Katy Rouse, assistant professor of economics in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, recently published a paper titled, "The Impact of High School Leadership on Subsequent Educational Attainment."
The paper appears in Volume 93, Issue 1 of Social Science Quarterly.
An abstract is provided below:
“Universities increasingly emphasize the importance of leadership skills, but budget shortfalls in public high schools threaten the availability of leadership opportunities for many youths. Few studies, however, have examined the impact of high school leadership experience on key economic outcomes. This study narrows this gap by estimating the causal impact of leadership in high school on educational attainment measured several years later. The paper uses data from the National Education Longitudinal Study. To address selection bias, the effect of high school leadership is estimated using ordinary least squares, propensity score matching and instrumental variables models. Every estimation method and model specification examined implies that high school leadership has a large, positive impact on post-secondary educational attainment. This paper indicates the impact of high school leadership is, at a minimum, non-trivial. This result implies decisions regarding financial cutbacks for extracurricular activities should not be taken lightly.”