7: Broadening Access: Embedding Social Change Leadership

Leadership capability has been identified as a priority attribute in preparing graduates to be globally employable and delivering learning outcomes that see students prepared for work with a mix of practical and theoretical skills (Seemiller & Murray, 2013). Australian employers have also identified leadership along with communication and initiative, as desirable attributes for job seekers (Kinash & Crane (2016). In addition, accreditation agencies expect professional courses to develop students' leadership skills (Seemiller, 2016; Seemiller & Murray, 2013). As a result of their higher education experiences, students are expected when they enter the workforce to lead or at least be prepared to lead (Seemiller & Murray, 2013, p. 41). For example, business schools, as part of their mission statements, claim to develop students' leadership skills (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, 2016). Seemiller and Murray (2013) provide a list of leadership competencies such as self-awareness, group dynamics, communication, strategic planning, personal behaviour, interpersonal interaction and learning and reasoning that can be used to review programs to determine whether there are sufficient opportunities provided for students to develop these leadership competencies and to discover any gaps.