Agency, intercultural contact, and social globalization: A hierarchical analysis of adolescents’ global competence

In increasingly interconnected and rapidly developing societies, adolescents are exposed to diverse challenges and opportunities that shape their awareness, identities, and aspirations in unprecedented ways. Global competence has thus emerged as an essential educational objective for preparing students to adapt to this evolving world. Drawing on data from the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the present study employs hierarchical modelling to examine how adolescents develop global competence through the integration of individual and contextual factors. The findings indicate that adolescents’ agency regarding global issues is positively associated with their level of global competence. Moreover, social globalisation amplifies this relationship. Furthermore, the interaction between agency and intercultural contact is particularly pronounced in contexts with higher levels of social globalisation. These findings underscore the complementary roles of individual attributes and social environments in fostering global competence.