First-year students’ sense of belonging in higher education: examining measurement invariance and longitudinal development across migration background and generation status

Sense of belonging is crucial in higher education (HE), enhancing students’ well-being and academic success. However, its longitudinal development during the first year remains under-researched, including differences across students’ migration background and generation status in HE. It is unclear whether observed changes reflect true shifts in the construct's meaning over time and between groups. This study examined the longitudinal and multigroup measurement invariance and development of the multidimensional University Belonging–Acceptance, Recognition, Commonality, and Support (UB-ARCS) scale at three timepoints during the first year (T1: N = 372, T2: N = 273, T3: N = 254) across migration background and generation status in HE. While the UB-ARCS was measurement invariant in the first semester (T1–T2), neither full longitudinal measurement invariance across all three timepoints nor multigroup measurement invariance for migration background at T3 was achieved. This suggests that the meaning of the construct evolved as students advanced. Linear Mixed Modelling revealed a significant increase in sense of belonging for students throughout the year, and no differences were found in the strength of the increase of belonging across migration background and generation status in HE. However, students with a migration background consistently reported less belonging. These results indicate both qualitative and quantitative changes in sense of belonging during the first year of HE. Our findings highlight the potential of the UB-ARCS for studying interventions to strengthen students’ sense of belonging, especially during the early stages of their academic journey, and contribute to understanding the dynamic nature of this complex construct.