Abstract:  This issue explores how higher education (HE) uses transformation to develop diverse and inclusive institutions, including policies utilising multiple actors’ agency. Existing HE literature has examined transformation through several lenses, such as how managerial reforms on diversity and inclusion work, and the potential of disruptive events for HE access and teaching quality, but also concerns that reforms may reinforce longstanding inequalities. Less attention has been given to how diversity, intersectionality, and the agency of institutional actors contribute to organizational transformation. Addressing this gap, we highlight the role of HE policies, practices, and agency of internal and external stakeholders in reshaping organizational practices, academic norms, and institutional routines. Drawing on perspectives that view transformation as emerging from complex interactions among stakeholders, the issue considers both planned reforms and emergent change processes. The contributions focus on: policies promoting equity and inclusion in HE, policy tools and organizational practices that support institutional change, and the agency of diverse stakeholders in transformative processes. Overall, the issue emphasises participatory governance and collaboration across institutional roles to foster more inclusive and adaptive HE systems. While these interactions can foster collaboration and coalition‐building across institutions, they may also reproduce exclusionary dynamics.

Keywords:  agency; diversity; ECRs; higher education; inclusion; policy; students; transformative change; university

Published:   14 April 2026

Issue:   Vol 14 (2026): Diversity and Change Agents in Higher Education