TITLE:
Focusing on the Development of the Whole Student: An International Comparative Study of the Perceived Benefits of Peer Leadership in Higher Education
AUTHORS:
Jacques van der Meer, Jane Skalicky, Harriet Speed, Dallin George Young
KEYWORDS:
Student Leadership, Higher Education, Wellbeing, Whole Student Development
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.3,
March
4,
2022
ABSTRACT: Student engagement in leadership
activities in higher education is becoming increasingly popular and is
considered to contribute to the development of the “whole student”. To compare
and contrast the ways student peer leaders/educators experience the benefits
across different countries, and how this can be useful in
cross-cultural/national interpretation and adaptation of lessons learned, a
survey was conducted in six different English-speaking countries in the world. This
paper presents some of the findings related to the combined dataset of all
countries, as well as a comparison between the different countries. The
findings overall did provide reasonably similar results across countries as
well as some minor differences. Overall, the survey respondents did report
increased benefits in various realms including a range of academic and
employability skills, interaction with peers, desire to persist and graduate
and some other outcomes. Considering the increase in interest related to
students’ wellbeing, we also explored the potential impact on aspects related
to wellbeing. The findings suggest that participation in leadership activities
seems to benefit various aspects of students’ wellbeing.