Haciendose un Líder

Research on college student leadership is evolving, with more scholars studying the influence of social identities on the development of student leaders. Gaps exist in the literature on how race influences leadership identity development for many social identities in numerous institutional contexts, including for Latino men at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Using a case study methodology, this dissertation studied the influence of race on the leadership identity development of Latino men at a PWI at Southeastern University using the Leadership Identity Development (LID) Model (Komives et al., 2005) and Ferdman and Gallegos’s (2001) Latino Orientations as a conceptual framework. The study also used Latino Critical Theory (LatCrit) to honor the voices and experiences of the participants and disrupt the dominant narrative on leadership identity development for college students. A sample of 13 Latino men at a PWI in the Southeastern U.S. were selected and interviewed. Though the participants indicated their racial identity did not influence their views of themselves as leaders, they did share their respective cultures (Mexican, Colombian, Puerto Rican, etc.) did have an influence on how they saw themselves as leaders. Based on the themes that emerged, the study illustrated a merged leadership identity development process for Latino men at SU. The LID Model was mostly applicable to participants, with Yosso’s (2005) cultural wealth and cultural heritage identified as missing components in the Developmental Influences and Developing Self categories, respectively.