When students enter higher education, they not only start learning and studying but begin a journey of becoming someone new in relation to themselves and to society. Scholarly research has increasingly emphasised this transformative element of higher education yet, to date, the role of assessment has received little attention in the processes of…

In discussing the functions of education Gert Biesta distinguishes qualification, socialisation and subjectification. In subjectification higher education facilitates the evolution of students as distinctive self-determining persons. This paper foregrounds and discusses 'student self-formation', a paradigm of subjectification with fecund…

This study investigated agricultural leadership development programs within the U.S. land-grant university system, initially launched by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in 1965 and currently offered by 38 universities nationwide. Despite their widespread adoption, these programs often lack explicit integration of leadership scholarship and may…

The study of student development has long been considered a cornerstone of the higher education and student affairs (HESA) profession. However, perspectives on what constitutes student development have evolved as scholars continuously embrace more critical frameworks to implicate systems of power and oppression--what scholars have termed the third…

Current student development theories are mostly grounded in the experiences of domestic students in North America. The increasing portion of the international students in the post-secondary student population has created a glaring gap for a unique theory of international student development. A unique theory for international student development,…

Design schools represent a unique context for the study of creativity. Design school students are expected to master creativity by developing individualized processes. Student development in the design classroom has traditionally focused on cultivating professional skills and aptitudes. However, design school students may have long-held beliefs…

The needs of contemporary doctoral scholar-practitionership are placing demands on institutions of higher education to assess the methods by which curriculum and faculty resources are invested in student development. As students continue, often, to remain in practice during doctoral studies, the need to develop and assume an identity as a…

In diverse university contexts, students need to constantly navigate and negotiate their social identities. Students bring their unique embedded histories and cultures to the university context and position and reposition themselves to experience a sense of belonging. These experiences contribute to student self-formation and sense of being. This…

This article explores students' experiences of intellectual, social, and emotional growth during the first year at university and the extent to which these experiences can be considered transformative (Mezirow, 1981). The study is a qualitative interpretive multiple-case study built on semi-structured interviews with students in two higher…

Campus traditions are powerful vehicles that can shape college life (Cowley & Waller, 1979). Students foster smaller identities through their involvement in traditions on campus, and these traditions often ritualize coming-of-age or the start of American adulthood (Bronner, 2012). However, the climate of higher education today may be putting…

Work-integrated learning (WIL) has become an increasingly common feature of higher education curricula. Two aspects of WIL, authenticity and consistency, are valued in different ways by the stakeholders involved. Authenticity, by its very nature, supports the idea of learning being personalized and unique. Consistency, on the other hand, is…

Religious development literature in Christian higher education has successfully utilized Self-Determination Theory to explain how environmental factors predict faith maturity in college students. Recent trends suggest a need to account for more ecumenical perspectives in contemporary evangelical college students, and this study addresses the need…

Peru faces substantial social and economic inequality. Rural communities experience social exclusion through the undervaluation of their cultural heritage and native languages, creating significant barriers to their personal and professional growth. Higher education scholarships aim to address this issue, yet educational institutions--typically…

This phenomenological study investigates the educational experiences formerly incarcerated students identify as being important developmentally as part of their participation in a college-in-prison program. It does so by exploring the experiences of 21 formerly incarcerated students who participated in the Boston University Prison Education…

For centuries, Black people have fought and wrestled against forces of human domination that have hindered their progression to obtain and maintain basic needs, particularly in higher education. More specifically, white supremacist structures have sought to prevent Black people from being educated and taught about their history with emphasis on…