Fostering students’ autonomy within higher education: the relational roots of student adviser supports

Abstract

ABSTRACT As 'self-law', autonomy contributes to people's psychological health and helps secure meaning in one’s life. Within higher education, it enables students to navigate this environment and prepare for professional life, empowering them to take ownership of their learning and development goals. Autonomy is multidimensional, encompassing the local ability to regulate thoughts and behaviours, and the global ability to establish a sense of existential agency; therefore, it is vital to students’ holistic progression and attainment. Within a relational context, interpersonal relationships influence people’s ability to recognise and exercise their autonomous capacities across local and global contexts. Therefore, fostering students’ autonomy is at the heart of support services within Higher Education Institutions. Student Advisers are well placed to undertake this mission, given the range of academic, administrative, and pastoral responsibilities their role entails. In this paper we provide a taxonomy of student autonomy, arguing it is ‘becoming oneself amongst others’. Given autonomy’s relational foundations, a healthy student-adviser connection can provide an environment for students to operate in a co-directive and self-determined manner. Drawing on University College Dublin’s Student Advisory Services, we offer guidance to Student Advisers, proposing two autonomy enhancement strategies: fostering students' self-governance through facilitating intrapersonal ownership and fostering their self-direction by promoting interpersonal embeddedness.