Othered from the offset: decolonial narrative analysis of female Indian university student experiences in the North of England

Attending Western universities remains popular, with international students making up a fifth of UK university income. India is a top three country of origin for international students in the UK, with 126,535 Indian students studying in 2021-2022. This educational connection highlights the ongoing relationship between Britain and India post Indian independence. An important consideration is how the British Empire, and colonial legacies have informed Indian international student experiences in UK universities. Despite turbulent political and cultural times, universities remain sites of belonging, and due to increased political and historical awareness, international students' sense of belonging is an important consideration for UK higher education. I ground this project in the decolonial principles of having an ethos of power sharing and the challenging of colonial and Western positions of power; these have helped me to operationalise my decolonial orientation. This thesis follows the narratives of three Indian women, exploring their experiences as international students and their study-related and free time communities. Miguel Zavala's (2016) decolonial strategies of counter/storytelling, healing and reclaiming informed an in-depth qualitative approach.

Two data generation periods of reciprocal interviews were carried out during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. I interpreted, from the women’s narratives, their in- betweenness. In-betweenness conceptually exists as experiencing a lack of belonging, leading to indecision. I contribute to the development of an additional decolonial strategy to help participants work through their in-betweenness which connects past colonial implications and present experiences to prepare for future self-decolonisation. The key messages illustrated conflicting feelings about being labelled as international students and the value of a strong national identity. This shaped the women’s understanding and experiences of their study-related and free time communities. Recommendations include the acknowledgement of the colonial legacies within British universities and better collaboration between students, staff, and management to decolonise the international student experience.