Undergraduate Student Leadership and Social Change

Abstract

Colleges are under increasing pressure to develop future citizens who are interested in—and capable of—creating positive social change and improving their communities. Using data from the multi-institutional SERU survey, this study suggests college students' participation in leadership positions can promote their engagement in greater social change. In the prevailing climate of transparency and accountability, colleges and universities are placing greater importance upon demonstrating students' development in key areas, including diversity awareness, institu-tional learning outcomes, and leadership abilities (Dugan, 2006; Roberts, 1997). Further, there is a national call to develop college students as future citizens who are interested in—and capable of—creating positive social change and improving their communities (The National Task Force on Civic Learning and Demo-cratic Engagement, 2012). While leadership development in particular has been a longstanding outcome of higher education institutions (Astin & Astin, 2000), many institutions have traditionally overlooked some of the extended benefits of leadership participation and development (Cress, Astin, Zimmerman-Oster, & Burkhardt, 2001). Contemporary perspectives on student leadership view leaders as social change agents (Astin & As-tin, 2000). Following this perspective, in this study we examined the association between undergraduates' participation in student organization leadership positions and their engagement in social change. Grounded in the social change model of leadership development, the research questions framing this study are as fol-1