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The authors propose that student affairs practitioners need to rethink some of the key assumptions of their leadership development models and practices in order to meet the needs of a changing student body. The study is based on the CIRP 1987 Freshman Survey and 1991 Follow up. The sample included 9,731 students at 352 institutions. The results of this study illustrate that different strategies are necessary for the development of leadership among a diverse group of students. Specific extracurricular and co-curricular programs are recommended for meeting these needs.
Increasingly, research has illustrated that the developmental process among college students differs based on gender and ethnic identity. Evidence is mounting that earlier models developed using mostly Caucasian, male students cannot be generalized to other students. Furthermore, some researchers have begun to challenge the notion that current models of leadership can be generalized. Research indicates that traditional models of leadership tend to be exclusive and represent an orientation to leadership derived from those traditionally in positions of power that is a mostly Caucasian, male, upper-middle-class orientation to leadership (Amey & Twombley, 1992; Bensimon, 1989; Bensimon & Neumann, 1993; Calas & Smirich, 1992; Cross & Ravekes, 1990; Lyons, 1990).
A major limitation of previous research is that most of the leadership models-trait, behavior, power and influence, cognitive-were based on research using mostly Caucasian, male samples. These models tend to emphasize hierarchy; oneway or directive power and influence processes; individuals in competition for rewards; productivity; rationality; one way communication; formal, structured relationships with others; and separation between leaders and followers (Astin & Leland, 1991). As more women and African Americans became involved in the workplace and came to hold positions of leadership within organizations, researchers and practitioners assumed that these same theories applied them (Nieva & Gutek, 1981).
In the 1980s researchers began arguing whether this process of applying research models defined only by Caucasian men was appropriate due to the growing evidence that women and African Americans experience the social world uniquely and due to the evidence that organizations are gendered, not neutral as traditionally described (Acker, 1993; Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger & Tarule, 1986; Calas & Smirich, 1992; Gilligan, 1982). Therefore, recent research efforts have attempted to broaden models of leadership by exploring women's leadership (Desjardings &...