Belonging at the Margins: An Intersectional Analysis of Girls’ Educational Experiences in Rural India

What does it mean for marginalized adolescent girls in India to belong in school? This study explores how girls attending Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) - residential public schools for historically underrepresented communities - conceptualize and experience school belonging. Using qualitative data from focus group discussions with 60 girls in the Mewat district of Haryana, India, this research examines belonging not as a universal psychological state but as a situated, intersectional phenomenon that is shaped by gender, caste, class, religion, and spatial dynamics. Integrating psychological theories of belonging with Antonsich’s (2010) five-dimensional framework, the analysis reveals how school belonging emerges through emotional connection, aspirational identity, and spatial safety, while simultaneously being constrained by structural inequalities in girls’ homes and communities. Four central themes are developed: a) emotional and relational anchors, b) aspirations, freedom and contours of belonging, c) spatial belonging, and d) the politics of inclusion and exclusion. Findings underscore the need to move beyond individualized understandings of belonging and instead examine how it is produced through both personal narratives and social hierarchies. This study contributes to a growing literature that centers intersectionality and lived experience in understanding educational belonging and calls for context-sensitive research, policy, and practice to foster equitable schooling environments for girls at the margins.