Building Capacity through Student Leadership Development and Practices

Introduction

Developing leaders is a primary tenant and focus in the field of higher education. Leadership development for students is an anticipated outcome for educational institutions and can be found in institutional missions and values. Student focused curriculum will most likely include leadership development concepts. Student leadership traits and characteristics can be developed or strengthened and can be cultivated in higher education institutional programs. There continues to be a research interest in student leadership in schools and community settings. Dempster and Lizzio (2007) investigated what younger individuals believed leadership was and why it was important. The interest in student leadership may be on the rise since there is a perceived shortage of individuals willing to take on leadership roles. There has been a decline of potential leaders in educational areas (Gannon, 2001; Gronn, 2007; MacBeath, 2006). In fields such as education, psychology, nursing, and pharmacy, professionalism refers to the incorporation of coursework, experiences, research, teaching, and professional development. A way to effectively enhance and deepen these experiences is through developing a student’s leadership skills. Kois, King, LaDuke, and Cook (2016) suggested recommendations for cultivating student leadership in professional psychology programs through mentorship, graduate training programs, enhancing diversity in leadership opportunities, and using a range of settings for student leadership experiences.

Membership in educational associations has also experienced a decline and organizations are being reshaped by powerful economic trends. Over the past 100 years, membership in an association has been a tradition as individuals join to support the mission, values, and efforts of the organization. Not all associations are facing a reduction in membership. Today, Facebook has over a billion members and is the world’s largest association and there is no cost to become a member (Kahan, 2013). Professional membership may be morphing into separate engaged actions in which individuals participate based on intentions and collective behaviors such as negotiating with policy makers, attending a live event, or tweeting en masse (Kahan, 2013).