Towards Multilayered Framework Of Digital Agency: Insights From A Rapid Hybrid Review

Digital agency is an emerging concept in research on technology use in education, socialinclusion, and working life, yet its conceptual fragmentation calls for synthesis. To address this gap,we conducted a rapid hybrid systematic-narrative review of 42 studies, identified using the search terms“digital agency,” “transformative digital agency,” and “technological agency” in Dimensions.ai andGoogle Scholar, supplemented by snowball sampling strategies. The review addressed three questions:What is the current state of research on digital agency? How is digital agency interpreted throughconcepts like digital agency, transformative digital agency, and technological agency? In which contextsof study has digital agency been examined? First, the review revealed that research on digital agencyis growing but lacks conceptual coherence. Second, digital agency is understood through threeoverlapping concepts: digital agency, transformative digital agency, and technological agency. Eachemphasizes a slightly different focus. Nevertheless, collectively, they describe individuals’ capacity toact, adapt, and influence in digital environments shaped by sociotechnical conditions and anunderstanding of technology and its impacts. These concepts highlight the mindset—digital competence,confidence, and accountability—that motivates or inhibits technology use. Third, digital agency hasbeen studied in education, social inclusion, and work, often as a situational and individualphenomenon. This study synthesizes these perspectives into a multilayered framework and anintegrated definition that encompasses conceptual, individual, situational, and sociotechnicaldimensions, offering a foundation for future research.