Predicting Student Engagement: The Role of Academic Belonging, Social Integration, and Resilience During COVID-19 Emergency Remote Teaching

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced higher education (HE) to shift to emergency remote teaching (ERT), subsequently influencing academic belonging and social integration, as well as challenging students' engagement with their studies. AIMS: This study investigated influences on student engagement during ERT, based on student resilience. Serial mediation analyses were used to test the predictive effects between resilience, academic belonging, social integration, and engagement. METHODS: The Student Well-being Monitor (SWM 2021) was completed by 1332 HE students studying at Inholland University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Predictive models were compared among students with low, normal, or high resilience using SPSS extension Macro PROCESS. RESULTS: A significant serial mediation model was found among all HE students, including positive mediating effects of academic belonging and social integration. More so, independent partial predictive effects of academic belonging and social integration on engagement were also present. Assessment of student resilience profiles revealed substantial differences between predictive models. For low resilience students, serial mediation was present and included the largest partial predictive effect from social integration compared to other groups. For highly resilient students, mediation via academic belonging was found, including the strongest partial and indirect effects compared to other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, academic belonging and social integration positively mediate the effect of resilience on engagement in addition to demonstrating independent positive predictive effects. Inspection of resilience profiles reveals substantial model fit differences, suggesting use of different engagement strategies between student groups. Findings contribute to understanding of HE student engagement during ERT in the Netherlands and provide novel insight on the mechanisms between resilience and engagement. While ERT continues to be required, engagement may be enhanced by stimulating academic belonging for all students generally, but low resilience students could be best served by additionally targeting social integration and resilience.