In partnership with researchers from the University of Michigan, we surveyed high school students across America to understand how school design can promote feelings of belonging. Access our study here.
Loneliness is a pressing public health issue, and adolescents are feeling acutely disconnected—in a recent survey, only 55% of high schoolers reported feeling close to people at school. Research has shown that the built environment influences feelings of social connectedness and belonging. Because teens spend so much time at school, it stands to reason that school design would impact their sense of belonging. However, architects have lacked guidance for how to design schools that support it.
Until now. Our team of interdisciplinary researchers designed a study to directly understand from students the relationship between their school’s built environment and their feelings of belonging. Our paper, published in the journal Children, Youth and Environments, offers new insights that can inform both school design and policy efforts aimed at improving youth belonging.
Why Study Belonging?
Many people think of belonging as being only about social connections. However, research points to a broader definition that suggests an important role for architecture. In their influential review, Dr. Kelly-Ann Allen and colleagues define belonging as “a subjective feeling that one is an integral part of their surrounding systems, including family, friends, school, work environments, communities, cultural groups, and physical places.” Notably, this definition includes not just relationships to individuals, but a sense of connection with places—aligning with research showing that places contribute to our identities and environmental cues can communicate that a space is or is not for certain people.
Since young people spend a significant portion of their day-to-day lives in schools, it’s important to understand how these places promote or hinder feelings of social connectedness and belonging. The issue is made even more pressing because our school building stock is aging; more than half of schools are due for major renovation or replacement. At a moment when we’re poised to make a generational investment in school facilities, many school design guidelines lack clear recommendations for how to create environments that foster social connection. Our research begins to fill that gap.
Our Research Team
Andrew Ibrahim, MD, was the project advisor. He’s an associate professor of surgery and architecture at the University of Michigan (UM) and co-director of the university’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy.
Maya Fraser was our project lead/analyst. She’s a staff designer at Quinn Evans and Health and Design Fellow at UM. Formerly a global health researcher specializing in impact evaluation, she now focuses on school architecture and post-occupancy evaluations.
Lauren Szczgiel, PhD, was our research advisor. She’s a qualitative research analyst at UM’s Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy who has conducted extensive participatory action research to improve youth access to sports and physical activity.
Mitchell Mead, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, EDAC, was our analyst. With degrees in architecture and economics, he’s an MD candidate and Health Design Fellow at UM’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.
What We Did
Using the SMS (text message)-based platform MyVoice, our multidisciplinary team of researchers and practitioners in design and medicine asked current and recent high school students the following open-ended questions:
- What do you LIKE about the building and outdoor spaces at your high school? Why?
- What do you NOT like about the buildings and outdoor spaces at your high school? Why?
- Describe the indoor/outdoor spaces in your high school where you feel most comfortable, like to hang out, or feel a sense of belonging. Tell us about the space and why it makes you feel that way.
- Describe the indoor/outdoor space in your high school where you feel most Uncomfortable, avoid spending time, or feel like you don’t belong. Tell us about the space and why it makes you feel that way.
- If you were designing a high school to help all students feel like they belong in their school community, what would you include? (Examples: layout, outdoor spaces, places to do certain activities, decorations, furniture, etc.)
More than 500 people responded, including students from urban, suburban, and rural schools across the country. We analyzed their responses, taking note of which areas of their school they discussed, what design elements were present, and what emotions they felt. From there, we were able to rank areas of the school by how often they were mentioned as a place of belonging or not belonging and identify associated design factors, types of social interaction, and respondent feelings.
What We Found
Students had a lot to say! In general, they gave high-quality feedback that suggests actionable design strategies. For example:
The student lounge is my favorite spot at school. It has a relaxed vibe with comfy couches and games, making it a great place to unwind between classes. … The atmosphere is friendly and inclusive, which really makes me feel like I belong and can be myself.
SURVEY RESPONDENT
Many of the places students identified as unwelcoming or uncomfortable were spaces that induced a feeling of stress or overwhelm, often associated with a confluence of overcrowding, too much noise, lack of privacy, and poor environmental quality (including temperature control and ventilation). The cafeteria, with its noise, smells, and social pressures, was frequently reported as a site of discomfort. Outdoor spaces, libraries, arts spaces, and student-centered spaces were cited as places of belonging.
Crucially, several design features are shared by spaces where students felt they belonged:
Views of nature. Respondents valued natural light as well as views and access to green spaces as a respite from the hectic school environment.
Quiet. In a similar vein, students like calm and quiet spaces where they can unwind; these included the library, classroom reading nooks, and outdoor spaces.
Soft seating. Many students expressed a desire for comfortable, lounge-like seating, particularly in areas where they spend unstructured time.
Color and decoration. While students disagreed on an ideal color palette, they preferred a non-institutional aesthetic with color and decoration.
What Comes Next
We hope our research, which is available for free here, will inform updated school design guidelines that reflect student-centered elements and support belonging. Forthcoming work from organizations such as the Coalition for the Advanced Understanding of School Environments, which aims to provide standardized post-occupancy evaluation tools for schools, will provide further guidance.
We also hope schools will use the actionable ideas in our study to start making inexpensive improvements now. As we found in our previous research project on daylighting design for circadian health, many of the features students suggested don’t require a capital project, just a different way of thinking.
For us, supporting the wellness building occupants is an extension of our mission to discover design solutions that enrich lives. As always, we hope the design community will use and build on our research to create ever-better places for people.
