More Myself: Exploring Students' Perceptions of Self-Authorship Development

Increasingly, the challenges of modern adult life include the responsibility for ambiguous tasks, the need to work as a team with diverse others and the expectation to make important decisions in the face of competing interests. Research suggests that individuals able to meet these challenges demonstrate self-authorship, a way of knowing that allows them to exert control over their lives. Existing research provides insight into college students’ self-authorship and the influence of situational, environmental and personal factors on self-authorship development. However, the literature has yet to explore students’ own understanding of their self-authorship development. The purpose of this study was to explore the ways students make meaning of their self-authorship and self-authorship development.

This study utilized a qualitative approach and a narrative inquiry design to collect data from recent college graduates. Eleven graduates from a public, comprehensive university in the southeast participated in the study. Participants represented a variety of ethnic backgrounds, ages, and academic disciplines. Each participated in two in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The study utilized a constant comparative approach to analysis, and open, axial, and selective coding, to identify themes that would inform the findings of the study.

The findings of the study include the following: (1) nine of the eleven participants demonstrated self-authored perspectives and processes, (2) participants viewed their self-authorship development not as a series of developmental experiences or transitions, but as a singular experience of continuous development, (3) participants made meaning of their self-authorship in the context of their independence and purpose, and (4) participants’ understanding of their development provided new insight into self-authorship and its development.