Developing leadership skills among adolescents and young adults: a review of leadership programmes

Abstract

Our understanding of leadership is skewed towards the adult experience of leadership. There is a gap in the literature with regard to the experience of leadership among school children and young adults. Young people experience their first formal organization at school and models of leadership are developed from this critical period. The present review identified studies on leadership development programmes for young adults from 2003 to 2015 via electronic databases: Scopus, PubMed and Science direct. Nine studies met all the inclusion criteria and were analysed with regard to; selection, content, outcomes and theoretical background. Considerable heterogeneity in the methods used was observed. The review presents key research questions that need to be addressed in future studies.