Boarding school experiences and identity formation among adolescents: insights from senior high schools in Ashanti, Central, Greater Accra, and Western regions of Ghana

Abstract Boarding schools in Ghana function as powerful social ecologies that structure adolescents’ opportunities for identity formation. This study explores how such environments shape social, personal, emotional, and gender/sexual identities. A qualitative phenomenological design was employed, drawing on written narratives from 1400 students aged 16–19 across ten diverse schools with at least 1 year of boarding experience. Data were thematically analysed using Erikson’s psychosocial theory, Breakwell’s Identity Process Theory, and Nsamenang’s African developmental perspective. Findings reveal that routines and peer governance promoted discipline, resilience, and belonging, while surveillance and gendered hierarchies produced shame and suppression. The study introduces the concept of a bounded moratorium to describe constrained exploration under institutional control, highlighting its implications for theory and policy reform.