The connotation and influencing factors of student leadership

Graduate School, Lingnan University, 8 Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, China

^* Corresponding author: puwang@ln.hk

Abstract

Student leadership refers to a series of related abilities that students have or need to acquire in leadership roles or non-leadership roles, which includes both self-leadership and team leadership. In the present-day society, student leadership education is a subject of great significance, which is related to the personal development of students and the progress of society. This study discusses the connotation, influencing factors and cultivation strategies of student leadership from the perspective of student leadership education. Through the method of literature review, this paper synthesizes a variety of leadership theories, analyzes the main factors affecting the formation and development of student leadership, including school education, personality traits, family upbringing, and age, and so on, and proposes corresponding cultivation strategies, including classroom teaching, extracurricular activities, and social practice. This article argues that student leadership is a multidimensional composite ability, including self-knowledge, self-management, self-motivation, communication and collaboration, innovative problem-solving, service to others, and so on, which are interrelated and mutually reinforcing, constituting a complete ability system. This article has shown that through an in-depth discussion of student leadership, it can contribute to improving the quality of students, cultivating future social elites and promoting social progress.