Student agency as an enabler in cultivating sustainable competencies for people-oriented technical professions

Rupnik, Denis (author), Avsec, Stanislav (author)

In this article, we provide theoretical and empirical reflections on the agency of secondary school students acting as an enabler in cultivating sustainable competencies, with the aim of providing new insights regarding how to reduce skill gaps in people-oriented technical professions. For this study, we used a complex mixed methods research design consisting of three sequential phases. In addition to a bibliometric analysis, a survey was carried out in a group of students aged 16–19 years (n = 219). The results indicate that the individual constructs of agency are developed unequally, where self-efficacy and locus of control are the most pronounced, while maintained motivation and anticipatory thinking are less present. Next, self-efficacy, persistence, strategic thinking and self-regulation are found to contribute significantly to successful sustainable transformations through fostering resilience, leadership, interdisciplinary thinking and adaptive problem solving. The future orientation of students might be especially critical toward the end of their study, while students in the early years of the study require scaffolding to make better sense of their effort in learning. Student agency acts as a powerful enabler, preparing future professionals to not only master technical skills but also understand and value the human element that is central to their work. Schools should therefore give priority to fostering the development of personal transformative agency in every student, especially during key transition periods.

• Language: English
• Keywords: student agency, cultural–historical activity theory, secondary technical education, competencies for sustainable transformation, people-oriented professions
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 30 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 15, iss. 4, art. 469
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-168621
• UDC: 373.5
• ISSN on article: 2227-7102
• DOI: 10.3390/educsci15040469
• COBISS.SI-ID: 233143299
• Publication date in RUL: 18.04.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Education sciences
• Shortened title: Educ. sci.
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2227-7102
• COBISS.SI-ID: 520257817

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: aktivnosti, srednješolsko izobraževanje, trajnostni razvoj, tehnika, kultura, zgodovina

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P5-0451
• Name: Strategije vzgoje in izobraževanja za trajnostni razvoj ob uporabi inovativnih na učečega osredinjenih izobraževalnih pristopov

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: J5-4573
• Name: Razvijanje veščin 21. stoletja za trajnostni razvoj in kvalitetno izobraževanje v času hitrih tehnološko pogojenih sprememb gospodarskega, socialnega in naravnega okolja