Enhancing the Leadership Potential of Intellectually Gifted Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study of a Summer Program

• In Event: Talent Pipelines and Summer Programs

Abstract

Although leadership development is considered an important goal of gifted education, few evidence-based leadership development programs exist for intellectually gifted adolescents. This longitudinal study examined the effectiveness of two consecutive summer leadership development programs conducted with the same cohort of students from a city in western India. The programs consisted of direct instruction and activity-based experiential sessions on fundamental concepts of leadership. Twenty-seven intellectually gifted adolescents (ages 12-15) participated in both programs. Data were collected before and after the programs using three self-reported surveys of leadership skills. Results indicated significant positive changes in the participants’ self-perceptions of leadership qualities, a combined group of leadership skills and characteristics such as communication and group skills, task orientation, and leadership flexibility.

Authors

• Aakash Arvind Chowkase, Yale University

• Kshama Datar, ExtraHop

• Saugandh Deshmukh, Jnana Prabodhini

• Snehal Godbole, Jnana Prabodhini