The Association Between Student-Teacher Relationship Quality and School Belonging for Ethnically and Culturally Diverse Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

In light of the enduring benefits of a strong sense of school belonging, evidence that students with diverse backgrounds often report poor school belonging is particularly concerning. Although high-quality student-teacher relationships (STRs) are among the most important factors positively associated with students’ sense of school belonging, little research has explicitly focused on students with diverse backgrounds when investigating this link. This gap in knowledge limits our understanding of how diverse students’ sense of school belonging may be supported. To address this, the present systematic review and meta-analysis synthesised existing literature on the association between STRs and school belonging for ethnically and culturally diverse students. Our search identified 28 studies with 41 effect sizes from a combined sample of 21,597 students in 9 countries. Using a three-level meta-analysis model, we found an overall positive effect for the association between high-quality STRs and school belonging for ethnically and culturally diverse students (r = .45, 95% CI [.38, .52]). The link between high-quality STRs and school belonging was positive irrespective of students’ cultural or ethnic background. Moderation analysis revealed that this positive link did not vary across gender, age, and education level, but that studies published within the last decade (2016–2024) demonstrated larger effects than those published between 2007 and 2015. Overall, our findings suggest that efforts to improve the quality of STRs as a means of facilitating diverse student’s sense of school belonging may indeed be appropriate.