Service Leadership Emergence through Service-Learning Internships in Hong Kong

Abstract

This article is about a Hong Kong–based summer internship program designed to foster service leadership attributes through service-learning. We report research based on interviews with interns and their partner organization representatives (PORs) and on written assignments as required by the program. We also report how the research informed the redesigning of the program. The research identified factors that support service leadership emergence, including servant leadership by PORs; appropriate intern responsibilities; support from other stakeholders; and interns’ possession of a secure knowledge foundation. Conservation of resources (COR) theory underpins our explanation of how these factors enhance service leadership emergence, while self-determination theory (SDT) also explains the impact of servant leadership by PORs. We conclude by explaining the subsequent actions that have been taken to leverage the supportive factors.