Concepts Of Mattering

Particularly critical for students of color is a climate and culture where students feel welcome to engage. Research from Wood (2014) demonstrated that Black college men were apprehensive to engage in the classroom with faculty for fear of being perceived as academically inferior. In fact, men in his study noted that what some faculty perceived as disengaging behavior was actually angst about being stereotypically viewed as ‘dumb’, ‘unintelligent’, or ‘stupid’. Moreover, faculty members involved in this study were found to often use an “approach me first” or “prove yourself first” stance, where students had to initiate engagement and demonstrate their proficiency in the course before faculty would invest their time in them. Many men of color …show more content…
However, while a student may feel that they matter, and that they belong, these conditions do not necessarily guarantee their engagement being invited and desired. Given this, we perceive that the concepts of mattering, belonging, and welcomeness are distinctive yet work almost seamlessly to influence student outcomes. As demonstrated in Figure I, we suggest that the converging influence of mattering, belonging, and welcomeness serves to advance intermediate outcomes for students in various ways such as enhanced engagement. Yet, while these affective responses to students’ environments are factors leading to student success, they are driven by key positive …show more content…
Intrusive practices entail proactively supporting students and intervening if their performance dips (Wood et al., 2015). As noted by Wood and Turner (2011) intrusive practices involve “asking students if they [have] any questions or concerns about the course materials as well as reminding them about upcoming deadlines for papers, tests, course reviews, group work, and other assignments” (p. 144). Other examples of intrusive practices are providing and mandating the use of academic support services such as tutoring, counseling, and the