The diversity of the student body in higher education is a global phenomenon that, over the years, has become integral to most university systems. However, the teaching and development of writing for new student populations are often framed as a challenge, reduced to a framing of knowledge and skills deficit, and resorting to remedial courses as the primary institutional response.

This book draws on two research projects conducted over three years-one cross-sectional and one longitudinal-focused on students' perspectives within inclusion programs in Chilean universities. Using a theoretical and methodological framework that broadens the traditional concept of “writing development,” the book delves into recurring themes in the writing experiences of students who participated in the studies: what deficit thinking is and how it operates in students' writing; the writing practices and self-regulation strategies they use at university; the challenges they face in constructing their academic voice, and the reductive experience institutions offer in relation to writing. These findings, which highlight students' agency and desire for effective participation in higher education, are interpreted through social justice theories-particularly the concepts of redistribution, recognition, and representation-to propose a pedagogical model that reimagines how writing is taught in higher education, emphasising the need for a “structural change” in current institutional responses to student diversity.