The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3 - 55

Mentoring Relationships and Leadership Capacity

2011, p. 53). This movement distinguished
between industrial and postindustrial theoretical paradigms, and the emphasis has evolved
from focusing on the leader to cultivating leadership development to benefit society.
The Social Change Model of leadership
(SCM) provides a framework for individuals
and groups to engage in leadership and learn
from one another to enact change through a
non-hierarchical model rooted in a postindustrial framework (Higher Education Research
Institute [HERI], 1996; Komives, Lucas, &
McMahon 2007; Skendall, 2012). Starting
in 1996, this model was widely distributed

. . . student affairs professionals,
including housing and residence
life administrators, have various
opportunities to establish mentoring
relationships with RAs and to help
build their confidence in their
abilities as leaders. Although there
were some benefits to the type of
mentor and/or the gender and race
match of mentor-protégé pairings,
the main finding was that any type
of mentoring relationship is crucial
in the development of resident
assistants' leadership capacities.

throughout the higher education community
(Astin & Astin, 2000; Cilente, 2009; HERI,
1996) as a way to represent leadership as a
process as opposed to a position.
Research has been conducted on mentoring and socially responsible leadership and
leadership capacity, but efficacy has not been
addressed, and few studies have focused on
the leadership capacities and mentoring experiences of resident assistants. None have
included consideration of the demographics of
the mentor-protégé pairings and of the impact
of mentoring outcomes on resident assistants'
leadership capacities. To address this problem,
the purpose of this study was to examine how
resident assistants' leadership capacities (socially responsible leadership and leadership
efficacy) are influenced by being involved in
mentoring relationships (e.g., mentoring for
personal development and/or mentoring for
leadership empowerment). The research questions in the study included the following:
1. Do resident assistants who participate in
mentoring relationships exhibit significantly
higher leadership capacities than resident
assistants who do not, after accounting
for control measures such as pre-college
activities, race, gender, sexual orientation, and
grade point average?
2. Is there a significant relationship between
the type of mentor (faculty, student affairs,
employer, or student) and resident assistant
leadership capacity, after accounting for the
aforementioned control measures?
3. Does the relationship between mentoring
relationships and leadership capacity differ
based on the race and gender match of the
mentor-protégé pairing, after accounting for
the aforementioned control measures?

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3

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