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1 Introduction

Private higher education has become an important part of China’s higher education system. According to the Ministry of Education (2024), there are 789 private higher education institutions in China, with nearly 10 million students enrolled in undergraduate and vocational programs. With demographic changes and fluctuations in the number of students taking the college entrance examination, private colleges are facing increasingly fierce competitive pressure for survival and development, and the quality of talent cultivation has become the core competitiveness for institutions to stand firm and develop in the long term. However, compared with the rapid expansion of the scale of operation, there are still shortcomings in the talent cultivation work of private colleges, especially the cultivation of students’ generic competencies and soft skills, which lag significantly.

Under the demand for talents in the new era, leadership has become an essential comprehensive quality for contemporary college students, including not only practical abilities such as organization and coordination, communication and collaboration, innovation and adaptability, but also a sense of responsibility, values and team spirit. The development of leadership in colleges is not only an inherent requirement for fulfilling the fundamental task of fostering virtue and nurturing talent and improving quality education, but also can make up for the shortcomings of students’ abilities, enhance the employment competitiveness and social adaptability of graduates, and help students achieve all-around development and long-term growth. College students’ leadership, as an important component of core competence, directly affects their future career adaptation, social participation and lifelong development.

At present, there is a considerable amount of research on college student leadership at home and abroad, but most of the existing research results are based on public institutions, and empirical research specifically targeting college students in private institutions is extremely scarce. There are significant differences between private colleges and public colleges in terms of student structure, educational resources, management systems, campus culture, etc. The formation mechanism and development path of student leadership in private colleges are also unique. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the actual situation of private colleges and universities, systematically examine the current characteristics and constraints of college students’ leadership, and accordingly propose operational improvement strategies.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Definition of Leadership and College Students’ Leadership

Leadership is essentially a dynamic and interactive process of influence, a collection of comprehensive abilities of an individual in a specific situation to lead others, unite teams, act towards common goals, and drive positive change in the organization and the collective, with distinct process-oriented characteristics (Ma et al., 2025). In essence, leadership is mediated through interpersonal interaction and exerts influence based on personal traits, behavioral patterns and values, covering multiple capability dimensions such as self-management, communication and coordination, decision-making, innovation and responsibility and commitment (Huo, 2025).

Research on college student leadership started earlier abroad, categorizing student leadership into three dimensions: knowledge, skills, and attitudes, emphasizing self-awareness, responsibility, interpersonal collaboration, diversity and inclusion, while also focusing on change awareness, service spirit, and cross-situational adaptability (Ma et al., 2025). The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership model proposed by James Kouzes and Barry Posner became the core framework of Western research on college student leadership, breaking down leadership into observable and learnable specific leadership behaviors (Kouzes & Posner, 2013). Domestic research, in combination with the educational goals of higher education and the local context, holds that college students’ leadership is an important component of comprehensive quality, distinct from administrative power leadership, emphasizing teamwork ability, problem-solving ability, social responsibility and innovative spirit (Xu & Shen, 2025); Some scholars interpret it from a three-dimensional structure and divide it into three levels: values, knowledge, and behavior, covering ideals and beliefs, self-reflection, interpersonal communication, team governance, etc. Some studies combine the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership model and summarize college student leadership as charisma, foresight, decisiveness, control, and influence (Ma et al., 2025).

2.2 Measurement of Leadership and College Students’ Leadership

With the development of leadership theory, various mature assessment scales have emerged at home and abroad and are widely used among college students. The mainstream scales include the DISC Assessment, Socially Responsible Leadership Scale, the Transformational Leadership Scale, etc. The DISC Assessment distinguishes leadership traits from four behavioral styles: dominance, influence, steadiness and compliance, and is mostly used for personalized leadership diagnosis. The Social Change Model scales measure leadership values and behavioral performance in three dimensions: individual, group, and society. The Transformational Leadership Scale focuses on assessing leadership traits such as inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Combining the purpose of this study with the characteristics of the Student group in private colleges, this study uses the Student Leadership Practices Inventory (SLPI), with behavior-oriented as the core, focusing on 30 specific observable leadership behaviors of students on a daily basis. Leadership is divided into five practical dimensions: Model the Way; Inspire a Shared Vision; Challenge the Process; Enable Others to Act; Encourage the Heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2020).

2.3 Factors Influencing College Students’ Leadership

The development of leadership among college students is influenced by multiple interwoven factors, which can be classified into individual factors, family factors, organizational factors, and social participation factors based on existing research. Among the individual factors, self-awareness, psychological resilience, and comprehensive ability all play a role in leadership. At the same time, student leadership positions and team project experience are also important practical bases for leadership (Xu & Shen, 2025). Family factors are part of the early environmental influence, and the type of occupation of parents will subtly shape students’ communication, coordination and sense of responsibility (Huo, 2025). Organizational factors are centered around colleges, where the establishment of leadership courses and the training system directly determine the quality and effectiveness of leadership development (Wang, 2022). The social participation factor is a key carrier of ability enhancement. The frequency, duration, types of activities, roles played, and the degree of cross-group collaboration of students’ participation in various campus and social practices determine the depth of practical training (Xu & Shen, 2025).

It can be seen that the current research on college students’ leadership has achieved certain results. The academic community has carried out a large number of discussions on the connotation, influencing factors, and training models of leadership, and generally believes that individual traits, family, campus organization, and social participation jointly act on the development of leadership (Huo, 2025). However, existing research mainly focuses on public comprehensive universities or public science and engineering universities, and there is a lack of specialized research on private colleges. There are significant differences between students in private colleges and those in public institutions in terms of thinking personality, learning characteristics, and growth background (Xu, 2019). The characteristics and influence mechanisms of leadership development have not been systematically explored, and there are obvious gaps in relevant empirical research. There is a lack of targeted analysis that combines the characteristics of private colleges and the characteristics of the student group. Also, the effects of various factors on the leadership of this group have not been fully verified. This study, which focused on college students in private colleges in Wuhan, had variables that were tailored to the characteristics of the student group and could effectively fill the gap in related research.

3 Research Design

3.1 Research Subjects

This study selected full-time students from three private colleges in Wuhan as the research subjects, covering four grades from freshman to senior, and multiple disciplines, including liberal arts, science, engineering, management, and art.

3.2 Measuring Tools

The SLPI Chinese version scale consists of 30 items. The scale uses the Likert five-point scoring system, with a total score ranging from 30 to 150 points, and a higher score indicates a higher level of leadership behavior practice. In this study, the Cronbach’s α coefficient of the scale was 0.992, and the Cronbach’s α coefficients of each dimension ranged from 0.957 to 0.977, indicating good internal consistency reliability of the scale. The KMO value of this study scale was 0.968, greater than 0.8, and through Bartlett’s test of sphericity, the p-value was less than 0.05, indicating good validity of the scale.

3.3 Data Collection and Analysis Methods

A total of 350 questionnaires were distributed through the online questionnaire platform, and 346 valid questionnaires were retrieved, with an effective recovery rate of 98.86%. While 346 valid questionnaires were collected, 67 cases were excluded from the regression analysis due to missing values in key demographic variables, resulting in a final sample of 279 for the linear regression model. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0, with descriptive statistical analysis, one-way ANOVA, and linear regression analysis as the main analytical methods.

4 Research Results

4.1 College Students’ Leadership Behavior is Generally at a Medium Level but with a Large Margin

The average SLPI score for private college students was 111.6 ± 28.92. When comparing the results of this study with those of other scholars, the SLPI score of undergraduate nursing students was 116.62 ± 13.68 (Su & Wang, 2018). Tao Siliang’s national survey shows that the leadership of Chinese college students is generally at a medium level. Referring to the scoring criteria of similar studies, it can be seen that the leadership behavior of college students in private universities is at a medium level. The scores of private college students were roughly the same as those of the aforementioned group, indicating a certain foundation of leadership behavior, but there was a large score gap among private college students, suggesting that there is still considerable room for improvement in the leadership of some students.

4.2 There Are Significant Differences in Leadership Behavior among Different Groups

Taking the score of leadership behavior as a variable, one-way ANOVA and linear regression analysis were conducted on students’ gender, grade, major category, parents’ occupation, frequency of participation in various activities, and whether they were student cadres. The conclusion was drawn that college students of different genders, grades, and major categories do not show significant differences in leadership behavior. The occupation of parents, the frequency of student activities each semester, and whether they hold student leadership positions have a significant positive impact on college students’ leadership behavior (see Table 1).

Table 1 Results of Linear Regression Analysis (N = 279)

Note: Dependent variable = Leadership Behavior score; * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.

4.3 Leadership Behavior of College Students in Private Colleges Presents a “Balanced but Mediocre” Flat Structure

By measuring the five dimensions of the SLPI scale separately, it can be seen that the score gap of the five dimensions is very small, indicating that the leadership behavior of college students in private universities does not form a distinct dominant dimension, and overall presents the structural characteristics of “prioritized motivation, weakest vision, moderate collaboration, insufficient change”, the standard deviation of the scores of the five dimensions is only 0.067. It presents a flat structure of “balanced but mediocre”. The five dimensions are ranked by score from high to low (see Table 2).

Table 2 Average Scores of Each Dimension

4.4 Private Colleges Have a Weak Awareness of Leadership Development for College Students

82 valid responses were collected by setting an open-ended question in the questionnaire, “What do you think are the shortcomings of the college in developing students’ leadership?” After analyzing the content, it was found that the most frequent responses from students were “the college lacks relevant leadership training links (courses)” (24.4%), “teachers are not valued by the college” (18.3%), and “there are no relevant practical opportunities” (12.2%), which also reflects the current lack of correct understanding of college students’ leadership behavior in private colleges. The importance of cultivating college students’ leadership behavior for the development of universities has been overlooked.

5 Analysis of the Mechanism of Influence

5.1 Impact of Students’ Self-efficacy

Regression analysis reveals that frequency of student activity participation (β = 0.267, p < 0.001) and student cadre identity (β = 0.207, p = 0.001) exert the strongest predictive effects on leadership behaviors. The underlying mechanism can be interpreted from two dimensions: quantitative accumulation and qualitative leap. On the one hand, the more frequently students take part in activities, the more opportunities they gain to practice themselves through concrete tasks, and their leadership skills are gradually refined amid practical experience. On the other hand, serving as student cadres transforms students from ordinary participants into persons in charge. While tackling practical problems, they complete a role transition from following arrangements independently to making decisions. These two factors jointly facilitate the development of students’ leadership: from regular attendance to deep engagement, and from undertaking responsibilities to internalizing core competencies. Throughout this whole process, the starting point and driving force consistently stem from students’ subjective initiative.

5.2 Orientation of the School’s Talent Cultivation Goals

From the perspective of educational practice, private colleges are oriented towards cultivating application-oriented and technical skills to serve regional economic development. They attach great importance to students’ practical operation and internship training. Daily training is more focused on task completion rather than concept shaping. This leads to students in private colleges and universities often paying more attention to “how to do it” rather than “why to do it”. To some extent, this explains why students score the lowest in the dimension of “co-vision”, their leadership behavior is more at the present, concrete and operational level, lacking the ability to construct long-term goals and value consensus.

5.3 Practical Problems in Private Colleges

Compared with public institutions, private colleges generally have practical problems, such as less student self-governance space, incomplete student organizations, high faculty mobility, a lack of long-term guidance from counselors, the absence of leadership education courses for college students, and insufficient attention from college leaders to college students’ leadership. These structural factors collectively restrict the development of student leadership.

5.4 The Influence of Family Parents’ Thinking

It can be seen from the data that although the occupations of parents have a smaller coefficient among the influencing factors, they are also quite significant. Parents who hold public office or corporate leadership positions themselves have more institutional experience and social capital, which can provide their children with a broader social perspective and early leadership role exposure (Wang, 2019), and parents’ thinking influences students’ leadership behavior imperceptibly.

6 Enhancement Strategies and Suggestions

Addressing the current challenges in leadership development among students at private universities — such as a “balanced yet mediocre” structure, significant individual differences (SD = 28.92), weak institutional cultivation awareness, and a tendency toward student “hollowness” — this study proposes five systematic strategies: “curriculum integration, practical empowerment, team support, evaluation guidance, and cultural cultivation”. These strategies take into account the application-oriented and technical mission of private universities, as well as their practical constraints in faculty, curriculum, and organizational development. The goal is to overcome structural barriers in leadership education at private institutions and promote students’ transition from “average performance” to high-level leadership behaviors characterized by distinct strengths and balanced competencies.

6.1 Curriculum Embedding: Building a Hierarchical and Categorized Leadership Curriculum System

Curriculum absence is the primary factor restricting leadership development. Embedding the leadership education system into the existing curriculum in private colleges is an urgent problem to be solved. It is suggested that a hierarchical and progressive curriculum design be implemented in the curriculum embedding. In the first year, a general leadership course is offered, focusing on the development of basic skills such as self-awareness, teamwork and communication. In the second and third years, project-based learning is carried out in combination with professional courses. Through teaching links such as group research, project presentation, and review and summary, the focus is on training the ability to “challenge the status quo” and “co-initiate the vision”. In the senior year, through means such as internship summaries and job interview simulations, the reflection on leadership practice and the transformation of results are strengthened. High-quality leadership course resources from the National Smart Education platform can be introduced, and 8 to 10 school-based micro-courses (2 to 4 class hours each) can be independently developed for students to choose and study flexibly.

6.2 Practice Empowerment: Build a Diversified Leadership Practice Platform

Leadership focuses on practical experience. Private colleges and universities, based on their application-oriented educational positioning, can build multi-level and all-coverage practical platforms to enable students to hone their abilities in real-world scenarios. Relying on student unions at both the university and college levels, various student associations, class organizations and other on-campus positions, rationally set up student positions, implement the rotation training system, and encourage students to take the initiative to undertake activities planning, personnel coordination, daily management and other work. Actively carry out volunteer services, campus cultural and sports activities, public welfare practices and other projects, guide students to take the lead in forming teams, make overall divisions of labor, connect resources, and exercise organizational coordination and on-the-spot adaptability. Deepen school-enterprise collaboration in education, and jointly carry out activities such as enterprise internships, project training, and workplace simulations with partner enterprises to expose students to workplace management models. In addition, we will vigorously support innovation and entrepreneurship competitions and subject contests and encourage students to form participating teams to enhance their decision-making, stress resistance and team leadership skills in project development and team operation and transform theoretical knowledge into practical skills.

6.3 Team Support: Stabilize the Staff and Strengthen the Guidance Function

There are common problems in private colleges and universities, such as high mobility of teachers, too many counselors in charge of classes, and a lack of long-term guidance ability. A quality coaching team is an important support for leadership development. It is suggested that private colleges incorporate leadership education into the counselor training system, organize no less than two special training sessions on leadership education each academic year, invite external experts to give lectures on campus or send key counselors to study outside, and enhance the professional ability of counselors to identify students’ leadership potential, design practical activities, and carry out personalized guidance. Establish a teacher-student pairing assistance mechanism to provide one-on-one full-process guidance to student leaders(cadres) and practice teams. Hire corporate executives, outstanding alumni, and industry elites as off-campus mentors to share management methods, skills, and professional ethics based on workplace experience. Guide the team to participate in student activity planning, team management, competition preparation and other links, answer students’ confusion in a timely manner, correct work problems, impart practical experience, support students from multiple dimensions of thought, method and ability, and provide a solid human guarantee for the continuous growth of leadership.

6.4 Evaluation-driven: Establish Leadership Development Files and Implement Dynamic Feedback

A rigorous evaluation mechanism can effectively stimulate students’ motivation for development. It is suggested that private colleges establish a “digital leadership development archive” for students, recording information such as student leadership experiences, activity participation, training courses, practical achievements, and honors and awards. At the same time, leadership performance should be incorporated into the comprehensive quality evaluation system, and a certain weight should be given in the evaluation of awards and honors, recommendations for Party membership, job recommendations, and interviews for college entrance examination or postgraduate entrance examination, so as to exert the guiding function and incentive effect of the evaluation. In addition, a “Campus Leadership Star” selection event can be organized once a year to honor and publicize outstanding students and set up exemplary models.

6.5 Cultural Remodeling: Create a Campus Atmosphere that Values Leadership and Enhances Home-school Interaction

Campus culture has a subtle educational effect on people. Private colleges and universities need to reshape the campus cultural atmosphere and cultivate fertile ground for leadership. Actively explore and publicize outstanding student leaders, volunteer pioneers, entrepreneurial role models and other advanced examples on campus, share growth stories through campus bulletin boards, public accounts, thematic lectures and other channels, and play the exemplary and leading role of role models. Regularly carry out distinctive activities such as leadership-themed speeches, team quality expansion, and exchange meetings of outstanding cadres to foster a campus atmosphere of taking responsibility, being good at collaboration, and being willing to serve, and promote the long-term improvement of students’ leadership through cultural infiltration. At the family level, strengthen communication and interaction with parents. Through forms such as freshman parents’ meetings, parents’ open days, and online parents’ classes, convey to parents the significance of leadership development, guide parents to provide students with a broader social perspective and role demonstration, especially focusing on student groups with relatively weak family capital, and give more support and opportunities through school resource inclination.

Through the systematic advancement and coordinated efforts of the above five strategies, it is expected to break the “balanced but mediocre” predicament of leadership development for college students in private universities, promote student leadership from the “medium level” to the “structurally optimized and advantage-prominent” high level, and provide practical paths for private universities to improve the talent cultivation system and enhance the employment competitiveness of graduates. Each private college should, based on its own educational positioning and student characteristics, organically integrate leadership education into the entire process of talent cultivation in a way that suits local conditions, gradually build a scientific and sustainable leadership development ecosystem, and effectively enhance students’ comprehensive quality and employment competitiveness.

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