Conference Program

Universities are increasingly called to respond to the crisis in democracy marked by disinformation, polarization and civic disengagement, yet teaching still prioritizes narrow employability over democratic capability (Biesta, 2011; Giroux, 2014). This paper argues that leadership development and global citizenship education in higher education can become concrete sites for democratic renewal when they cultivate 21st century skills such as critical thinking, ethical judgment, digital and media literacy, collaborative problem solving, and global competence as democratic practices rather than labour market assets (Kellner and Share, 2019; Mihailidis, 2018; Oxley and Morris, 2013; UNESCO IICBA, 2024).

This paper draws on a multi-year leadership development programme with colleges and teacher training institutes across Assam, Northeast India, reaching 418 participants across 36 institutions through hybrid and cross-border formats (Uma Global, 2025). The analysis focuses on a cross-sectional participant survey, complemented by feedback from cross-college case-study projects and illustrative open-ended comments (Uma Global, 2025). These data map self-reported changes in personal leadership and agency, communication and collaboration, intercultural and global competence, digital and information literacy, and intentions to contribute to local communities and remain connected to the region, in line with earlier leadership-focused work on pedagogy and regional aspiration (Kakati‑Shah, 2024; Kakati-Shah, 2025a; Kakati‑Shah, 2025b).

The study highlights three clusters of learning outcomes, drawing on survey scales and qualitative feedback from participants in rural and semi-urban contexts (Uma Global, 2025). First, critical and creative thinking combined with digital and information literacy appear to strengthen students’ confidence in evaluating information, adapting to connectivity constraints and collaborating online, including in cross-border sessions that link Assamese colleges with students from King’s College London’s King’s Business Club, Baruch College at the City University of New York, and Rosenheim Technical University of Applied Sciences in Germany (Kellner and Share, 2019; Mihailidis, 2018). Second, communication, collaboration and conflict-engagement skills, anchored in items on public speaking, teamwork and feedback, support more inclusive classroom and group-work practices across linguistic and social differences, consistent with democratic and peace-oriented pedagogies that emphasise dialogue and empathic listening (Andolina and Conklin, 2021; Bajaj, 2022; Kakati‑Shah, 2022a). Third, indicators of global competence, ethical leadership, local commitment, and attention to gender suggest that participants increasingly connect their leadership practice to questions of inequality, sustainability, gender, and brain drain, especially the loss of talented rural youth to urban centres, and express a desire to use their skills for the benefit of Assam and the Northeast region (Lopes Cardozo and Novak, 2021; Kakati‑Shah, 2022b; Kakati‑Shah, 2025b; Uma Global, 2025).

The article proposes a democratic 21st century skills framework in which widely cited skills are re-oriented toward democratic resilience, civic agency, and ethically grounded leadership rather than individual competitiveness alone (Andreotti, 2014; Mihailidis, 2018; UNESCO IICBA, 2024). By positioning Assam’s hybrid and cross-border leadership model, linking colleges in Northeast India with students in London, New York, and Rosenheim, as a potential test case, this paper illustrates how similar programmes could use transformative pedagogy and 21st century skills to renew universities’ democratic roles across different higher education systems (Uma Global, 2025; Kakati-Shah, 2025a).