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To complete and succeed in a university program, such as preschool and primary school teacher education, students need to master academic language. Depending upon the student’s educational and linguistic background, learning the academic language poses different challenges. This article reports on a study concerning students’ perceptions of possibilities to achieve academic literacies in higher education from the perspective of student agency. By analysing interviews with 20 multilingual students attending Swedish teacher education, the results revealed that different dimensions play a role in students’ preconditions to achieve agency when developing academic literacies: previous experiences, the here-and-now situation, involving students’ strategies and the use of available resources, and omit perceptions towards the future. The main conclusion is that multilingual students in higher education must be seen as a heterogeneous group of students with various experiences and knowledge that impact agency and success in higher education.

Syftet med artikeln är att öka kunskapen om och förståelsen för hur studenter med svenska som sitt andraspråk upplever sina förutsättningar att utveckla akademisk litteracitet i högre utbildning. Teoretiska utgångspunkter utgörs av forskningsfältet Academic Literacies samt begreppet innanförskap. Studien bygger på intervjuer med 20 andraspråksstudenter som går förskollärar- eller F–3- grundlärarutbildning. I resultatet vittnar studenterna om att de lagt ned mycket möda och kraft för att lyckas med studierna. De beskriver även resurser som stöttat dem såsom engagerade lärare och digitala verktyg. Färdighetsdiskursen med ett bristperspektiv är den mest framträdande diskursen som kommer till uttryck i studenternas berättelser. I resultatet framträder sådant som påverkar akademiskt innanförskap, såväl bidragande som hindrande faktorer. I diskussionen förs ett resonemang om hur en utbildning som möter upp och stöttar vidareutveckling av kunskaper i akademisk litteracitet hos andraspråksstudenter kan skapas.

This article aims to enhance knowledge and understanding of how students with Swedish as a second language perceive their conditions for developing academic literacy in higher education. The theoretical framework is based on academic literacy and the concept of inclusion. The study draws on interviews with 20 second-language (L2) students enrolled in preschool teacher or F-3 primary teacher education programs. The findings reveal that students have invested significant effort and energy in order to succeed in their studies. They also highlight various supportive resources, including dedicated teachers and digital tools. A skills’ discourse, characterised by a deficiency perspective, emerges as the most prominent discourse in the students’ narratives. The results identify factors influencing academic inclusion, supportive as well as obstructive ones. The article discusses how higher education could be designed to meet the needs of second-language students and foster their academic literacy development.