Higher Education Students
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine leadership practices of Greekaffiliated student leaders at three public, midwestern institutions and to measure their effectiveness as determined by chapter presidents, executive council members, and general members of on-campus fraternities and sororities.
METHODOLOGY Participants consisted of 101 men and 132 women who were active Greek members at three public universities located in Nebraska, Missouri and Illinois. Cluster sampling was used to select four on-campus fraternities and sororities at each institution. Presidents of each organization, five executive council members, and five general members were asked to participate in the study (the latter two were selected by the organizations’ advisors). Respondents completed the Student Leadership Practices Inventory, and an eight-item Leadership Effectiveness Scale (Posner & Brodsky, 1992).
KEY FINDINGS Several statistically significant differences were found: Women rated their presidents higher than men on Challenging and Enabling; women in general and executive committee members were higher on Inspiring than the average scores of men and executive committee members. There were no significant differences by gender on Inspiring, Modeling and Encouraging; nor difference for gender by position on Challenging, Enabling, Modeling and Encouraging. On all effectiveness statements, average scores of men were equal to or higher than their female counterparts. Challenging was rated by both men and women as their least frequently used leadership practice, while Enabling was viewed as most frequently engaged in.