The intentions of undergraduate business students to someday be an organization's top executive: Implications for business school leadership education

Business schools have an important role to play in students' career leadership development. This study examines factors influencing business students' intentions to someday be a top executive (CEO). Using the theory of planned behavior, we find intentions to someday be a CEO are driven by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The international journal of management education 2021-03, Vol.19 (1), p.100455, Article 100455
Main Authors: Flanagan, David J., Palmer, Timothy B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business education
Higher education
Leadership development
Leadership education
Teaching
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Summary:Business schools have an important role to play in students' career leadership development. This study examines factors influencing business students' intentions to someday be a top executive (CEO). Using the theory of planned behavior, we find intentions to someday be a CEO are driven by students’ behavioral, normative and control beliefs regarding the CEO position. We also find that female students report lower CEO intentions as well as lower behavioral, normative and control beliefs regarding the CEO position. The impact of gender on CEO intentions is mediated by behavioral and control beliefs. Implications for leadership development activities in and out of the classroom for students during their important “impressionable years” are discussed. •The theory of planned behavior is useful for analyzing students' intentions to someday be a top executive.•Behavioral, normative and control beliefs help explain the variance in students’ top executive intentions.•Female students report lower top executive intentions and lower behavioral, normative and control beliefs.•The impact of gender on top executive intentions is mediated by students’ behavioral and control beliefs.
ISSN:1472-8117
DOI:10.1016/j.ijme.2021.100455