WEEKEND READING: Part Two: ‘Belonging’ is in the eye of the beholder – steps to creating a sense of ‘belonging’: a practitioner’s approach

This blog was kindly authored by Dr Michelle Morgan, Dean of Student, University of East London, Dr Emily Mcintosh, Chief Student Officer, Harper Adams University,  Professor Claire Hamshire, Pro-Vice Chancellor Education, Oxford Brooks University and Rebecca Page-Tickell, Academic Director for Inclusive Practices, University of East London. 

As highlighted in part one, there are major challenges with the use of the term ‘belonging’ in higher education institutions. The term is not uniformly defined and is used in relation to a range of factors: from academic success, to social integration and student engagement. The conclusion of part one of this blog series was that creating a sense of trust and mattering so students feel seen, heard and valued within an institution is critical in contributing to a sense of belonging. But how do we do this? What questions do we need to ask, and what else do we need to consider when creating effective steps to enabling a sense of ‘belonging’?

Questions to ask

1. Can all students belong?
2. What do we need to know in terms of student priorities for the coming year and what helped them fit or settle into their last place of study?
3. What helps them feel valued and that they matter?
4. What is important in increasing engagement?

Can all students belong?

When looking at the concept of belonging, an important question to ask is whether it is possible for all students to belong, especially with such diversity, different modes of study and different life demands?  

Does a student need or want to belong to their institution where they are studying? Are they able to? For example, a commuter student may have a 1.5-hour trip to campus each way, so struggles to stay on campus to undertake extra-curricula activities. A mature student may already have an identity that feeds into their community where they live, so they may feel that they do not need to get involved in institutional co or extra-curricular activities. But if these students are told that engaging in these activities helps create a sense of belonging at their institution, then are we not giving them a deficit message, thus not helping them belong? In fact, we could be alienating them.  The institutional messages we send are important.

We also need to challenge the notion that belonging is ‘conformity’. Students should not be expected to change themselves or their identity in order to conform/fit in (which often feels like a requirement with campus club/society initiations). This also feeds into a wider debate around institutions using the term belonging that are not typically widening access or participation focused. 

Students may also experience different ‘belonging’ needs across their learning journey, especially in relation to their professional identity. Universities encourage a career focus in which students build their professional identity, and the locus of their belonging develops into their profession. Furthermore, a unitary and simplistic construct of belonging is likely to hinder this journey (Ajjawi et. al, 2023).

What do we need to know?

To create an environment of trust and mattering that can lead to belonging, we need to understand a few things about our students on entry, such as:

• What are students’ priorities in the first few months?
• What were important activities that had helped them fit or settle in to their previous study and feel valued by their university?
• Is it the same by student characteristics and level of study?

These questions were asked as part of the first national pilot of an undergraduate and postgraduate taught pre/post-arrival Academic Questionnaire funded by the Office for Students, and led by AdvanceHE, JISC and the University of East London. It was informed by the work of Michelle Morgan, who has been undertaking pre-arrival academic questionnaires at undergraduate and postgraduate taught levels for many years.

What are student priorities?

Students’ priorities on entry from the 15 participating institutions in Phase 1 of the national pilot are listed in Table 1. The top priority for undergraduate and postgraduate taught students are the academic side of life followed by balancing work and study. The social side is third for undergraduates but seventh for postgraduates. For both, involvement in clubs and societies is the lowest priority, yet this is often suggested as a key activity to increase belonging.

What was important in helping students fit in/settle into their last place of study?

When looking at the responses of students regarding what helped them settle or fit into their studies, their priorities are linked to interactions with others in the study realm and the support being provided by their institution (see Table 2).

Table 2 highlights that study-related activities are key. The top three for both undergraduate and postgraduate taught respondents were my course, connecting with others on my course, and my teacher/academic adviser/personal tutor. There are differences in importance by level of study.

Note: that the terminology used for support from teachers/tutors/staff was bespoke to the undergraduate and postgraduate taught  questionnaires.

Understanding student priorities and what is important in helping them fit or settle in can lay the foundations for targeted support and activities. These findings reaffirm the Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change work led Professor Liz Thomas and AdvanceHE, which argues for the need to expand the curriculum as co and extra curricula activities are not sufficient to deliver inclusivity (Thomas.et.al., 2017).

Feeling they matter and are valued

Students were asked to state what made them feel valued and that they mattered in their last place of study. The words they provided were about feelings, relationships, information and activities. There were differences by level of study, as Table 3 highlights.  For undergraduates, words often related to kindness and patience. For postgraduates, it was being recognised and seen. These words will have been influenced by their previous experience, whether that was direct from study or from the world of work. These all help with encouraging engagement. It also provides a rationale for relational approaches as a fundamental underpinning activity when designing and developing pedagogy, learning and teaching and support provision.

The importance of the environment in enabling engagement  

The environment is critical in facilitating feelings of value and mattering, thus helping with engagement. William Kahn, Business engagement expert (1990), argued that to achieve engagement, there needed to be meaningfulness, safety (including trust) and availability across structures, management, resources, policies, strategies and activities.

• Meaningfulness – individuals need to feel a deepened purpose with what they are doing.
• Safety – individuals need to feel safe in expressing how they are feeling without fear of reprisals or criticism, which requires trust.
• Availability – an individual’s personal engagement is affected by the available resources and demands on the individual.

Ed Foster argues that, for the individual to engage within an environment, they need knowledge and understanding, skills and abilities, motivation and self belief and personal capacity (Foster, 2022).

And lastly, as McIntosh and May highlight in their 3 C model of co‑creation, consisting of community, collaboration and cohesion, these are essential in creating an environment that enables and fosters engagement that can then lead to belonging not just for students but also staff (McIntosh and May, 2025).

Three key steps for enabling a sense of belonging

There are interlinking multifaceted factors that are required to enable a sense of belonging to be achieved. Steps One and Two are essential, but Step Three must be considered desirable because you cannot guarantee that a student needs, wants or is able to belong to their institution.

We have come a long way, but we need to listen to the needs of our ever-changing student body by understanding what their priorities are and what helps them settle/fit in may be different. We need to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Critically, this involves recognising the diversity of expectations, assumptions and needs for mattering and belonging as our students transition into places of study as well as places of work. We need to bridge the divide of perception and lack of knowledge with facts, openness and flexible, person-centred support.