Sense of belonging defined: a conceptual exploration through a qualitative content analysis of ethnic-minority students’ experiences at university

It became apparent that academic retention in higher education (HE) is influenced beyond academic factors alone. Given sense of belonging’s (SoB’s) relationship with educational and broader outcomes, researchers have shifted their attention to studying SoB’s role in explaining social inequities in HE. However, there is little research that describes how ethnic-cultural minority (ECM) students themselves define and experience SoB, which questions the validity of currently employed measurement instruments. This study builds on this research by conducting a qualitative content analysis on data from 69 interviews with Flemish (Belgian) ECM students. While SoB matters for all students, ECM-students experience greater concerns due to their social identities, which make them more vulnerable to negative stereotyping. Flanders constitutes a theoretically interesting case as ECM and low-socioeconomic status students are less likely to enroll and more likely to underachieve in HE, despite its relatively open-access HE-system. The findings show the importance of the social domain and to a lesser extent, the personal and academic domain for ECM students in defining SoB. This paper concludes by offering a definition and the development of a conceptual model of university SoB that seeks to capture its universal aspects across diverse contexts and social groups. The conclusion discusses the implications of this study for future research and social policy.