The effect of gender and nationality on leadership practices of student-athletes in the United States and Japan

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of gender and nationality on the leadership practices of student-athletes in Japan and the United States. The instrument used in this study was the Student Leadership Practice Inventory (S-LPI) by Posner and Brodsky (1998). The S-LPI consisted of 30 questions about five leadership practices: challenging the process, inspiring a shared vision, involving others to act, modeling the way, and encouraging the heart. A total of 194 (n = 46 American male, n = 48 American female, n = 50 Japanese male, n = 50 Japanese females) participated. A 2 (nationality) x 2 (gender) ANOVA was calculated (p <.05) to investigate the effect of gender and nationality on the leadership practices of student-athletes in Japan and the United States.No interaction but a main effect for nationality on all five leadership practices and a main effect for gender on the two leadership practices of enabling others to act and encouraging the heart. Japanese student-athletes scored lower on all five practices in comparison to the American student-athletes. Also, females had better leadership on those two practices than males.