Fernandez, DanielaWong, Chuk YanBedford, SummerOliveria-Silva, LigiaBegeny, ChristopherRyan, Michelle2025-06-302025-06-301052-9284ORCID:/0000-0003-1091-9275/work/177036695http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85215265753&partnerID=8YFLogxKhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/733765909Attention has been given to increasing the sense of belonging of students from disadvantaged socioeconomic groups in higher education (HE). Research in belonging has focused on objective indicators of socioeconomic status (SES; i.e., educational status, household income), yet focus on subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) is more limited. We address this gap in two studies, including a cross-sectional survey (N = 503) and semi-structured interviews (N = 16), to address two questions: (a) to what extent SSS and a sense of belonging are associated; and (b) what are the social identity processes that might help to explain the relationship between SSS and belonging. As expected, SSS was positively associated with a sense of belonging, such that higher SSS was associated with higher levels of a sense of belonging. Together, these studies illustrate that SSS (a) is yet another way that SES operates to benefit some and disadvantage others; (b) provides an opportunity to analyse the role of intergroup relations in individuals' experiences and (c) is interlocked with intersectional identities, such as ethnicity and race.This work was funded by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID)/Scholarship Program/DOCTORADO BECAS CHILE/2019–72,200,022, and the Geis Memorial Award (APA, Div. 35) awarded to the first author. Also, this research has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 725128) awarded to the sixth author.13en© 2025 The Author(s).belonginghigher educationsocial classsocial identitysocioeconomic status2025-01-1410.1002/casp.7003785215265753