Welcome week attendance is associated with peer belonging

Updated Sep 10, 2026

Welcome activities may relate differently to students’ connections with peers, teachers and the institution. Ghislaine van Bommel and Marcel A. L. M. van Assen examine these dimensions separately.

What the study reports

First-year psychology students were surveyed three times during the 2023–24 academic year. Response counts fell from 300 to 112 to 64, an important limitation when interpreting change.

The authors report a positive relationship between introduction-week attendance and belonging with fellow students. They report no corresponding effect for belonging with teachers or the university. Peer belonging increased over time, while the other two dimensions showed no consistent change.

This is longitudinal survey evidence, not proof that attendance itself caused the difference.

Questions for welcome-week evaluation

As editorial suggestions, distinguish peer connection from connection with teaching staff and the wider university. Ask students who missed activities about barriers and the alternatives they would value.

When repeating surveys, report changing response counts and composition alongside the scores. If evaluating an activity’s effect, consider self-selection and other differences between attenders and non-attenders. A useful local evaluation should be able to identify benefits and limits rather than assuming every kind of belonging moves together.

Reference

Ghislaine van Bommel and Marcel A. L. M. van Assen. “Sense of belonging in higher education: the effect of early introductory activities.” Studies in Higher Education. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2025.2598598.

Corrected 7 September 2026: author names, sample, time frame and descriptions of belonging trends were wrong; unsupported methods and additional outcomes were removed.