A cross-cultural exploration of student development in higher education: Acknowledging, exercising, and enhancing agency

Purpose: Students develop and grow throughout higher education. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Building on the premise that individuals develop and grow through interacting with the world, this study explores how students develop, grow, and become empowered in higher education through the lens of I–world interactions. 

Design/Approach/Methods: This study employs a multicultural and multidisciplinary approach by first examining different cultural philosophical approaches to I–world interactions. This is followed by an elaboration of what the interactions mean for individual development and growth in higher education by drawing on psychology, sociology, and educational research. 

Findings: This study argues that there are three essential elements of I–world interactions across three philosophical approaches: acknowledged, exercised, and enhanced individual agency. In higher education, students are strong agents, as demonstrated by sociological theories of agency and psychological evidence of agentic human functioning. Students actively exercise their agency, particularly when interacting with the environment. If organized and practiced well, universities can help students enhance their agency. 

Originality/Value: The three shared elements and empirical evidence together form the foundation for understanding how students become empowered in higher education and for positioning the enhancement of students’ agency at the center of higher education across contexts. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).