Die ontwikkeling van leierskap by universiteitstudente

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)The purpose of this study is to determine whether there are significant differences in leadership skills between successful and unsuccessful candidates in house committee elections as indicated by senior students and other house committee candidates. The study consists mainly of two parts. The first is a study of the literature discussing the concepts : leadership, leadership development and leadership skills. The concept of leadership from an educational psychological perspective will be associated with the concept of leadership development. In the second place, an empiric study is carried out in order to establish to what extent the six skills of the successful and unsuccessful candidates differ. From the data it will be established which skills are essential for the formulation of a leadership development programme. From the literature study it appears that it wasinitially believed that leadership required inborn qualities. The other two prominent approaches concentrated on the behaviour of the leader and the situation in which he and his followers find themselves. The contemporary viewpoint supports the fact that leadership can be developed through leadership skills. Two women's residences and two men's residences were selected as representative of the student population. At the 1990 house committee elections HC-candidates and other selected students at each of the four residences were required to evaluate each of the candidates in respect of leadership skills. The results obtained from the questionnaires have been processed by the way of the Hotelling Il-test technique. It was found that significant differences exist between successful and unsuccessful candidates in respect of the six leadership skills. It appears that these skills are more prominent with successful candidates than with unsuccessful candidates. The development of leadership skills should therefore be considered when a leadership development programme is formulated