Effects of Socioeconomic Status and University Learning Experiences on Male and Female Students' Leadership Capacity in Vietnamese Higher Education

Little is known about students' leadership capacity in higher education in developing countries such as Vietnam. This research explored gender differences in family socioeconomic status (SES) and university learning experiences in Vietnamese higher education and investigated how family SES and university learning experiences influenced male and female students in terms of leadership capacity. The research was used methods of survey questionnaire and documentation. The data were drawn from a longitudinal sample of 513 fourth-year students across five member universities of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. They were then analyzed by data processing, displaying, and drawing a conclusion. The research has two findings. The empirical results indicated that first, overall gender differences exist regarding family SES and university experiences of students and female students came from more diverse SES families and university learning experiences compared with their male counterparts. Second, the findings of this research also revealed that both genders were affected by their family SES and university learning experiences as far as leadership capacity was concerned. The results may be attributed to Vietnamese traditions. Its primary contribution comes from the findings on the development of leadership programs, which was confirmed as the main responsibility of Vietnamese universities. The suggestions connoted for university administrators and policymakers are also discussed.