Psychological Predictors of College Women's Leadership Aspirations

In this study we investigated the influence of psychological variables upon female college students' aspirations for leadership positions in their future careers. Data were gathered from 213 undergraduate women (mean age equals 19.63) attending a predominantly White, selective liberal arts college in the Midwest.Results demonstrated that connectedness needs, gender role, self-esteem, and fears of negative evaluation accounted for a significant amount of the variance in predicting college women's leadership aspirations. Implications of these findings for improving leadership development initiatives for college women are discussed.