The State of Leadership in American Life Today
Neither businessmen and women nor Alma College alumni believe that leadership is equally strong in all domains of American life today. Both groups believe it is strongest in the domain of science and technology and weakest in the domain of politics. Table 2 shows the mean ratings on a 1 (excellent) to 5 (poor) scale for each of 10 domains, by each of the two groups. Domains in which the difference between the groups is statistically significant are highlighted.
| Table 2. Mean Ratings of Quality of Leadership in Ten Domains by America's Business Men and Women, and Alma College Alumni, Using 1 (Excellent) to 5 (Poor) Scale | ||
| Domain | Mean Rating (1-5 scale), Business Men and Women | Mean Rating (1-5 scale), Alma College Alumni |
| Science and technology | 2.63 | 2.50 |
| Military | 2.89 | 2.99 |
| Volunteer and community service | 3.00 | 2.86 |
| Higher education | 3.10 | 2.74 |
| Business and commerce | 3.22 | 3.25 |
| Local communities | 3.37 | 3.05 |
| Religion and spirituality | 3.59 | 3.46 |
| K-12 education | 3.72 | 3.24 |
| Health care | 3.97 | 3.66 |
| Politics and public affairs | 4.11 | 4.06 |
| Source: EPIC _ MRA. Statistically significant differences are highlighted. | ||
Note that the order of the table is from domains in which leadership is perceived to be highest in quality (lowest mean rating) to those in which it is perceived to be lowest in quality (highest mean rating), ordered according to the sample of business men and women. A rating of 1 corresponds to excellent, 2 corresponds to very good, 3 corresponds to good, 4 corresponds to fair, and 5 corresponds to poor. Thus, on average, both groups believe the quality of leadership in science and technology is good to very good, while the quality of leadership in politics and public affairs is fair, shading toward poor.
The table shows there is a general trend for Alma College alumni to perceive leadership as being of somewhat higher quality, domain for domain, than business men and women do. In particular, this is true of the four domains in which the difference between the two groups is statistically significant.
