Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 1 - 49

Leadership efficacy represents individuals' confidence in their capacity
to lead, and it can motivate them to efficaciously pursue complex
challenges, mobilize others to undertake collective action, and
influence social or organizational change.
may contribute to systematic differences between
RAs and their peers; for instance, students
who already possess high leadership
efficacy may apply to be RAs given their high
confidence, while students with lower leadership
efficacy may not apply for those positions
given a lack of confidence in their abilities.
Comparisons of resident assistants and
non-resident assistants may therefore show
effects that are not attributed to the actual experience
of serving as an RA but are instead
attributed to students' pre-resident assistant
characteristics, experiences, efficacy, and beliefs.
Those systematic differences may contribute
to differences in students' outcomes,
so researchers should account for those differences
when estimating the effects of experiences
on outcomes (Austin, 2011).
To address the limitations of prior research,
we used quasi-experimental procedures
known as propensity score matching
techniques to construct control groups (students
who were not resident assistants) and
treatment groups (resident assistants) similar
to those found in randomized experiences.
We matched students on their demographics,
pre-college leadership efficacy, pre-college
leadership experiences, and additional collegiate
experiences to reduce the potential bias
found within students' self-selection into resident
assistant positions.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
We employed two conceptual frameworks
for this study: Gist and Mitchell's (1992) theoretical
analysis of self-efficacy's malleability
and Astin's (1993) input-environment-output
model. Gist and Mitchell proposed that
self-efficacy can be changed through increased
experiences with tasks, frequent
feedback, and training. Astin hypothesized
that the background characteristics of college
students (inputs) and relevant aspects of the
college experience (environment) influence
students' outcomes. Our analyses utilize
Astin's theory by taking students' inputs and
experiences into account when considering
the self-selection biases of resident assistants
and Gist and Mitchell's theory by including
students' pre-college leadership and efficacy
experiences as covariate measures.
METHODS
In this paper, we investigated whether students'
participation as a resident assistant
has an effect on their leadership efficacy. In
the sections that follow, we describe the survey
instrument used to collect students' information,
the sample of college students we
utilized in analyses, the measures we utilized
in our statistical model, and the procedures
we employed to analyze our data.
Instrument
We utilized data collected as part of the
Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership
(MSL), which was administered at eight
of the 14 Big Ten Coalition universities in
spring 2018. The MSL is an international
research program that examines the influence
of higher education on undergraduates'
leadership development (Dugan, 2015). The
MSL survey measures a variety of leadershiprelated
outcomes, including students' engagement
in a variety of leadership experiences,
pre-college experiences and perceptions,
demographic characteristics, capacities for
Volume 48, No. 1 * 2021
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Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 1

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