‘I am because we are’: unfolding role identity and tensions of South African middle leaders in engineering as change agents

This paper explores how role identity enables or constrains academic middle leaders in engineering as change agents within South African higher education. Framed by complexity theory, the study draws on the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI), which conceptualizes role identity as a complex, dynamic system shaped by the interaction of internal and external factors. Data were collected from eleven academic engineering middle leaders during a pedagogical development programme in Denmark. Using multiple qualitative sources, the study examines how participants’ role identities are constructed through their self-perceptions, epistemological beliefs, goals, emotions, and perceived action possibilities, across student, teacher, curriculum, institutional, and national-levels. Misalignments across these domains give rise to role tensions, including resistance to change, limited authority, resource constraints, and broader socio-economic challenges. The findings contribute a context-sensitive reading of DSMRI by incorporating a collective, relational lens that foregrounds community, mutual accountability, and shared purpose. This shifts the emphasis from individual agency to collaborative leadership and interconnected identity formation. The study concludes that enabling sustained educational change requires strategic support for middle leadership, investment in professional learning communities, and long-term institutional commitment to building capacity for change across multiple system levels.