Comparative studies on leadership training for secondary students in Hong Kong, China and Singapore : are culture-specific implicit leadership attributes reinforced?

Abstract

Cross-cultural studies like the GLOBE project on effective leadership attributes have been widely explored in business organizations. However, little research has been done in the area of cross-cultural leadership development amongst secondary school students and its relation to perceived important leadership attributes by the students. Recognizing this gap, this study was devised to explore the leadership training that a sample of students in Hong Kong, China and Singapore have received and whether the leadership training activities reinforced or diminished the culture-specific leadership traits endorsed by their societies.

This research employed a mixed methods design in which both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Seven teachers and three students were selected for semi-structured interviews, while 122 students between the age of 16 and 19 from the three regions were invited to complete a questionnaire.

The intensity of leadership training involvement of students from Hong Kong, China and Singapore was explored in the first part of this study. It was found that with more government support, Singapore had the most systematic leadership development programs for secondary students, followed by Hong Kong and China. Based on the comparison of 23 traits of effective leaders, the second part of this study revealed that students’ perception of important traits of effective leaders aligned with those endorsed by their cultures. It was found that culture played a more definitive role than leadership training in influencing students’ ideas of outstanding leaders.