“Never ‘Because of’, Always ‘In Spite Of’”: Implications of the Culturally Relevant Leadership Learning Model for Student Social Justice Activists

Abstract

Social justice activism can both precede and be the byproduct of collegiate leadership education. As leaders and participants in these social movements, college student activists can catalyze national and global change (Boren, 2019). However, this change can occur at the expense of the activists’ well-being, especially when they engage in identity work or aim to address daunting structural problems (Chen & Gorski, 2015; Linder et al., 2019). The current article presents results from a constructivist, qualitative study grounded in individual interviews with 17 college student activists representing eight universities in the mid-Atlantic region. Themes include identity as a catalyst for action, costs of activism, linking leadership and self-care, and the need for collective approaches to leadership efficacy and well-being.