The contemporary contradictions of belonging in higher education: successful transitions in times of crisis

Educational transitions have way-markers and objective milestones as students enter, move through and exit institutional spaces within a normative timeframe. Increasingly, however, scholarship has illuminated the affective dimensions of transition that are less inclined towards measurement, but which nevertheless shape experiences and outcomes. Within these framings, transitions are tied to notions of both success and feelings of belonging, which have been shown to be separate but highly related in Higher Education (HE) policy. Indeed, student belonging now embodies a set of strategies and activities in HE, pervasively constructed as a ‘fix’ for disparities in student experiences and a suitable explainer for gaps in outcomes. In this article, we look closer at the ways belonging is operationalised by institutions and constructed within policy discourse. Through analysis of public-facing institutional texts – from marketing literature to strategy and student support – we draw on Bourdieu’s concept of illusio to offer original insights into the process of transfiguration at play in contemporary institutional belonging work that brings about an unseen redefinition of belonging. We show how, through illusio, belonging is transfigured mostly unquestioningly, as a commodity and process of conformity which limits deeper engagement with the complex interrogations of belonging within educational research.