Inclusive education is a formidable challenge in resource- constrained higher education contexts like Malawi. While policy commitments exist, implementation overlooks the role of students as agents of change. This qualitative study investigates how students at a public university in Malawi negotiate power dynamics to advocate for inclusion. Framed by critical and socio- ecological theories, the research explores how institutional power enables or suppresses student advocacy, forms of resistance, and their strategic navigation. Data from interviews and focus groups reveal students confront the systemic power of bureaucracy, socio- cultural stigma, tokenism, and passive aggression. In response, students develop strategies: alliance- building, careful reframing, creating informal infrastructures, and persistence. The study concludes that student agency is negotiated within structural constraints, requiring reimagining of institutional governance to partner with students in co- creation of an inclusive university.
Nkopoka, L. (2026). Negotiating Inclusion: Power, Resistance, and Student Agency in a Malawian University. In A. Elhami & A. Roshan (Eds.), Exploring Identity Formation in Language Education: Personal Narratives and Educational Research (pp. 445-476). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-5423-1.ch014