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University of
Massachusetts Amherst
SARIS - Student Affairs Research, Information and Systems
Leadership Survey (F97-C)
Executive Summary:Almost all of the students surveyed believe it is important to have good leadership skills by the time they graduate. Four-fifths rate their skills at present as excellent or good, and two-fifths feel that they have made significant progress on leadership skills while in college. When asked about activities in which they might participate to develop leadership skills, over four-fifths expressed interest in internships for academic credit or in having an official transcript which documents co-curricular activities. Volunteering or community service experience, academic classes on leadership, and "shadowing" opportunities also interest more than 70% of students. Overall, women express more interest than men in taking part in leadership training activities, especially volunteer or community service work. Over 40% of students reported holding no leadership positions at present, while almost 60% hold at least one position. Almost half of students do not belong to any RSO (Registered Student Organization), almost three-quarters do not volunteer or do community service, and over half currently work for pay.
On Wednesday, October 1, 1997, Project Pulse conducted a telephone survey for Campus Activities which was designed to explore the kinds of programs and activities in which students might like to participate to develop their leadership skills. “Leadership skills” were defined in the survey introduction as “such skills as being able to communicate ideas effectively, manage conflict, facilitate group discussions, understand the importance of diversity, and consider the good of the group rather than individual interests.”
Pulse interviewers attempted to contact 995 undergraduate students randomly selected by computer from the University’s student database. Of these, 663 were successfully contacted, and 545 (82%) agreed to be interviewed. See Table 1 for the final disposition of the sample, and Table 2 for a demographic summary of the respondents. The response rate for the survey was 54.8%.
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Table 1: Final Disposition
of the Sample
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N
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% of Total
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% of Contacted
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| Response rate, (In & cooperated) |
545
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54.8
|
82.2
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| In, declined interview |
118
|
11.9
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17.8
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| Not in |
332
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33.3
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| Totals |
*995
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100.0
|
100.0
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* Excludes 70 sampled students
with unobtainable phone numbers.
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Table 2: Demographic
Summary of the Respondents
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N
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%
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| Female |
265
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48.8
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| Male |
278
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51.2
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| First-year |
175
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32.3
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| Sophomore |
134
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24.8
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| Junior |
105
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19.4
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| Senior |
127
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23.5
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Average age = 19.9 years
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Respondents are in accord that it is important that they have good leadership
skills by the time they graduate from UMass. Nearly all students surveyed (98.7%,
n=536) believe that it is very or somewhat important to have such skills. When
asked to rate their own skills at present, four-fifths (79.9%, n=433) stated
that their current skills are good or excellent (see Figure 1). When asked how
much progress they believe they have made in leadership during their college
experience, two-fifths of the respondents (39.6%, n=214) believe they have made
‘very much’ or ‘quite a bit’ of progress (see Figure 2).
There is a significant correlation between class year and the satisfaction students
express with their progress in developing leadership skills. About one-third
of first year students (32.4%, n=46) indicate that they have made “quite
a bit” or “very much” progress, compared to 39.2% (n=46) of sophomores,
50.3% (n=45) of juniors, and 78.1% (n=126) of seniors (p=.0000).
Figure 1. Students’ perceptions of their current leadership
skills.
The next group of questions asked students how interested they would be in participating
in a variety of activities aimed at developing their leadership skills (see
Figure 3). Over five-sixths of the respondents (86.4%, n=469) are very or somewhat
interested in “doing an internship where you would get academic credit
for acting in a leadership capacity.” Women are more likely that men to
be interested in an internship experience (92.1% of women v. 81.0% of men, p=.0001),
and junior class members are more interested than those in other classes (93.3%
of juniors v. 85.8% of seniors, 85.7% of first-year students, and 82.0% of sophomores,
p=.0253). Four-fifths of respondents (80.0%, n=432) are very or somewhat interested
in “having an official University transcript that documents your co-curricular
activities,” and almost as many are very or somewhat interested in volunteering
or community service (78.1%, n=424). Women express significantly more interest
in volunteering than do men: 66.2% of women versus 33.8% of men say that they
are very interested in volunteer or community service work (p=.0000). Over three-quarters
of respondents are very or somewhat interested in enrolling in academic classes
on leadership (76.7%, n=414), and in opportunities to “shadow” campus
or community leaders and observe their leadership skills (75.6%, n=410). Women
are more likely than men to express interest in shadowing (81.5% v. 70.1%, p=.0021).
More than three-fifths of students (68.6%, n=372) indicate interest in attending workshops on leadership skills or participating in a certificate program with a leadership focus (62.9%, n=341). Women are more likely than men (74.7% v. 62.8%, p=.0025) to express interest in workshops, and juniors are more interested than members of other classes (78.1% of juniors v. 69.4% of sophomores, 68.6% of seniors, and 62.8% of first-year students, p=.0064). Over half of the sampled group are very or somewhat interested in a guest lecture series on leadership (59.0%, n=320), informal roundtable discussions on leadership which include students, faculty and staff (58.3%, n=316), or attending a campus conference on student leadership (54.8%, n=298). Less than one-quarter of the respondents (23.8%, n=129) express interest in a Special Interest Residential Program focused on leadership. Overall, women are more interested than men in participating in activities to improve their leadership skills, expressing interest in a mean of 7.6 of the 11 suggested activities compared to a mean of 6.9 for men.
Figure 3. Students’ interest in activities to develop leadership skills
Students were questioned about their present leadership experience options.
When asked how many leadership positions they currently hold, 40.3% (n=219)
of students said they hold no such positions. Approximately one-fifth of respondents
report that they hold either one (20.4%, n=111) or two (21.9, n=119) such positions,
12.2% (n=66) hold three and 5.2% (n=28) hold four or more. The liklihood of
holding a leadership postition increases with class year; 44% of first-year
students hold at least one leadership position compared to 57.5% of sophomores,
67.6% of juniors, and 76.4% of seniors ( p=.0000). Half of the sample (49.9%,
n=271) state that they do not belong to any RSO (Registered Student Organization)
on campus. Slightly over a quarter (26.7%, n=145) belong to one such organization,
14.7% (n=80) belong to two, 5.3% (n=29) belong to three, and 3.3% (n=18) belong
to four or more.
Almost three-quarters of students (72.7%, n=395) report that they do no volunteer
work or community service at this time (see Figure 4). About one-sixth (16.9%,
n=92) do from one to four hours of volunteer work a week, and another 10.4%
(n=56) do five or more hours . The proportion of students doing volunteer work
increases by class, with 17.1% of first-year students (n=30), 24.6% of sophomores
(n=33), 27.6% of juniors (n=29), and 42.5% of seniors (n=54) doing some community
service activity (p=.0005).
Slightly over half of the respondents (54%, n=293) work for pay each week, with 10 hours per week being the most common work commitment (10.5%, n=57). Students’ paid work commitment also increases the longer they are in school, with 34.3% of first year students (n=60), 50.7% of sophomores (n=68), 60.0% of juniors (n=63), and 78.7% of seniors (n=100) doing some work for pay in an average week (p=.00001).
Next, Pulse interviewers inquired about students’ patterns of news consumption
(see Figure 5). Respondents report almost identical patterns for accessing national
and state news: Just over half the students (51.9% and 51.0% respectively) say
that they read newspapers or watch television for national and state news daily,
slightly over one-quarter (28.9% and 28.4%) say they do so every couple of days,
and about one-eighth (13.4% and 12.0%) do so about once a week. Less than a
tenth of the sample (5.7% and 8.7%) seek news less than once a week. News about
the Amherst area is perused less frequently, with 37.2% (n=202) seeking it almost
every day, 27.1% (n=147) every couple of days, 18.8% (n=102) about once a week,
and 16.9% (n=92) less than once a week.
Figure 5. Students’ self-report of consumption of newspaper and television
news in the last month
