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Leadership development programs have become widespread in higher education; over 1500 different programs had been registered with the International Leadership Association as of 2012 (Owen, 2012). Given the prevalence of these programs and the substantial institutional investments they require, examination of their purported impacts is a valid area of investigation. Using the used Multi-Institute Study of Leadership, the current study explored the impact of experiential development programming on two of the instrument’s key outcome variables, resilience and self-efficacy. Results found a significant positive relationship between leadership development programs and self-efficacy, but not for resilience. Additional analyses found that other experiential activities (e.g., on-campus jobs, study abroad, etc.) had essentially the same (significant) impact on self-efficacy as did intentionally leadership development ones. Interpretations and implications are discussed.

This article describes an innovative upper-level leadership studies minor course that was created to provide a transdisciplinary-type of experience for students. Seminar and student-led in format, the general framework of the course, Leadership in ‘Major’ Contexts, involved students identifying topics from their own major disciplines and critically applying leadership theories, models, and concepts to them. In addition to reinforcing the idea that ‘leadership is for everyone and every discipline,’ students observed that, despite differences in their academic studies and intended career paths, the leadership process is actually quite similar across them. Borrowing from Super’s self-concept theory of career development, the course also helped students further explore their vocational identities as they transitioned from collegiate to post-graduation careers and leadership.