Supporting Youth Agency
A sense of agency arises from an individual feeling self-determination and control in a given situation. When youth are able to set goals, direct their actions, and have some choices in a given situation, they tend to be intrinsically motivated. Experiencing a sense of agency (often referred to as autonomy) is especially developmentally important for young adolescents who are beginning the important task of becoming independent individuals.
Activity leaders (ALs) in out-of-school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning environments who work with young adolescents generally want them to take responsibility for their actions and to engage in and take charge over their learning. A sense of agency tends to contribute to intrinsic motivation, which often has far-reaching impacts on interest, persistence, and achievement. For these reasons, we investigated what contributed to young adolescents’ feelings of control as they participated in STEM summer programs and tracked ALs’ support for youth agency during STEM activities.
Findings from our research study, ideas about what activity leaders can do to support youth agency, and further resources for learning more about youth agency and how to support it can be found by clicking on the links.
