Leveraging Leadership Efficacy for College Students: Disaggregating Data to Examine Unique Predictors by Race

Abstract

Cultivating leaders who are prepared to tackle complex social issues is positioned as a critical outcome of higher education and a tool for diversification of the workforce. Both leadership studies literature and leadership development practice, however, are negligent in the attention directed at understanding the role of social identity in framing college student leadership education, particularly as it relates to race. This contributes to a “one-size-fits all” approach derived largely from the experiences of white college students. The present study attempts to address this gap through the analysis of predictors of leadership self-efficacy conditioned by racial group. Using data from 8,510 college students the study highlights the critical importance of disaggregation in quantitative research and the emergence of unique predictors of leadership efficacy by racial group membership. Results offer insights into the importance of centering race in the study of college student leadership development to best leverage learning gains.