Delaney Peckham ’25 wants to better understand what fosters a sense of belonging and well-being among students with marginalized identities at Elizabethtown College. To do so, the Psychology major is working alongside faculty mentor and Associate Professor of Psychology Evan Smith this summer through the Summer Creative Arts and Research Program (SCARP), analyzing data that was collected from Smith’s research of First-Year Seminar students as a DEIB Faculty Fellow during the 2023-24 academic year and examining how students from underrepresented backgrounds have different perceptions in their belonging at Etown.

Peckham plans to submit her findings to the Association for Psychological Science (APS) this fall with hopes of presenting in the spring. The duo is also collaborating this summer on a chapter for the upcoming book, “Teaching Introduction to Psychology” in the Elgar Guides to Teaching series, in which they will discuss ways to build students’ understanding of Psychology’s active role in bettering the human condition.

Title of Research
The Impact of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging Engagement on First Year Students

Student Researcher
Delaney Peckham ’25 (Psychology major)

Faculty Mentor
Evan Smith, Associate Professor of Psychology

What are you researching?

Peckham: My research began by analyzing data that Dr. Smith collected in the fall and the spring about the effectiveness of diversity, equity, and belonging interventions on first-year students. I worked to understand the relationship between the multitude of variables collected about first-year students and the literature in the field surrounding DEI work and interventions. Outside of the sample, I have been able to further look at the data and see how students from underrepresented backgrounds have different perceptions of their belonging at college. Focusing on this group of students, who often experience the hardest time adjusting to college and feeling like their institution is for them, has helped me understand the existing struggles and differences between groups of students.

Why did you choose this topic?

Peckham: I chose this topic because I believe all students should have a place at Elizabethtown College. Part of increasing belonging has to be through informing students’ understanding of diversity, equity, and belonging. Without that, students from diverse backgrounds are more likely to be overlooked, feel singled out, and have lower retention than students who are in the majority and feel more represented and have a larger support system. When Dr. Smith and I spoke about his research and what he had collected so far in the fall, I found a lot of fascination and curiosity in the differences between the identities of students going into college and how those identities altered their perceptions of themselves and further of this school.

What is the most interesting aspect of this research?

Peckham: What’s most interesting to me is not only getting the results but considering why they occurred. Sometimes results within this research were contrary to the current understanding in the field, so thinking out those complexities has been fascinating to me.

What are you hoping to accomplish through this research project?

Peckham: Through this project, I hope to expand the understanding of the negative emotions surrounding belonging and institutional efforts surrounding diversity that Students of Color and LGBTQ+ students experience at Elizabethtown College. With understanding those gaps, we as a community will ask why and what more can be done to make this effect as minimal as possible so that more students feel like they have a safe space to be themselves at Elizabethtown College.

How has your faculty mentor helped you?

Peckham: Working with Dr. Smith has been an amazing opportunity and privilege due to his wealth of knowledge in the psychology field especially in the area of DEB research. He always takes the time to not only make sure that I understand all the results that we are gathering but also to talk about the implications and the wider scope of the issues. Whenever we speak, I feel not only that he is listening but considering my perspective and the ideas that I am bringing to the project.

Hear from the faculty mentor – Evan Smith

“Laney is an exceptional student and is deeply passionate about social issues and committed to equity and inclusivity. She is highly motivated, has great ideas, and is impressively attuned to detail. It is exciting to see students enjoy the research process – to be excited when findings come out in interesting ways and to be frustrated when something just doesn’t make sense.”