“It is not a top priority”: Exploring how Chinese university students enact their agency in developing global competence

• Qualitative data were collected from 52 university students in China. • Global competence development is influenced by both individual and structural factors. • Four distinct profiles of student agency in global competence development were identified: proactive, strategic, constrained, and minimal. • The majority of students demonstrated limited or minimal agency in developing their global competence.. • Students’ agency in developing global competence was constrained by inadequate institutional support for the internationalisation of the student experience, an excessive emphasis on academic achievement, and insufficient family support. Global competence is increasingly important for students in an internationalised world, but the role of students’ personal agency in developing this competence has attracted little research, especially concerning domestic students in non-Western contexts. To explore students’ exercise of agency to build global competence, and the personal and structural factors influencing agency, this study gathered qualitative data from 52 domestic students in two universities in China. Four distinct profiles of student agency in pursuit of global competence were identified: proactive, strategic, constrained, and minimal. Students who perceived global competence as aligned with their personal goals and motivations, and who felt capable of achieving those goals, were more likely to engage proactively in developing this competence. However, the majority of participants demonstrated more limited or even minimal agency in developing global competence, often assuming it was beyond their capabilities and/or not sufficiently relevant to their academic and personal lives. Inadequate institutional efforts to internationalise the student experience, an over-emphasis on academic achievement, and insufficient family support were identified as factors contributing to the observed patterns of limited agency. These findings call for more effective university approaches to promote student engagement with global competence, including reforms to assessment systems and greater internationalisation of educational provision to recognise and foster students’ holistic development.