Cocurricular Involvement, Formal Leadership Roles, and Leadership Education: Experiences Predicting College Student Socially Responsible Leadership Outcomes

Abstract

This thesis explored gender differences in socially responsible leadership outcomes and the extent to which cocurricular involvement, holding formal leadership roles, and participating in leadership programs contributed to these outcomes. This study utilized the Input-Environment-Outcome model and the social change model. Data was collected from a random sample of 3410 undergraduates at the University of Maryland through the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership. Participants completed a web-based survey that included the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale-Revised2. Data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance to identify outcome gender differences and hierarchical multiple regression to identify the extent to which environmental variables of this study contributed to outcomes.

Women scored significantly higher than men in five of eight outcome measures. Each environmental variable emerged as significant for at least one outcome, and involvement in student organizations was the most common environmental variable. Results from this study provide implications for practice and future research.