The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 46, No. 1 - 92

Jonathan Manz

would be equally likely to interact with students as tutors or mentors in ways that are also
consistent with their values. It is understandable that both RAs and OSLs perform similarly
in this area.
An important SCM value for any student
leader is collaboration. RAs will typically
receive formal training in the area of collaboration since they are charged with interacting
with students of varying backgrounds-with
the goal of bringing diverse people together
to develop a sense of community (Blimling,
1999; Watt et al., 2003). And as noted earlier,
RAs who are a part of diverse leadership teams
are more confident in addressing multicultural
issues (Johnson & Kang, 2006).
According to Sessa et al. (2014), two
desired outcomes from OSL leadership experiences are building teamwork and understanding diversity. Based on results from this study,
it is evident that OSLs are gaining leadership
skills that align with the value of collaboration.
In contrast, it is possible that the RAs in the
current study were not members of diverse
management teams and thus did not have
this value inculcated into their own leadership
practices-at least not at a level that greatly
exceeds that demonstrated by OSLs.
Accountability and responsibility were
also leadership skills derived as outcomes of
an OSL (Sessa et al., 2014). Being responsible
and held accountable for their work (usually
unpaid) may have contributed to the reason
that OSLs had higher scores in the value of
commitment-the energy to drive a collective effort (Cilente, 2009)-compared to RAs.
While RAs are usually compensated for their
work, it is possible that they lack the same
degree of intrinsic motivation as OSLs.
92

Awareness of one's beliefs and values is
important in demonstrating the SCM value of
consciousness of self. Similarly, the value of
congruence relates to acting according to one's
personal values and beliefs (Cilente, 2009). As
discussed above, RAs at liberal arts institutions
are likely to demonstrate greater intercultural
competence than are RAs from other types of
institutions (Martin & Blechschmidt, 2014).
Effective mentoring, which is another predictor of an RA's demonstratation of socially
responsible leadership (Early, 2014), may be
more prevalent at a liberal arts college. The
small, relational nature of these colleges may
assist in the development of common values
more readily than does a large institution, so
it is conceivable that RAs from liberal arts colleges would demonstrate higher scores in consciousness of self and congruence than would
their peers from larger institutions.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE
RESEARCH
Findings from this study were based on secondary survey data, which presents some inherent limitations. This data lacked a variable
that indicated years of service in a leadership
role. In addition, there was a lack of information pertaining to the job responsibilities of the
RA role.
A future study that included RAs' years
of service would allow researchers to better
understand RAs' engagement with socially
responsible leadership. However, as noted
above, experience could also be accompanied
by burnout, which would then put that RA's effectiveness in jeopardy.
A qualitative study could enhance these
quantitative findings by enabling RAs to

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 46, No. 1

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