Student-created self-portraits expand the possibilities for understanding how students' complex identities, relationships, and epistemologies shape their self-authoring potential. An illustrative student self-portrait demonstrates how this method reveals the nuances of development. "I like writing, but I can't express myself the…

Evidence abounds that, in recent decades, students have typically entered college relying on perspectives they have uncritically accepted from others and are not sufficiently challenged and supported to transition to internal authority during college. Students who have experienced significant challenge, particularly as a result of marginalization,…

This article describes three distinct yet interrelated elements of self-authorship: trusting the internal voice, building an internal foundation, and securing internal commitments. These elements, which emerged from longitudinal interviews with adults in their 30s, offer insights into the complexity and cyclical nature of self-authorship as well…