Student agency in an age of anxiety: Implications for Higher Education

Before starting at the University, I spent a decade working in psychotherapy services supporting adults whose early lives had been shaped by neglect and abuse. The therapy, both psychologically and socially driven, supported individuals in the difficult work of constructing meaningful lives – often for the first time – learning to trust their capacity to shape their own futures.

That experience left me acutely aware of how deeply personal biographies shape interpretations of the present moment, as well as confidence and expectations for the future.

While university students are not typically characterised by such profound trauma, it has sensitised me to the impact of lived experience on their ability to make use of the opportunities afforded by Higher Education.

As educators, it behoves us to recognise that students arrive not simply as learners, but as individuals whose sense of agency has been shaped by complex social, cultural, and developmental forces.

Two influential texts – Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation and Bruce Hood’s The Science of Happiness – offer important insights into these forces. Haidt identifies a profound shift in childhood over the past two decades, marked by the rise of smartphone-based “phone childhoods” and a decline in risk-taking and independent play.

This transition, he argues, has contributed to rising levels of anxiety, fragility, and a reduced tolerance for challenge. Students may therefore arrive at university less experienced in navigating uncertainty, risk, and failure – an issue that, for some, is compounded by negative messaging about their academic ability at school. Hood, meanwhile, emphasises that happiness is not an individual achievement but is deeply rooted in social connection, purpose, and engagement. His work challenges the notion that wellbeing is derived by individuals alone, instead highlighting the importance of belonging and contribution.

For Higher Education, these perspectives carry significant implications. First, universities must move beyond a narrow focus on knowledge transmission and attend more explicitly to the development of agency, resilience, and purpose. Second, learning environments must be structured to support students in gradually building confidence through meaningful challenge, rather than shielding them from it. Third, institutions must recognise that wellbeing and academic success are intertwined: students who feel disconnected or lack purpose are less likely to thrive intellectually.

At the University of Chester, the Future Skills Curriculum represents a deliberate response to these challenges. By explicitly linking theory with practice, it fosters meaning in learning – students come to understand not simply what they are studying, but why it matters.

The emphasis on co-production further strengthens this by positioning students as active participants in their education, rather than passive recipients. Crucially, connecting academic learning to future employment helps students construct a coherent narrative between their present efforts and their future selves, reinforcing direction and agency.

Within undergraduate Sports disciplines, this approach is operationalised in tangible ways. A structured wellbeing survey, discussed with personal academic tutors, creates an early opportunity to identify both practical and emotional barriers to engagement, signalling that the institution recognises the whole student. The design of the first term is particularly significant: by embedding practical achievements early, students experience the reinforcing cycle of engagement leading to success, helping to counter self-limiting beliefs. The integration of theory with practice ensures that learning is experienced as relevant and actionable.

The development of a longitudinal learning portfolio further strengthens this approach. By encouraging students to track their development across three years, the portfolio helps them recognise both their growth and their capacity to overcome challenges. This continuity mitigates the potential fragmentation of a modular system and supports a coherent sense of progression.

The inclusion of explicit teaching around resilience provides students with practical strategies to manage adversity – normalising challenge as a fundamental part of learning rather than a signal of inadequacy. Finally, the team is working towards professional accreditation within the courses, enabling students to gain employment-related qualifications before completing their degree and creating opportunities to apply their learning in practice while studying.

Taken together, these approaches point towards a broader shift in educational philosophy: from delivering knowledge to cultivating capability. If contemporary students are, as Haidt suggests, less practised in navigating difficulty, and if, as Hood argues, meaning and connection underpin wellbeing, then universities must become spaces where challenge is encountered productively, competence is built, and purpose is developed.

My earlier clinical experience underscores a simple but powerful truth: people thrive when they believe they can shape their own future. Higher Education has a critical role in helping students arrive at that belief, as individuals, and in doing so for Universities to remain the driving force for social mobility.

About the author:

Dr Matt Bowen is Head of School for Allied and Public Health at the University of Chester. He spent a decade working in a national centre of excellence for the treatment of people diagnosed with personality disorder, where he practised as a mental health nurse and clinical specialist. This clinical experience was complemented by research exploring how systems and staff interactions create environments that enable change and personal growth.

Matt’s research has continued in the field of therapeutic work with this important and often stigmatised group. He has also conducted a series of studies examining how the media represents mental health, both in general and across specific conditions, including personality disorder, schizophrenia, and eating disorders.

At the University of Chester, his clinical background informs not only his teaching but also his leadership approach, with a focus on how educational environments can be intentionally designed to support student development, growth, and agency.