Year: Senior

Major(s):  Psychology

Mentor: Larson, Jim

Department: Psychology

Project Title: The Effect of Leadership Experience on Women's Interest and Confidence in Leadership Positions

Project Abstract: Although women rights and equality have made tremendous progress over the decades, women still face great inequality when it comes to leadership positions. This is demonstrated by the fact that although women account for approximately 50% of the staff in the Fortune 500 companies, only 2% of them are led by a woman (Percupchick, 2012). The research I am proposing is intended to look at a possible way to increase the interest and confidence of women to obtain leadership positions. I will use a longitudinal study to look at the differences in personality, gender role views, confidence, and interest in leadership between women who are leaders of groups on campus and women who are non-leader members of those same groups. I will use a pre-test and post-test survey to see if the women who have leadership position show an increase in the confidence and interest in leadership positions over time, while women who were just members remain stagnant. If so, this would suggest that by placing women in leadership positions we can positively affect their behaviors and attitudes towards leadership, advancing one more stride toward equality for women.