In the university environment, young people are for the most only seen as the recipients of interventions, most often education. When they are not on the receiving end, although they may be on the front end as researchers, professors or through other administrative roles, it is rare to have them resolutely involved in university management.
Although their opinions might be taken into account through different committees, associations or clubs, it is usually uncommon that they have equal say in or direct influence over decision-making. This is rather disconcerting considering the fact that after all any decisions taken at the top management levels have for intended consequence the conditions of these same young people.
In this sense, we believe, in accordance to an advanced version of the client-oriented model of policy evaluation that, as major stakeholders in university management, the role of the youth, regardless of their position in university, shouldn't be limited to advisory functions as we often see but rather to contributory leadership positions. This paper assesses the expectations of youth involvement in university management, through a synthesis of the state-of-science of different theories, concept and frameworks that support the involvement of young leaders in education.