Globally, increased length-of-life trends parallel the rise in reported levels of loneliness. Social connectedness is associated with a 50% reduced risk of premature mortality, and research has shown there is a moderately strong association between people who are lonely and people who have an unmet desire to belong. As so, urban planners and designers continually try to understand place relationships within communities to better the health and welfare of future generations. This thesis acknowledges there is a gap of understanding how the built and natural environment play a role in an increased sense of belonging, thus contributing to an alleviation of reported feelings of loneliness and potentially increasing length and quality of life. Utilizing the ‘Blue Zone’ island of Ikaria as a case study, where residents commonly live well beyond 90 and 100 years, this thesis aims to better understand connections between longevity and the physical environment for the longest-lived, cataloguing how these connections influence feelings of belonging. The research consists of a site visit to Ikaria, Greece, where data was collected over the period of five days, employing interview and field observation methods. Drawing from key concepts within environmental psychology and placemaking, the work critically explores the perceptions of Ikarian elders and the public space they regularly inhabit, as well as their role in contributing to sense of place and feelings of belonging. The conclusion offers suggestions on how urban planners might take these findings into consideration, as it is of great importance for planning professionals to better understand individual perceptions of their environment, which may help prevent alienation and increase overall wellbeing.

Higher education institutions are facing a major challenge in retaining 1st-year college students and engaging them in meaningful activities and programs to promote their sense of belonging (Strayhorn, 2012; Astin, 1993). Though a few belonging intervention practices have been studied (Perrell, 2018; Peck, 2011), there is a lack of understanding on the dynamic mechanisms of developing belongingness through a combination of belonging enhancement practices (Yob, 2014). Moreover, there is an urgent need to examine which belonging enhancement practice has the most impact on students' academic performance (Slaten, Elison, Hughes, Youg, & Shemwell, 2015). This study used convergent, parallel mixed-methods design to make meanings from both qualitative and quantitative data on the effect of the service-learning leadership program (SLLP) for 1st-year students at a large, public university on perceived sense of belonging and related academic performance, and the mechanism of the dynamic process. Quantitative data contained 2 parts: the 1st part is university student record data from 2007 to 2018 with total of 2,762 students, and the 2nd part of the data were collected through pre-and post-surveys from total of 262 students in treatment and control groups. Qualitative data were collected from 9 participants through individual interviews, focus group and weekly journals. Quantitative datasets were analyzed through mixed-design MANOVA, mixed-design ANOVA and hierarchical (logistic) multiple regressions, and qualitative data was analyzed through spiral approach. The findings demonstrated that the studied program protected against the decline of sense of belonging in the 1st semester of college year, and it brought more benefits to male and racial minority students as compared to female and racial majority students. Moreover, the findings indicated mentorship and living-learning community practices had the most impact on students' sense of belonging and academic performance, and suggested further improvement for performance feedback, social media and service-learning practice. The results of the study have implications for future institutional interventions and provide comprehensive practical guidelines for belonging enhancement programs for 1st-year students. The conclusions provide recommendations for designing and implementing belonging intervention programs that bring maximum outcomes on students' sense of belonging, retention and academic performance.

Community college students are often excluded from persistence studies due to the unique characteristics of community colleges and its students. Recent studies have heavily relied on retention models that do not adequately account for the role individual and campus culture plays in students’ persistence decisions. Using Museus’ (2014) Culturally Engaging Campus Environment (CECE) model, this cross-sectional, correlational study examined the impact of campus environment perceptions and sense of belonging on the persistence decisions of students at a rural community college in the southeastern part of the U.S. Correlation analyses were conducted to investigate the relationships between two independent variables, campus environment perceptions and sense of belonging, and one dependent variable, students’ persistence decisions. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if differences in campus environment perceptions and sense of belonging existed between racial and gender identity groups. Lastly, a t-test was conducted to examine differences between residential and commuter students. Utilizing the CECE Survey for Community Colleges (Museus et al., 2017), a total of 234 responses were analyzed. The results revealed that students are more likely to persist when they have a positive perception of the campus environment. It also revealed that students were more likely to persist when they possessed a strong sense of belonging. Upon examining differences of campus environment perceptions, the results showed that gender identity influenced campus environment perceptions and race influenced sense of belonging among students. There was insufficient evidence to establish differences of campus environment perceptions and sense of belonging among residential and commuter students. Limitations regarding this study included its generalizability due to the low number of survey responses and the physical aspect of campus environment and campus culture. Recommendations for policymakers and practitioners include consideration for community memberships, increase campus support for underrepresented groups, and cultural competency for training. Recommendations for future research include the use of different theoretical frameworks to understand student persistence, continued studies involving community colleges, inclusive campus environment perceptions and sense of belonging studies, and qualitative studies on campus environment perceptions and sense of belong of community college students.

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Sammanfattning  Författare: Beverly Smedenäs & Sara Fernlund Institution: Ekonomihögskolan, Linnéuniversitetet Kalmar Program: Human Resource Management - Personalledning och organisationsutveckling. Kurs: Företagsekonomi III - Organisation, Kandidatuppsats (examensarbete) - 2FE78E. Handledare: Jasmina Beharic Examinator: Mikael Lundgren Titel: “Äsch, det är inte så noga, jag är ju bara här en säsong”- en kvalitativ fallstudie om säsongsanställningars påverkan på organisationsidentiteten. Problemformulering: Hur påverkas organisationens identitet av att majoriteten av medarbetarna är säsongsanställda? Syfte: Syftet med studien är att studera en organisations identitet och hur den påverkas av att en majoritet av medarbetarna är säsongsanställda, för att på så vis skapa medvetenhet om ämnet. Vidare är syftet att bidra med kunskap kring hur det sätt organisationen arbetar på kan komma att påverka organisationens identitet beroende på hur personalstyrkan väljer att identifiera sig. Metod: Studien är en fallstudie med syfte att undersöka om organisationens identitet påverkas av att majoriteten av medarbetarna är säsongsanställda. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ intervjumetod med en deduktiv forskningsansats. Det empiriska materialet är insamlat genom sex semistrukturerade intervjuer. Slutsats: Med vår studie har vi kommit fram till att organisationsidentiteten påverkas av säsongsanställningar i viss mån. Dock inte så pass mycket att den organisatoriska identiteten helt försvinner. Vi har kunnat fastställa att konkurrerande identiteter såsom individuell identitet, som “säsongare”, samt sociala och gruppidentiteter har så pass stor påverkan på de säsongsanställda att det är inte är förrän någon gör återkommande säsonger som organisationens identitet blir den primära för de säsongsanställda. / Abstract Authors: Beverly Smedenäs & Sara Fernlund  Department: School of Economics, Linnaeus University, Kalmar  Program: Human Resource Management - Personnel management and organizational development. Course: Business Economics III - Organization, Bachelor’s Thesis - 2FE78E. Supervisor: Jasmina Beharic Examiner: Mikael Lundgren Title: "Ah, it's not that important, I'm only here for the season" - a qualitative case study on the impact of seasonal employment on organizational identity. Research question: How is the organization's identity affected by the fact that the majority of the employees are seasonal employees? Purpose: The purpose of the study is to study an organization's identity and how it is affected by the fact that a majority of employees are seasonal employees, in order to create awareness of the subject. Furthermore, the purpose is to contribute knowledge about how the way the organization works may affect the organization's identity depending on how the staff chooses to identify themselves. Method: The study is a case study with the purpose of examining whether the organization's identity is affected by the fact that the majority of employees are seasonal employees. The study is based on a qualitative interview method with a deductive research approach. The empirical material is collected through six semi-structured interviews. Conclusion: With our study, we have come to the conclusion that organizational identity is affected by seasonal employment to a certain extent. However, not so much that the organizational identity disappears completely. We have been able to establish that competing identities such as individual identities, as a “seasonal”, social and group identities have such a large impact on seasonal employees that it is not until someone does recurring seasons that the organization's identity becomes the primary one for seasonal employees.

This thesis is a qualitative case study that explores bisexual migrants’ experiences of belonging in Sweden. The study employs semi-structured interviews to gain an understanding of the importance of bisexual migrants’ different identities in facilitating belonging both in the context of a new country and within the wider LGBT community. Supported by theoretical concepts such as outside belonging, passing and monosexism, this thesis servers to highlight the complexities of belonging at the intersection of being bisexual and a migrant. The results of this study find that sexual identity is something more fixed than migrant identity which evokes feelings of outside belonging. The perceived LGBT-friendliness of Sweden however, proves significant in allowing participants to live out their bisexuality compared to their respective home countries, but navigating belonging within the LGBT community being bisexual can remain challenging, even in Sweden.