College Involvement and Leadership Development in Higher Education: The Role of Race/ethnicity, Sex, and Mentoring Relationships

The objective of this study was to investigate effects of college experiences (activities and mentoring relationships) on leadership development according to the Social Change Model of Leadership Development (SCM). Specifically, comparisons across race/ethnicity and gender assessed how different college experiences contribute to development of socially responsible leadership for underrepresented students. Data were collected from a random sample of 2192 undergraduates from the University of Illinois and Syracuse University as part of the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership. Participants completed an online survey that included the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale-Revised 2 as well as measures for college activities (i.e., employment, community service, student organizations, leadership training, leadership positions on campus and off-campus) and mentoring relationships (i.e., faculty, student affairs staff, other students, employers and community members) Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that after controlling for high school experiences, community service and holding campus leadership positions were two college activities that significantly contributed to development across each value of SCM (i.e., Consciousness of Self, Congruence, Commitment, Collaboration, Common Purpose, Controversy with Civility, Citizenship). Mentoring relationships with faculty consistently had a unique and independent effect on leadership development across ail values of SCM, even after controlling for student characteristics, high school experiences and college activities. Gender gaps in socially responsible leadership were explained by variations in college experiences, but ethnic/racial differences were not explained by the model. Implications for practice are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human and Community Development

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Trujillo, Celina W.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lleras, Christy

• Education, Sociology of
• Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
• Education, Higher

Identifier

(UMI)AAI3363101

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/72562