In December 2020, IOE expert Ulyana Zakharova took part in the eSTARS international conference of e-learning stakeholders, a joint initiative between HSE and Coursera, where she presented at a special session on sociology of higher education. In an interview with the HSE News Desk, Ulyana shared about how students’ prowess in key components of personal agency, such as self-efficacy, initiative, and self-direction, are related to their ability to adapt to and perform in distance education.