Does political ideology affect how students judge situations? Although students who are liberal or conservative might both show political bias, they differ in their views of how the world works. This experiment conducted with 739 students manipulates ideology in a scenario about a student government regulating a biased student newspaper. Results…

College student government is a form of student involvement in higher education, and one that has evolved over time. But student government is not without politics, from legislating on campus to making statements on local, national, and international issues. This article illuminates data from a phenomenological study of nineteen former student…

While biographical sketches of many publicly elected leaders in the US exist, little is known about the connection between serving in college student government and running for or serving in elected public office after college. This phenomenological study explored the experiences of 19 former college student government officers in elected,…

This hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of eight openly gay undergraduate men involved in elected student government. While all of the men in this study identified with coming out, there were differences in their experiences with being out. As themes illuminated visibility, internalized homophobia, expectations of…

Public higher education institutions in South Africa conduct Student Representative Council (SRC) elections yearly. However, there is a paucity of studies to determine factors that affect voter turnout in these elections. This descriptive quantitative study conducted an empirical analysis of factors influencing students' voter participation at…

Community colleges are increasingly adopting and relying on student engagement activities to build a sense of belonging and improve graduation rates. One such measure undertaken at many colleges is the use of traditional student affairs programs, including student government associations. These student governments not only build a sense of…

The purpose of this narrative inquiry is to better understand why students in higher education are motivated to get involved in student government. We analyzed the responses of ten current student government leaders at public regional comprehensive institutions in the United States. The analysis is guided by Astin's theory of student involvement…

Being politically aware and participating in politics are essential determinants of a society's democratic survival. One source of concerns for researchers of political behavior regarding post-apartheid South Africa is the low rates of youth's political participation. There is however a dearth of empirical studies in the extant literature on the…

This article derives from a larger hermeneutic phenomenological study on openly gay undergraduate men in elected student government. Findings from this study include gay men engaging in the work of advocacy and re(-)presentation as part of their elected student government role(s). Gay men acting as advocates in this context were called on to stand…

Student governments can play an important part of the habit development of participating in democracy. A study in 2012, however, illustrated just how few students actually voted in their own student government elections. With a changing world of national politics, there is a need to understand student voting as a possible reflection of…

Many notable leaders in the United States previously served in their college's student government, including Stacey Abrams, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Elijah Cummings. Findings in this article derive from a larger study on the experiences of former college student government officers who ran for or served in post-college public office between…

Student members of governing boards, commonly called student trustees, came about during the 1960s due to the student activist movement. These students were originally intended to bridge the gap between students and governing boards. The scant literature exploring student trusteeship has ignored what effect, if any, the presence of these…

A student body president's work involves addressing emerging crises and challenging institutional decision-makers to respond to the cost of higher education, campus sexual assault, mental health, free speech, and student safety (Student Voice Index, 2018). This phenomenological study unearths the experiences of individuals who previously served as…

This article centres on the recent Higher Education and Research Act 2017 in England and the consultation documents leading to the legislation. I will start by arguing that the reform promotes consumerist understanding of students. Guided by Fairclough's critical discourse analysis, I will further explore the ways in which five students' unions…

Women have long held leadership roles in society and education, yet little attention has been given to the experiences of women student body presidents. We studied 20 women student body presidents at multiple four-year institutions to understand their experiences in student leadership. We found that these women felt extreme responsibility and…