Abstract

Nowadays, developing students’ leadership competencies in order to education future leaders has received more and more attention and emphasis from higher education practitioners and administrators, so that student leadership development is increasingly becoming a declared priority and a vital concern for universities and higher education institutions. The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual model for developing students’ leadership competencies. This research was a qualitative research type that was conducted using a grounded theory method with a systematic approach. The participants of the present study were 18 experts in the field of leadership and students who were responsible for leadership in scientific and academic organizations and associations, who were selected using the snowball sampling method. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. Interview data analysis was performed using the Strauss and Corbin method. To ensure the validity of the data obtained from the interviews, the recoding method was used, and feedback was received from the participants. The desired model of developing student leadership competencies is presented in six main categories: causal conditions (individual and organizational), core category or phenomenon (development of student leadership competencies), context conditions (university culture, participation in scientific and non-scientific associations and events, family support and university leadership and management), intervening conditions (experiences before entering university, general and family characteristics of students, university factors, environmental factors), strategies (establishment of student development centers, self-development, formal and informal university education) and consequences of developing student leadership competencies (individual, academic and social).

Keywords: Leadership; Student leadership; Leadership development; Student leadership competencies.