<![CDATA[Background: High school and university students living with chronic illness in non-metropolitan regions face barriers to academic participation, yet the psychosocial dimensions of their experiences remain insufficiently understood. Purpose: This study explored how students in secondary and higher education in Kepahiang and Rejang Lebong Regencies, Indonesia, experienced internalized stigma, reconstructed academic self-efficacy, and sustained academic engagement. Method: This study used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) with six purposively selected participants aged 17-22 years: two high school students and four university students living with chronic physical conditions. Each participant completed two semistructured, in-depth interviews during a six-month period. Analysis followed six iterative stages: repeated reading, initial noting, development of emergent themes, identification of connections among themes within each case, independent analysis of each subsequent case, and examination of convergences and divergences across cases. Trustworthiness was supported through member checking and peer audit. Results: Three interconnected themes were identified. First, participants described a cultural stigma matrix in which cultural fatalism and paternalistic attitudes in educational settings contributed to internalized stigma and academic withdrawal. Second, they reconstructed academic self-efficacy through existential reframing and digital compensatory coping, conceptualized as Digital Micro-Emancipation, which helped them manage physical limitations and sustain learning participation. Third, academic engagement acquired existential meaning as an affirmation of personal dignity, supported by peer micro-solidarity and accounts of post-traumatic growth. Conclusion: These findings informed the Regional Non-Metropolitan Resilience Model, an interpretative framework linking stigma, meaning-making, digital coping, and peer support in students’ educational experiences. The study highlights the need for coordinated psychosocial support services and flexible digital learning arrangements across secondary and higher education institutions in non-metropolitan regions.]]>
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