Belonging is an important counterpart to Inclusion and covers the personal and emotional aspects rather than objective measures. In a sense, where Inclusion relates to measures taken to actively enable everyone to be involved in the learning process and the wider discussions regarding the student experience, Belonging relates to each individual's feelings related to the success of these Inclusive measures.
Belonging is more abstract than other elements of Inclusion, such as Diversity, and can effectively be summed up by the question "Do I belong here?". The answer to this question will be very personal and reflect the experience of each individual, and therefore will reflect the effect of any Inclusivity initiatives in the context of each individual student. A fundamental part of the sense of belonging is whether a person feels other people like them are also in the same environment, and can reflect a whole range of aspects of the individual, including race, class, nationality, age, etc. Therefore an important way to develop a sense of belonging in students is to both encourage a diverse community of students and staff as well as making this diversity more apparent.
