Abstract
Student government organizations exist across institutions of higher education and provide a platform for advocacy and empowerment of involved students. The purpose of this study was to explore whether relationships exist between quality and quantity of student government involvement and socially responsible leadership as well as provide insight into the characteristics of students involved in student government. Data obtained from student government members at a private, four-year university were analyzed via confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and qualitative data analysis. Results indicated that the quality and quantity of student government involvement was related to socially responsible leadership. However, some key distinctions were noted in the relationships of socially responsible leadership and student government involvement and participation types. For example, quality of student government involvement was significantly related to the degree of both commitment and citizenship; quantity of student government involvement significantly related to the degree of change. These results suggest that student government involvement is related to socially responsible leadership skill development; therefore, efforts to build and cultivate such skills by higher education professionals in advisory capacities should continue. Advisors should also contribute time to both students who participate by election and those on the executive board as students participating in either were noted to have significantly lower degrees of congruence and commitment, respectively. This study also provided insight into characteristics, including gender and racial/ethnic identity, of student government members at one institution, a significant contribution to the literature as makeup of student government has not been widely studied.