Asian Alumni in America and Their Leadership Skills

Abstract

In this chapter, we focus on international alumni—students from other countries who graduated from U.S. universities—and their leadership skills as they leave the university. The goals were, first, to identify the elements of leadership that international alumni found that they most needed after graduation, and second, to see how competent feel they were in these skills immediately after graduation. The research relied on both qualitative and quantitative data involving alumni from Asia.

From the survey, we learned that no single skill is more important than the others, and in fact, all of the most highly rated skills represent the spectrum of soft skills that one would expect to have in a professional setting. Of these, the students wished they had learned more about communication skills, conflict resolution, and goal setting.

From the interviews with Asian alumni who took a leadership program, we learned that the students had learned about themselves and had learned from each other about their different cultures. They mentioned the skills they had acquired for working in groups and the communication and interactions that helped them build confidence and take initiative, which also transferred to their workplaces after they graduated.

The study results show that most of the skills alumni perceive to be important in the workplace can be learned more systematically in a leadership program. The benefits that students receive from these programs, as well as the benefits that the university can receive from graduating students with these skills, should give higher educational institutions a motivation to implement these programs, if not broadly, at least for the segments of their international population that need them the most.

Appendices

Appendices

Appendix 1: Mapping of Landrum’s Work Force Readiness Instrument to Leadership Traits

Leadership skill	Survey item on Landrum’s instrument
Communication	Participate effectively in discussions
	Present information verbally to others; receive and use both positive and negative feedback
Confidence	Demonstrate initiative, motivation, and perseverance
	Demonstrate pride in accomplishment
	Evaluate own interests, strengths, and weaknesses
	Function effectively in stressful situations
	Possess a positive attitude toward work
	Possess self-discipline, including punctual attendance and dependability
	Possess the ability to work with supervision
Conflict management	Accurately monitor others’ emotional states
	Handle conflict maturely
	Identify and resolve sources of conflict between oneself and others or among other people
	Regulate your emotions effectively
	Respond appropriately to constructive criticism
Creativity	Apply information to new or broader contexts
	Apply knowledge from formal educational experiences (if applicable)
	Apply thinking/problem-solving skills to technology situations
	Consider and evaluate alternative solutions, weighing their risks and benefits
	Contribute ideas as well as answers regarding problems
	Identify, prioritize, and solve problems
Culture	Adapt to change
	Appreciate the importance and value of humor at work
	Respect the opinions, customs, and individual differences of others
Goal setting	Monitor progress toward goals
	Demonstrate loyalty to the organization and its goals
	Work to help achieve organizational goals
	Take steps to achieve career goals
Leadership	Act responsibly and conscientiously
	Demonstrate self-motivated learning
	Gather information efficiently
	Give direction and guidance to others (if applicable)
	Make defensible/appropriate decisions
	Motivate oneself to function at optimal levels of performance
	Possess the ability to work without supervision
	Provide leadership and followership as appropriate
	Work independently
Managing time	Manage several tasks at once
	Set priorities and allocate time efficiently in order to meet deadlines
Social capital	Demonstrate highly developed social skills
Working with others	Participate in reaching group decisions
	Teach and learn from others on the job
	Work well with others

Appendix 2: Scores for each of the Leadership Skills Associated with each of Nine Categories

Skill set	Category of leadership	Expected level in the workplace		My level of preparedness at graduation
		Work Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Participating effectively in discussions	Communication	2.7	0.47	2.3	0.66
Presenting information verbally to others	Communication	2.6	0.6	2.45	0.6
Receiving and giving positive and negative feedback	Communication	2.55	0.69	2.15	0.75
Having self-discipline, such as through punctual attendance and dependability	Confidence	2.95	0.22	2.75	0.44
Acting responsibly and conscientiously	Confidence	2.95	0.22	2.85	0.37
Having a positive attitude toward work	Confidence	2.85	0.37	2.7	0.57
Demonstrating initiative, motivation, and perseverance	Confidence	2.85	0.49	2.7	0.57
Functioning effectively in stressful situations	Confidence	2.8	0.52	2.2	0.7
Evaluating your own interests, strengths, and weaknesses	Confidence	2.6	0.6	2.35	0.49
Handling conflict maturely	Conflict management	2.7	0.47	2.15	0.75
Responding appropriately to constructive criticism	Conflict management	2.6	0.6	2.35	0.67
Identifying and resolving sources of conflict	Conflict management	2.55	0.6	2.2	0.83
Applying thinking/problem-solving skills	Creativity	2.9	0.31	2.55	0.6
Identifying, prioritizing, and solving problems	Creativity	2.85	0.37	2.6	0.5
Contributing ideas as well as answers regarding problems	Creativity	2.65	0.59	2.65	0.59
Applying knowledge from formal educational experiences	Creativity	2.45	0.6	2.45	0.69
Applying information to new or broader contexts	Creativity	2.45	0.6	2.6	0.5
Respecting the opinions, customs, and individual differences of others	Culture	2.9	0.31	2.7	0.57
Adapting to change	Culture	2.75	0.55	2.65	0.67
Appreciating the importance and value of humor at work	Culture	2.3	0.73	2.3	0.66
Taking steps to achieve career goals	Goals	2.75	0.55	2.4	0.68
Monitoring progress toward goals	Goals	2.75	0.44	2.55	0.6
Possessing the ability to work without supervision	Leadership	2.8	0.52	2.6	0.5
Demonstrating self-motivated learning	Leadership	2.7	0.57	2.75	0.44
Working independently	Leadership	2.65	0.59	2.6	0.6
Providing leadership and followership as appropriate	Leadership	2.6	0.5	2.45	0.51
Giving direction and guidance to others (if applicable)	Leadership	2.45	0.6	2.35	0.75
Highly developed social skills	Social capital	2.8	0.41	2.45	0.6
Managing several tasks at once	Time management	2.75	0.44	2.526316	0.61
Setting priorities and allocating time efficiently in order to meet deadlines	Time management	2.75	0.55	2.35	0.59
Participating in group decisions	Working with others	2.85	0.37	2.5	0.61
Working well with others	Working with others	2.85	0.37	2.842105	0.37
Teaching and learning from others on the job	Working with others	2.55	0.6	2.55	0.51