How master of business administration (MBA) graduates influence themselves to achieve their objectives in their careers can be linked to how well they identified with academics throughout their education. It is important that scholars understand this relationship between academic and career performance. The ability to self-regulate, self-motivate, and set goals, among other traits of self-leadership and academic identification, has been proven to increase personal and professional outcomes. Current research suggests that the two constructs, identification with academics and self-leadership, share similar qualities. This quantitative study used multiple linear regression to test the relationship between identification with academics and self-leadership while exploring the control variables age, gender, race, instructional modality, and years since graduation. To represent the population under study, the random sample consisted of MBA graduates who were employed. This population proceeded to take the School Perception Questionnaire, the Abbreviated Self-Leadership Questionnaire and answer questions regarding specific demographic information needed for the control variables. Detailed analyses were implemented on the collected data. It was determined from these analyses that MBA graduates' perception of identification with academics while attending their MBA program had a relationship to their perception of self-leadership in their current careers. Additionally, it was determined that gender had a controlling relationship between the two constructs. The multiple regression coefficient data showed that identification with academics was statistically significant at the p < 0.05 level and gender was statistically significant at the p < 0.05 level. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]