consisted of a few demographic questions (age, gender, major, employment status, etc.), 9 questions specific to involvement in the department (6-point Likert scale: 1=strongly disagree to 6=strongly agree) and 11 questions for belonging divided into two domains; social acceptance and valued competence (same Likert scale as involvement). For the involvement and belonging questions an average and sum score were determined for each individual, which was used in the statistical analysis. For employment, participants were asked if they were employed (yes/no) during the Spring 2023 semester, which was then coded to form the groups. Statistical analysis software (IBM SPSS v.28) was used to assess the differences between those that indicated they were employed and not employed and a p-value of 0.05 was implemented for significance. RESULTS: College undergraduate participants (N=149, age; 24.3 土 5.7 years, gender identification; n=1 other, n=111 female, and n=37 male, and Kinesiology n=83, or other majors n=59) indicated they were employed (n=86) or unemployed (n=26) and Kinesiology students reported similar employment statistics (employed n=51 and unemployed n=11). An Independent T-Test found no significant differences (P>0.05) in involvement or belonging for employment status in all students and for those who declared Kinesiology as their major during Spring 2023. CONCLUSION: Employment status had no significant impact on an undergraduate student's involvement in their major department or their sense of belonging.
Recommended Citation
Delgado, Ruby; Sanchez-Perez, Maria; and Dunn, Sarah
(2023)
"Undergraduate Kinesiology Student Involvement in the Department and Sense of Belonging by Employment Status,"
International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 14:
Iss.
3, Article 24.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol14/iss3/24
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