Focusing on the Development of the Whole Student: An International Comparative Study of the Perceived Benefits of Peer Leadership in Higher Education

Abstract

Student engagement in leadership activities in higher education is becoming increasingly popular and is considered to contribute to the development of the “whole student”. To compare and contrast the ways student peer leaders/educators experience the benefits across different countries, and how this can be useful in cross-cultural/national interpretation and adaptation of lessons learned, a survey was conducted in six different English-speaking countries in the world. This paper presents some of the findings related to the combined dataset of all countries, as well as a comparison between the different countries. The findings overall did provide reasonably similar results across countries as well as some minor differences. Overall, the survey respondents did report increased benefits in various realms including a range of academic and employability skills, interaction with peers, desire to persist and graduate and some other outcomes. Considering the increase in interest related to students’ wellbeing, we also explored the potential impact on aspects related to wellbeing. The findings suggest that participation in leadership activities seems to benefit various aspects of students’ wellbeing.