This article derives from a larger hermeneutic phenomenological study on openly gay undergraduate men in elected student government. Findings from this study include gay men engaging in the work of advocacy and re(-)presentation as part of their elected student government role(s). Gay men acting as advocates in this context were called on to stand…

Student governments can play an important part of the habit development of participating in democracy. A study in 2012, however, illustrated just how few students actually voted in their own student government elections. With a changing world of national politics, there is a need to understand student voting as a possible reflection of…

Many notable leaders in the United States previously served in their college's student government, including Stacey Abrams, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Elijah Cummings. Findings in this article derive from a larger study on the experiences of former college student government officers who ran for or served in post-college public office between…

Among other responsibilities, many college student governments (SGs) are responsible for overseeing student fees as part of their operation (Miles et al., 2008). In 2018 around 32% of SG presidents reported being very or extremely influential on decisions involving student life and student fees (Templeton et al., 2018). At some institutions, SGs…

Student members of governing boards, commonly called student trustees, came about during the 1960s due to the student activist movement. These students were originally intended to bridge the gap between students and governing boards. The scant literature exploring student trusteeship has ignored what effect, if any, the presence of these…

A student body president's work involves addressing emerging crises and challenging institutional decision-makers to respond to the cost of higher education, campus sexual assault, mental health, free speech, and student safety (Student Voice Index, 2018). This phenomenological study unearths the experiences of individuals who previously served as…

This article centres on the recent Higher Education and Research Act 2017 in England and the consultation documents leading to the legislation. I will start by arguing that the reform promotes consumerist understanding of students. Guided by Fairclough's critical discourse analysis, I will further explore the ways in which five students' unions…

Women have long held leadership roles in society and education, yet little attention has been given to the experiences of women student body presidents. We studied 20 women student body presidents at multiple four-year institutions to understand their experiences in student leadership. We found that these women felt extreme responsibility and…

This action research project centers the narratives of women and nonbinary students of color as they navigate leadership roles within student government at Ivy League institutions. The overarching aim of the project is to develop an understanding of the barriers to participation for women and nonbinary students of color and collaboratively…

The Fallist movements of 2015/16 brought about rapid change to the South African higher education space, which required student leaders to reconsider their roles as agents of change and transformation. Student leaders contribute as stakeholders of and decision-makers in student governance, and some find themselves in a context where their working…

This study explored the experiences of 18 undergraduate Black women who hold elected student leadership positions from 15 private and public historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) from around the country. For the purposes of this study, elected student leaders were defined as students who ran for offices and were elected into those…

This paper documents the structure and operations of student governments in contemporary Chinese higher education and their effect on college students' political trust and party membership. We first investigate the structure and power distribution within student governments in Chinese universities, specifically focusing on the autonomy of student…

The lack of women in elected leadership roles trickles down to student governance at colleges and universities (American Student Government Association, 2016). The researcher sought to understand how women student leaders made meaning of their experiences as a leader and how their understanding influences their actions and motivations. Through the…

Recent studies on student politics and governance have shown that electoral clientelism (EC) in university student elections is often facilitated by clientelist relations between student leaders and political parties. However, there is a dearth of empirical research investigating the various forms of electoral clientelism, as manifested through…

Within institutions of higher education, shared governance is an essential component to a healthy functionality. Among the many stakeholders at these institutions, students are the largest in number and hold primacy. Participation in student governance establishes a sense of shared ownership over their communities while also providing a unique…