Leadership Characteristics of University Students Engaging in Volunteer Activities

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the youth leadership qualities and characteristics of university students who volunteer at the Elazig Youth Center, Turkey. The population of the study consisted of 146 university students, 86 females and 60 males. Youth Leadership Qualities Scale, which was developed by (Cansoy & Turan, 2016), was used as the data collection tool. Within the scope of the study, the Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient was determined as 0.91 for the entire youth leadership qualities scale and it was observed that the Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficients varied between 0.70 and 0.80 calculated for the reliability of the factors. Thus, it was determined that the scale was a valid and reliable measurement tool. In the study, non -parametric tests were used in the data analysis. Additionally, the Mann-Whitney U test was to determine the difference between the groups in binary variables while the Kruskal-Wallis test was used for the variables with more than two groups. In the Kruskal-Wallis test, the MannWhitney U test was used to determine between which groups the difference existed. The analysis of the data was conducted using the licensed SPSS 25 software. In conclusion, it was determined that female students were more reliable in terms of leadership characteristics and their sense of responsibility was higher than male students. Moreover, it was determined that as the age of the students increased, their problem-solving skills also increased. Furthermore, university students who engaged in volunteer activities viewed themselves as successful in the activities they participated in based on youth leadership characteristics.