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Survey of Leadership Centers: Leadership Pedagogies

Christina R. Kalel, Semiraimes S. Hastain, Melinda Davis, & Megan Snodgrass

Faculty: Brandy A. Brown, Ph.D. & Laura G. Lunsford, Ph.D.

References

Adams, S. (2014, November 12). The 10 skills employers most want in 2015 graduates. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/11/12/the-10 skills-employers-most-want-in-2015-graduates/

Avolio, B.J. (2007). Promoting more integrative strategies for leadership theory building. American Psychologist, 62: 25–33.

Azevedo, A., Apfelthaler, G., & Hurst, D. (2012). Competency development in business graduates: An industry-driven approach for examining the alignment of undergraduate business education with industry requirements. The International Journal of Management Education, 10: 12-28.

Bennis, W. (2007). The challenges of leadership in the modern world: Introduction to the special issue. American Psychologist, 62: 2-5.

Black, A.M., & Earnest, G. W. (2009). Measuring the outcomes of leadership development programs. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 16(2): 184-196.

Eich, D. (2008). A grounded theory of high-quality leadership programs: Perspectives from student leadership development programs in higher education. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 15 (2), 176 – 187.

Leithwood, K., Riedlinger, B., Bauer, S., & Jantzi, D. (2003). Leadership program effects on student learning: The case of the greater New Orleans school. Journal of School Leadership, 13(6): 707-738.

Owen, J. E. (2012). Findings from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership Institutional Survey: A national report. College Park, MD: National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs.

Padilla, A., & Lunsford, L. (2013). The Leadership Triangle: It’s Not Only About The Leader. The European Business Review. Retrieved from http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/?p=1482

Seemiller, C. (2013). The student leadership competencies guidebook: Designing intentional leadership learning and development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

University of Arizona. (2015). Screenshot of currently offered Leadership Programs. [Screenshot]. Retrieved from http://leadership.arizona.edu/

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Rationale

Leadership development is a professional development activity in which companies invest greatly. Undergraduates are interested in leadership development to enhance their job prospects. Collegiate Leadership Centers have proliferated on college campuses to offer students a chance to develop their leadership skills. Some researchers find modest gains in student leadership skills (Leithwood, Riedlinger, Bauer, & Jantzi, 2003) while other studies suggest that students may not be learning leadership skills valued by employers (Azevedo, Apfelthaler, & Hurst, 2012).

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Aims

To discover what leadership theories/models are used to direct leadership center offerings. The overarching research questions in our mixed-method study are:

1. What philosophy guiding leadership develop activities in Collegiate Leadership Centers? Is this philosophy/theory evident to students who participate in these activities?

2. Do Leadership Center offerings include activities on follower behavior or leadership contexts?

3. Are offerings focused on leader-centric activities or leadership, which involves a process involving leaders, followers, and contexts?

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Literature

  • Employers value these leadership competencies: teamwork, decision-making, communication, and charisma (Adams, 2014; Seemiller, 2013).
  • Leadership development programs benefit from continuously assessing leadership research and incorporating it into their offerings (Eich, 2008).
  • Yet such assessment cycles are lacking in leadership education, especially collegiate leadership development (Owen, 2012).
  • Leadership center directors and students tend to overestimate the benefits from development programs; program outcomes are not empirically measured (Black & Garee, 2009).
  • Leader-centric theories dominate the philosophies of leadership centers despite leadership scholars’ call for recognition of leadership as a complex and dynamic process between leaders, followers, and environmental contexts (Avolio, 2007; Bennis, 2007)

Figure 1. Representative image of the leadership process model known as ‘The Leadership Triangle’ which integrates leaders, followers, and environmental contexts (Padilla & Lunsford, 2013).

Sample & Methods

Leadership Centers are the unit of interest. We searched for leadership centers in each of the 50 states in the United States. The top public and private research university was examined to determine the presence of a center through an internet search. The total number identified is 76. Center directors will be contacted to complete an online survey and center websites will be coded for the qualitative portion of the study.

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  • Survey: Center Directors invited on April 20 by email to take an online survey through Qualtrics. A follow up phone call will be made to non-respondents.
  • Coding Center Websites: Assessed to determine philosophy of leadership center offerings and their focus.

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Preliminary Results

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Next Steps

  • Finish survey data collection (May 4)
  • Analyze collected data (qualitative and quantitative analysis)
  • Prepare for conference (SIOP) and journal (Academy of Management, Learning and Education) submissions

Figure 3. A screenshot representing the University of Arizona’s Leadership Programs website and the center’s offerings. Research assistants coded offerings found on center websites to determine their philosophy and focus (University of Arizona, 2015).

Table 1. Coding of Center Websites and the Emphasis of their Leadership Models and Mission Statements.

Leadership is a process

“Build leaders” = leader centric.

“engage in social change” = involves followers

Leader Focused: No mention of followers or environments