Sense of belonging
BètaBreak edition February 2021
In times of crisis, should every man fend for himself or is this the right time to build our community, our sense of belonging? As we are trying to foster belonginess, are we sure that no one is left out and we are still as inclusive as we aim to be? In the current circumstances it is easy to slip into a passive mindset, but these times call for us to look beyond what we see on our screens and look into people's lives if we want to nurture our sense of belonging. But what exactly is meant by sense of belonging? Who is responsible to not only keep this sense of belonging alive, but strengthen it during times of crisis? And finally, with all the new measures implemented to combat the virus, are virtual social activities enough to foster a sense of belonging both for students and staff?
Insight from different fields of expertise might yield very different answers, providing us with examples worth considering for our community. For this special edition of the BètaBreak, we have invited three experts from different fields who will share their perspectives on how sense of belonging might be at risk or enhanced in times of crisis.
Speakers
Mary Tupan-Wenno is executive director of ECHO, the national expertise centre for diversity and inclusion in higher education. ECHO works on the development of policy and interventions to manage cultural diversity in organizations and higher education. She participates in #ibelong, an EU funded international and innovative programme of interventions to promote student’s sense of belonging and success in higher education.
Dr. Myrte Hoekstra works as researcher for the Ministry of Justice (WODC). She is a socially engaged researcher specialized in social inequality, regional polarization and the multicultural society. For her dissertation Myrte investigated the sense of belonging experienced by citizens in multicultural cities.
Dr. Marijn Egas is associate professor in Evolution and Behavior and researcher at our faculty’s Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics. One of his research topics is the evolution and maintenance of cooperation among unrelated individuals which is a fundamental problem not only in biology but also in the social sciences. Interdisciplinary experiments demonstrate the interactive evolution of social norms and cooperation.
