As a field, higher education frequently assumes lived experiences of undergraduate students, such as participating in student activism, are automatically experiential learning opportunities; however, there is a lack of research focusing and featuring students' voices on the matter. In this preliminary research study, qualitative research methods…

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…

The nurturance and development of the whole person should be fundamental to the institutional and educational goals of colleges and universities across the United States. However, for reasons that continue to elude many institutions, freshmen continue to struggle with successful transition to the world of academia otherwise known as the…

Objective: Male allies play an important role in sexual assault prevention, yet many college sexual assault prevention programs struggle to recruit and retain men. This study aims to identify barriers to recruitment and retention of male sexual assault prevention peer educators. Participants: Seventeen undergraduate male student leaders…

This research study explored the relationship between a student's college-going generational status, involvement in leadership development experiences, and leadership self-efficacy at four-year, public rural-located institutions across the United States using data from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership collected in the spring of 2021.…

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant financial impact on land-grant historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, which have historically faced underfunding by their respective state governments. This study examined the issue of low engagement rates and alumni giving among former…

Historically and contemporarily students have been critical to bringing issues of justice in education policy to the fore. Yet, there have been limited formal spaces that elevate student voice scholarship in educational policy. In response, this Politics of Education Association (PEA) Yearbook Issue of "Educational Policy" aims to serve…

Ambassador training is an exemplary leadership development program for adult education students, staff, and administrators that creates networks of diverse learners who use their voices, stories, and skills for advocacy and social change. Student engagement and leadership development help learners expand their identities and horizons, define…

Outreach initiatives are typically framed as informal learning environments that provide an opportunity to increase the participants' interest in science. Research on chemistry outreach has primarily focused on designing and implementing demonstrations for outreach. Recent studies indicate student organizations are at the forefront of chemistry…

This study explores the academic, professional, and personal career benefits of leading science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach, from the perspective of undergraduate student leaders. We consider traditional and nontraditional STEM university students, gender, and type of position (paid or volunteer) in this evaluation.…

Background: Engineering competition teams (ECTs) allow college students to learn about and practice leadership within a technical domain, yet we know little about the mechanisms by which leadership development occurs within these teams. This paper explores how ECT participation contributes to students' leadership identity development (LID).…

Background: Research suggests that a whole-school approach to mental health promotion can be more effective than a compartmentalized approach. In particular, student-led initiatives have demonstrated a positive impact on students' mental health, though not without systemic and individual barriers. Factors that lead to successful implementation and…

The purpose of this quantitative research was to determine if there are differences in scores on the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale among undergraduate students involved in honors leadership programs at a four-year university. The study was an analysis of students' reported resilience scores in relation to the number of leadership activities in…

Student leadership is often misconceptualized as merely a pedagogical exercise revolving around simulated political arenas with little to no immediate real political consequence. Other scholarship normalizes students as political outsiders who have to resort to dangerous, exhausting activism tactics for even minute advocacy victories due to their…

This action research project centers the narratives of women and nonbinary students of color as they navigate leadership roles within student government at Ivy League institutions. The overarching aim of the project is to develop an understanding of the barriers to participation for women and nonbinary students of color and collaboratively…