Undergrad Leadership Programs

College Search & Selection
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Does anyone have any insight into leadership studies programs at the undergrad level? There seem to be only a handful of schools that offer this course of study as a major. The ones that we are aware of are the Williams-Leadership Studies Program, Richmond-Jepson School of Leadership, and Northwestern through their School of Education and Social Policy. Other colleges seem to offer minors or certificates at the undergrad level in Leadership Studies.

Our son is considering switching from economics to a Leadership major. He believes it will be more interesting and definitely more diverse. He is looking into consulting, and his professional career counselor has encouraged this switch. She believes that because of the multi-discipline approach that this program offers, it will be more practical for today’s consulting opportunities; like economics, most of it is theoretical, but the specific program our son is considering does require a hands-on internship for one semester. one semester.

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Is this the same son that you posted about in your other thread? Is he he a transfer from community college, NU or another school?

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My biggest question would be if employers are comfortable hiring students with this degree since it seems to be new/rare. I’d be looking closely at the first destination surveys for each of these programs to see where these grads went for their first jobs. I would also do a deep dive on the 4 year plan of study.

My D has a certification in collaborative leadership from her university and was hired for a rotational leadership development role for her company. She’ll get her MBA down the road. It’s not consulting but her company wants their undergrads to have technical or specialized degrees. They feel like they can teach the rest.

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Yes, it is. He is a transfer from a LAC.

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If he was a sophomore in May, is he a junior now?

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Correct.

Not unlike many other students, the original four-year plan has had some adjustments. However, he has worked with who would be his new advisor on an overall plan of study that includes completing a minor and possibly a certificate that should complement his major well. I appreciate hearing about your daughters’ experience with Leadership Studies.

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If he is a junior, my gut instinct would be to complete the econ degree and add a leadership certification (possibly online). However, if he is unhappy in econ or unhappy at that school, that’s a different story.

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I have to disagree with your counselor-I don’t think leadership studies is a positive for consulting careers, and it may be a negative.

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Here’s an article you might find interesting (linked below). I’m old school, of course, but if my son or daughter came to me and even asked about a certificate or minor in the subject, I’d be supportive in that they need to pursue what they want, but i would be very investigative with them. For consulting, Econ has traditionally been a great major - especially if you have expertise in econometrics. That said, consulting from undergrad is brutally hard in and of itself and likely has limits (grad school will come into play at some point most likely).

If you have any concerns (I 100% would but that’s me), you might ask each school for student outcomes - what have their students done with their degrees? Or you might consider a double major with stats or econ.

Looking at Richmond’s curriculum and it seems like a quant degree light.

I do agree it looks interesting - most interdisciplinary do. I can’t personally imagine it will lead to consulting opportunities - but those are hard to come by as an undergrad anyway as mentioned.

And I think as a “new” major - even though it’s a new world - you’ll have companies seeking Econ, Chemistry - whatever - but I can’t imagine Leadership.

In the end, it sounds like your son is well researched, etc. Is his career counselor an objective third party? Query them on - who has done what with this major? Query the schools you are considering- get student outcomes.

I can see the allure from the kid’s side - but I personally would think, at least looking at Richmond’s curriculum, he can find a better major (by name). But that’s why I’d seek outcomes.

Sounds like your child has thought it through though - and that’s important - and it could very well be right for them.

Looking backward, I would never do it. But looking forward, maybe it’s a smart move? The world is changing.

Good luck to him - most importantly, I do think it’s important to enjoy what you study.

My kid is interdisciplinary - and as we look for internships - very few list her major and it’s more of the “any major jobs” - but that’s an issue with many in the social sciences.

Majoring in Leadership: A Review of Undergraduate Leadership Degree Programs - Journal of Leadership Education

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Got to agree.

If it’s strategy consulting, he’d be better off in a quant field- econ, physics, applied math. If it’s organizational consulting (which is done by both the strategy firms as well as some specialty firms) he’s better off with the above AND psych (but the quant track, not the “I want to be a guidance counselor” track) and possibly sociology-- but again, with heavy quant. If it’s something else- anything that prepares him for a rigorous MBA will be fine (but I don’t think Leadership is what he wants).

Executive Coaching and leadership is a rapidly growing field. The best practitioners have decades of corporate experience (either up the managerial ranks in a company or as consultants). Breaking in as a 22 year old is going to be tough.

I’d take a look at the actual coursework. He’d need finance, econ, all the statistics he could get…

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[quote=“tsbna44, post:9, topic:3620014”]
In the end, it sounds like your son is well researched, etc. Is his career counselor an objective third party? Query them on - who has done what with this major? Query the schools you are considering- get student outcomes.

He is at Northwestern, which has very strong placement success in consulting. As I mentioned, his experienced career counselor is encouraging this switch. His minor is in hard skills, and he is a kid who can do the math. It does seem like it is changing and that being able to approach problem-solving from more than one aspect is becoming more important.

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Even from NU I would not recommend a leadership major. I would ask for outcomes and have him do coffee chats with actual consultants. Based on my recent experience with consulting recruiting, I don’t think he’d get interviews for an MBB or T2 consulting firm with a leadership degree. He’ll be competing with the strong econ, stats, math, etc majors with strong leadership activities (which is how you show leadership generally).

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What is the major called? On their website, they only show a certificate in Leadership, not a major. So is it an upcoming major?

Obviously - I’m not in consulting - but if i had someone tell me they went to Northwestern, I’d be super impressed. Great school.

If they told me they majored in Leadership, I’d snicker but query more - but I think people would think it’s even below - and these are not bad majors but you know how society looks at sociology or english, etc. and I would think it would be seen below that.

That said, it’s the employers that have to be impressed. But I don’t think in large part they could or would be because it’s not a known entity. Their recruiters will recruit for what they did before most likely.

Even their website is showing jobs like Sales Manager, HR Manager - under career outcomes - for the certificate.

A bit confused between certificate (OK) and a major but I think their website alone on outcomes would cause me pause.

Good luck to him - obviously he’s bright and introspective and no doubt he’ll do well regardless of major - and the Nwestern name will always help.

If the student truly feels this is right for them - and I’d go by the interest in the academics - not a 3rd party - then I’d say great. But if I wanted to be a consultant, I’d major in engineering, econ or maybe stats.

Good luck - i’m sure he’ll be great no matter what he decides.

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Thanks for the kind and encouraging words.

I’m calling his major leadership studies, but specifically, it is a Batchelor of Science degree from the NU School of Education and Social Policy with a concentration in Learning and Organizational Change. It does include all the curriculum for the Leadership Certificate. He will have to practice his elevator speech when someone asks about his major. I think for our kid, economics was more of a means to an end, and this is a much more interesting program for him.

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Interesting - they show outcomes on the webpage and the first two are consulting, but not your strategy type. They also have business analysts and the requisite Teach for America. But no defined curriculum - but note it includes quant, teamwork, and then what a student designs - so almost like a self designed major.

It’s easy for anyone, including parents, to say this is better or that is better. My daughter is majoring in International Studies (with a Chinese focus) and has to add a second major but it will likely be as un pre-professional - maybe sociology, etc.

In the end, while I’d love for her (or even me) to be an engineer or accountant, etc. you have to pursue academically and then professionally what you are passionate about. I was a broadcast major and since Syracuse knew most would not succeed, they required a 2nd major - so I did History - and I survived.

If he’s passionate about this and I hope he is vs. a career counselor said it’s the way to go -well, all we can do is love them and support them - right :slight_smile:

I do think if he wants your McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc. just looking at the outcomes, perhaps this isn’t right - because they are snobs both in school and major.

But - he’s going to create a path for himself - consulting or otherwise and it will be a fun ride.

How does one find / acquire a career coach?? I’m more interested in that :slight_smile:

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I guess if he wants to going into the companies that offer HR training, DEI initiatives, workshops, safety seminars, etc, to corporate clients, that might work. More of an educational role than traditional consulting.

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L& D as a corporate function (Learning and Development) is moving quickly towards MORE online, “gamification”, sophisticated virtual curricula, etc. If this is what the kid is interested- he should take as much programming as he can fit in.

OP- if your son is excited about the actual coursework- fantastic. That’s critical. If he is just looking for an easier on-ramp, he’s going about it the hard way.

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Not quite leadership but would some type of Entrepreneurship degree scratch his itch?

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I don’t think the easy way with him is really part of his thought process, and definitely, he finds the coursework more interesting. Also, he is getting feedback that this major may make him a stronger candidate for the consulting firms he wants placement with than economics.

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If he’s got some firms picked out, and they know his program and would be excited to hire someone with his major- then great.

Good luck!

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