Extending belonging beyond campus: The role of community engagement

This study examines how community engagement influences undergraduate business students’ belonging, loneliness, and dropout intention. Drawing on research on student belonging and place-attachment based perspective, we examine a conceptual model linking community engagement to reduced loneliness through diversity exposure and sense of belonging. Survey data from 721 business students at a large Midwestern university in the United States were analyzed using Hayes’s PROCESS macro. Findings indicate that community engagement is associated with higher diversity exposure and stronger belonging. Diversity exposure mediates the relationship between engagement and loneliness, and this negative association is stronger when perceived institutional support is high. Loneliness, in turn, is positively related to dropout intention. Implications for business educators are discussed.