Long Strides on the Journey Toward Self-Authorship: Substantial Developmental Shifts in College Students’ Meaning Making

This article reports on a study that examined the subset of qualitative cases in the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education where students experienced substantial self-authorship shifts over the first three college years (N = 30 students, 90 narratives). Engagement in experiences and roles demanding more sophisticated, internal meaning making promoted substantial developmental shifts.