Impact of Leadershp Education on Perceptions of Job Readiness in Undergraduate Student

Based on the critical deficiencies found among undergraduate students regarding workforce readiness, action is required to improve students' knowledge, skills, and abilities in areas such as professionalism, critical thinking, communication, problem solving, and leadership. Priorities must be aligned that provide students with the education and experience to improve these areas of deficiency before entering the workforce. The increase in undergraduate leadership education curricula and programs over the past few decades has been significant. While research has been done on the relationship between leadership education and specific knowledge and skillsets, further research is needed on the impact of leadership education on overall perceived and actual job readiness. This paper outlines the purpose, background, methodology, and findings of an action research study on the relationship between leadership education and job readiness. A review of the literature is provided that explores: (a) leadership education including the evolution of leadership, types of leadership education, and details specifically on undergraduate leadership programs; (b) job readiness discussing employer and student perceived job readiness; (c) university response to job readiness; and (d) how to assess job readiness. The action research study was designed with two primary research questions. The first asked, "How does leadership education impact perceptions of job readiness in undergraduate students?" The second research question added, "How does leadership education impact perceptions of job readiness in diverse undergraduate student populations?" The methodology utilized for the qualitative action research was an exploratory case study design. After completing the data collection throughout the semester, the data was coded based on key terms, concepts, and themes. Based on the coding results, seven themes emerged as having significant connections in relationship to the research questions. Additionally, the implications of the findings and how they can be utilized by the researcher in the classroom and overall public health curriculum was addressed. The findings of this study indicate that there are important components of leadership education that may have positive impacts on students' perceptions of job readiness and self-efficacy for leadership in the workforce.