Influence of Shared Leadership on Student Leaders’ Effectiveness in Public Universities in Kenya

Leadership style is one of the determinants of effective leadership. However, the majority of student leaders lean on traditional leadership which is ineffective, and this has made most of them not to be re-elected for another term. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of shared leadership on student leaders’ effectiveness in public universities in Kenya. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the leadership styles used by student leaders; determine the level of student leaders’ awareness of shared leadership and examine the extent of student leaders’ application of shared leadership style. A descriptive research design was adopted. The target population consisted of public universities in Kenya. Simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 10 public universities using 30% of the total population. A sample of 70 student governing councils who were the respondents from 10 public universities was used. Data was collected using a questionnaire and descriptive statistics was used to analyse data. Data was presented using percentages and frequency tables. The result revealed that 67.1% of student leaders were not aware of shared leadership while 32.9% were aware. On the extent of application of shared leadership, 78.5% did not apply shared leadership while 21.5% applied. The study concluded that shared leadership was not commonly used by student leaders in public universities. The study recommended training for student leaders on shared leadership to enhance its application when they were discharging their duties.