ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 discusses the theoretical implications of tensions between the institutional and human agency in global higher education. As the self-discovery narratives reveal in the preceding chapters, conflicts between stakeholder values lead to numerous dilemmas that can be difficult to resolve for disadvantaged learners affected by status anxiety. Further inquiry is needed to understand who controls the purposes, processes and outcomes of global learning on their behalf and why. As mass higher education will invariably continue to dominate the agendas of many societies and governments, it is imperative for competing students and their sponsors to sort the stakeholder influences and outcome values shaping their educational journeys. The students have to learn to prioritize the forces that build up their confidence and allow for critical inquiry and freedom of learning. This chapter proposes a framework that can advance studies in that area.
