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Agency of School Students and Their Participation in Supreme Student Government
A key challenge for contemporary education systems is to foster young people’s sense of agency, or their ability to implement constructive and socially positive changes. Participation in the Supreme Student Government (SSG) is one of the core practices that facilitates this agency among students. However, there is limited quantitative research
on this practice, and its connections to other expressions of agency have not been thoroughly explored. This study examines the level of general agency among school students involved in SSG activities, as manifested in such areas as family, educational process, school life, peer interaction, and finances. Based on a survey of 592 students
(grades 7–11, aged 13–18) across 18 regions in the Russian Federation conducted between May and October 2023, we found that students primarily join the SSG for individualistic reasons, including the desire to develop new skills and enhance social mobility and career prospects. There is a significant correlation between the level of general agency
among students and their involvement in SSG initiatives, with those demonstrating higher agency often achieving significant structural outcomes in their activities. However, the proportion of respondents exhibiting such characteristics is small. The results emphasize the important role of the SSG in encouraging young people to actively participate in social change, while also revealing the limitations of its implementation within the education system.