ATTRIBUTES OF STUDENT LEADERS IN IIUM TOWARDS VOTING

Abstract

Leadership is an essential aspect that people and communities worldwide depend on to make important decisions. The core function of leaders is to aid and support their followers to accomplish a common goal. The International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) has been voting student leaders since its inception. These student leaders help in the administration of student affairs in several aspects. This study aims to examine the attributes of IIUM student leaders towards voting. Specifically, it aims to determine the relationships of qualities, characteristics, important ideal qualities of student leaders, and Islamic principles of leaders with voting in IIUM. The study utilizes the great man’s theory of leadership to explain the relationships between the variables. The quantitative research design and survey method with a questionnaire as the tool for data collection were used in this research. A total of 327 IIUM students participated in this study. The findings of the study reveal that students look at their leaders in a positive and motivating way. They view the leaders as consistently performing an excellent leadership job and have good values through different characteristics, with important qualities and Islamic leadership principles. Additionally, students tend to consider both inbuilt and external attributes while voting for their leaders to be in power. The findings also show the presence of significant relationships among the variables of the study. The great man’s theory is also supported in this study.