Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Thematic Analysis Exploring The Narratives Of Growing Up As A Second-Generation Survivor Of The 1994 Genocide Against The Tutsi In Rwanda And The Presence Of Generative Commitment, Victor Mpore

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The scientific analysis of narratives from survivors of a genocide like the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi has provided an understanding on the survivors experiences during and after the genocide. Most narrative research on the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi has however primarily focused on the survivors and not their children. This study focuses on the second-generation survivors as a significant portion of the Rwandan population was born after the genocide. Drawing on the narrative approach, this study thematically analyzed narratives the second-generation survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi have about: a) their childhood and young adulthood in …

The Perceptions Of Psycap Growth Among College Student Leaders Who Mentor, James Lee

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to examine the perceptions of Psychological Capital (PsyCap) growth among college student leaders who mentor. Recent research documented a positive association between mentoring and the mentee’s PsyCap growth, yet little is known about how mentoring impacts the mentor’s PsyCap. Additionally, though PsyCap has been researched considerably in the last decade, little is known about both the antecedents of PsyCap and the social mechanisms that contribute to the growth of PsyCap. This study addresses these gaps and examines the influence of mentoring for leadership development on the mentors’ perceptions of PsyCap growth. There are …

Exploring The Mentoring Experience Of High Power Distance Individuals In High And Low Power Distance Cultures, Jennifer Okoliko

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

Understanding how to effectively navigate mentoring relationships across different cultures is critical for personal and professional development in an increasingly globalized world. With the growth in migration across the world, leaders are tasked with the responsibility of understanding how to connect, communicate, and create effective teams across cultures for personal and organizational success. Exploring the mentoring experiences of individuals in high and low Power Distance cultures provides a broader understanding on how the phenomena is practiced in different cultural context and highlight important lessons for leaders.

The aim of this phenomenological study was to enhance our understanding of the lived …

Implicit Leadership Theories In The Performing Arts, Alison Gillespie

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

Within the performing arts industry, the social and financial consequences of leadership failure have proven costly. Additionally, the industry is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption of standard operating procedures. Furthermore, leadership scholarship in the arts indicates that performing arts leaders are challenged by the need to balance artistry with administrative ability in their work (Secore, 2016).

As the performing arts industry endeavors to recover post-pandemic and to prevent future leadership failure, this study seeks to answer the question “what leadership expectations are held by those involved with the performing arts?” To answer this question, summative qualitative content analysis …

An Exploration Of Influences On Consumers' Behaviors/Decisions In Relation To Animal Agriculture, Abigail Durheim

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

Animal agriculture provides many daily resources for consumers around the globe. While the average American is at least three generations removed from agriculture, they still hold power to influence the industry with the dollar and their vote. The purpose of this study was to identify influences on consumer behaviors/decisions in relation to animal agriculture. Seven hundred four complete and usable responses were collected via a researcher-developed online survey. Using branding concepts as a framework, the first study evaluated how visual stimuli influenced consumers' intention to purchase Nebraska beef products. Researchers found that visual stimuli did influence respondents to choose Nebraska …

Exploring The Direct Relationship Between Sustainability Leader Ecospirituality And Human Capital Sustainability Leadership Capacity: A Moderated Mediation Study, Krystal L. Gabel

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The primary purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if a sustainability leader’s ecospirituality significantly impacts one’s human capital sustainability leadership. The secondary purpose of this study was to determine if one’s psychological capital mediates this relationship and if one’s environmental attitudes moderate the relationships between ecospirituality, human capital sustainability leadership, and psychological capital.

Participants in this study included sustainability leaders in top positions at their organizations in the four highest-ranked countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the United Kingdom) on the 2022 Climate Change Performance Index. These individuals had positions of chief sustainability officer, head of sustainability, or sustainability …

Gender Role Congruence And Self-Efficacy In Emerging Outdoor Leaders, Audrey Krimm

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

Being a leader in the outdoors requires the competence and confidence to act and make decisions in high-risk situations. However, female leaders may experience an incongruence between the assertive decision-making expected of their leadership role and the passivity expected of their gender role, which can impact their leadership self- efficacy. The purpose of this study was to explore how gender role congruence influences the self-efficacy of male and female emerging outdoor leaders. A convergent mixed- methods design was used by triangulating self-efficacy survey data with in-depth interviews, observations, and reflective drawings from eight student outdoor leaders at a large Midwestern …

Making Sense Of Inclusive Leadership In Public Higher Education: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Herbert L. Thompson Iii

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This study’s purpose was to generate a context-specific analysis and description of the inclusion process at a Midwestern university, and how leaders make sense of said process. The participants in this study are members of an inclusion training program; these participants represent the perspective of stakeholders as well as designated leadership for organizational inclusion. This study utilized Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Data generation occurred through a series of semi-structured interviews. Analysis of data provided a detailed description of the sense making of inclusive leadership is provided to explain how educators experience the phenomenon contextually. Five superordinate themes emerged from this …

A Quantitative Analysis Of Transformative Experiences Leading To Perceived Leader Identity Change, Brooke Wells

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

Leader identity development happens over a lifespan, and long-term identity change is unusual. The way individual’s view their identity as a leader is built upon and reinforced over time. However, there are events such as crucible moments or transformative experiences that do alter an individual’s leader identity. This study aimed to identify what factors influence the way people describe transformative experiences that lead to perceived leader identity change. The correlational research design employed the data collection of transformative experiences narratives, which were coded into a quantitative content analysis, and four assessments to measure the following concepts: affect, identity processing styles, …

A Phenomenological Study Of Leadership Outcomes In Short-Term Study Abroad, Jeanette Milius

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The impact of global citizenship is far-reaching and encompasses skills and outcomes beyond simple economic and business success. Enhancing all students’ knowledge and ability to navigate a global community is not just of interest to governmental units, policymakers, and global organizations, but also to universities who wish to adhere to accreditation standards. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to identify characteristics related to an individuals’ motivation to complete a short-term study abroad (one to three weeks in duration) and the impact that experience had on their personal and leadership growth. Eighteen self-identified leaders enrolled in a college degree or …

Leadership Education And Moocs: A Content Analysis Approach To Understanding The Pedagogy And Characteristics Of Leadership Massive Open Online Courses (Moocs), J. E. Jason Headrick

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The purpose of this study is to identify the pedagogical strategies used for instruction and assessment in leadership-oriented MOOCs and gain a more refined understanding of the current state of MOOCs in leadership education. The study also seeks to fill the gaps in the body of knowledge surrounding leadership MOOCs. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a form of distance education course used across content areas. They have been celebrated as revolutionizing the way learners access education and the way colleges and universities could expand the notion of education on a global scale beyond their traditional campuses. The use of …

Generativity Development Of College Students Who Mentor, Nick Knopik

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

Research has shown that college students who mentor demonstrate higher levels of generativity than other college student leaders and general college students; yet, it is unclear whether college student mentors develop generativity over time as a result of their mentoring experience or enter a mentoring relationship because their generativity is already well-developed. This study compared the levels of generativity within individuals and across age cohorts during a one-year time period while controlling for gender for college students who mentor. Three quantitative generativity measures were used to collect data from a sample of 45 college student mentors at two time points, …

Developing And Validating A Scale To Measure Youth Voice, Jessica Bartak

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a scale to measure the level of engagement of youth in their community or organization using the construct of youth voice. Youth voice consists of three levels: being heard, collaborating with adults, and building leadership capacity. An initial list of 40 items were developed (13 being heard, 13 collaborating with adults, and 14 building leadership capacity). Youth development experts and youth leadership experts were invited to complete a survey to assess the content validity of the items developed for the youth voice scale. The data collected from 50 participants were …

Examining Generativity Development Among College Student Leaders Who Mentor, Hannah M. Sunderman

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the influence, if any, of age cohort on generativity among college student leaders who mentor. While previous research has revealed that college student leaders who mentor tend to demonstrate higher levels of generativity than other college student leaders and general college students (Hastings, Griesen, Hoover, Creswell, & Dlugosh, 2015), research as to the development of generativity among college student leaders who mentor has not been determined. Additionally, a need exists for further research on the antecedents of generativity (McAdams, 2001, p. 434). The current study sought to fill these gaps in …

The Experience Of Influence Among Youth Leaders, Kelly Moguel

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

While the term “leadership” can be difficult to define, one term that is commonly seen in its association is “influence”. While the field of leadership has empirically identified several outcomes associated with adult influence (i.e., greater organizational performance, higher subordinate satisfaction, higher subordinate engagement), little is known about influence in youth leaders. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a better understanding of how youth leaders experience influence. Twenty-nine in-depth, semi-structured interviews from fifth- 12^th-grade students in a leadership mentoring program called Nebraska Human Resources Institute (NHRI) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were conducted to ascertain …

A Phenomenological Study Exploring The Leadership Development Experiences Of Academic Research Library Leaders, Beth Mcneil

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This phenomenological study describes the leadership development experiences of academic librarians currently working in leadership roles in academic research libraries to discover their experiences of being a library leader and to explore how they describe their own leadership development. Study participants identified as having experienced positive leadership development experiences during their careers as academic research library leaders and were, at the time of this study, employed and actively working in leadership positions reporting directly to the head of their academic research library. The goal of this exploration was to understand what the academic library leaders had experienced, with regard to …

Exploring The Relationship Between Parental Psychological Control And Emergent Leadership, Melissa S. Fenton

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

Leadership scholars have identified the need for research investigating the developmental antecedents of leadership (Avolio, 2007; Day 2011b; Murphy & Johnson, 2011). Although leadership scholars investigated the relationship between parenting and leadership, there was a gap in the leadership literature analyzing the impact of parental psychological control. This descriptive study explored the relationship between the five factor personality model, parental psychological control, and emergent leadership behaviors in emerging adults. Participants were emailed a survey including measures of the Big Five personality traits, affective-identity motivation to lead (Chan & Drasgow, 2001), leadership self-efficacy, parental psychological control, and self-reported formal and informal …

Telling Our Service-Learning Story: Instructor Perspectives On Service-Learning In The Leadership Classroom, Marianne Lorensen

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This phenomenological study examined the experiences of ten college instructors who use service-learning in the undergraduate leadership classroom. Since leadership is often a service-learning outcome for students (Bringle & Hatcher, 1996; Eyler & Giles, 1999; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005), service-learning is regarded by many instructors as an appropriate pedagogical approach in leadership classes (Rama, Ravenscroft, Wolcott, & Zlotkowski, 2000; Zlotkowski, 1996). Thus, the focus on instructors of undergraduate leadership courses. The current study employed a phenomenological approach in order to deeply explore instructor experiences. The goal of this exploration was that instructor experiences and the meaning they make from those …

Identifying Determinants Of Migration For Alumni Of The Nebraska Human Resources Institute, Jack Ehrke

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

Many Midwestern and Nebraska communities are experiencing a net out-migration of citizens, with a particular decline among college graduates. As older generations begin to retire in the next few decades, many management occupations will be transferred to a younger generation, making it vital to retain young leaders in Nebraska communities. The current study focuses on young adult leaders who would be perhaps prime candidates to fill this impending leadership void. One hundred nineteen alumni of the Nebraska Human Resources Institute (NHRI), a leadership mentoring program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who graduated college between 2007-2014 rated various migration, community, and …

Generational Differences In Work Motivation Of Healthcare Workers, Rose Leavitt

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This study examined the motivational differences across the major generations and the specific cusps between the Veterans and Baby Boomers, between Baby Boomers and Generation X, and between Generation X and Generation Y.

Data were collected from 1,098 self-selected employees of a large healthcare system in the Midwest. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed to statistically analyze the data. Significant differences in the sources of motivation among the four generations and the cusps of generations for four of the five MSI subscales were identified.

Intrinsic process motivation was found to be significantly higher for Generation Y than Generation …

Educational Robotics As Leadership Development For Youth, Kathleen P. Morgan

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This study explored how competitive educational robotics programs for youth contribute to the development of future innovative leaders in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The importance of leadership in creating a climate for innovation is recognized by scholars (Eisenbeiss, van Knippenberg, & Boerner, 2008; Oke, Munshi, & Walumbwa, 2009; Sarros, Cooper, & Santora, 2008) and educational robotics programs, like FIRST^® LEGO^® League (FLL), that include leadership development in their organizational missions. While youth interest in STEM and youth leadership development have been previously researched, the intersection of leadership development and STEM learning appears to be …

Authentic, Transformational Leadership: A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Black/White Biracial Leaders, Carmen R. Zafft

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This phenomenological study described the racial identity and leadership experiences of eight community, education, and business Black/White biracial leaders. Four central themes emerged relating to the participants’ racial identity choices: (a) family discourse, (b) social networks, (c) appearance, and (d) identity work. Three central themes emerged relating to the participants’ leadership experiences: (a) cultural agility: “Blessed to be flexible”, (b) perceived representation: “I look like them”, and (c) transformational leadership: “I lead so others can grow.” Because the participants were conscious of their identity development experience, all demonstrated a strong sense of self which influenced how they experienced leadership. As …

Shared Leadership In Dangerous Environments: Testing A Model For Military Teams Using Mixed Methods Research, Alex J. Ramthun

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

In a field study, the dissertation examined the influence of shared leadership on team performance for 51 military combat teams in a simulated dangerous environment. To simulate the dangerous context, the study employed amilitary tactical urban fighting complex, paintball weapons, role players, and a dynamic combat scenario. Using social network analysis techniques and after controlling for team diversity and combat experience, the study found the density measure of shared leadership to be positively and significantly related to team performance, accounting for 40% of the variance in team performance. This research also found both the centralization measure and density/centralization interaction effect …

"Leadership Is Behaving And Acting Like A Leader": A Narrative Exploration Of The Life Stories Of Three Latino Leaders In Healthcare, Kevin L. Flores

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

There is a dearth of Latino leaders holding executive positions in healthcare. The purpose of this study was to provide a privileged platform for the voice of Latino leaders in healthcare who, by definition, emanated from a marginalized population. This study began with the assumption that the stories of Latino leaders were different than leaders of the majority population due to their ethnicity. Latino critical theory asserts that concepts like leadership need to be viewed through an ethnic lens. The overarching question that guided this study was: What do the stories of three Latino leaders reveal about their development as …

Authentic Leadership, Leader-Member Exchange, And Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Multilevel Analysis, Heather M. Stewart Wherry

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This field study examined the relationship between leaders’ authentic leadership (as rated by leader and follower) and five constructs of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) (altruism, civic virtue, conscientiousness, courtesy, and sportsmanship) as moderated by leader-member exchange.

Data were collected from 32 leader participants and 243 raters from seven for-profit organizations in the Midwest. A multilevel data analysis was conducted using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Three of the five OCB constructs (conscientiousness, courtesy, and civic virtue) were analyzed as multi-level. Altruism and sportsmanship were analyzed using regression.

First, the direct effect of the leader’s level of authentic leadership was tested on each …

The Leadership Of Sustainable Cities: A Multiple-Case Study Of Two Oregon Cities, Kenneth L. Weaver

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

In order for cities to become more sustainable it is necessary for the leaders of the efforts to change the organizations and governments so that they understand and embrace what it means to be more sustainable. This study examined the change processes of two Oregon Cities, Corvallis and Eugene, that had made the choice to become more sustainable as a community. The approaches that the participant leaders used demonstrated the use of different ways of thinking about the leadership of change. The ways of thinking of the community leaders were formed by their unique personal backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and abilities. …

'You Just Know': A Phenomenological Study Examining How To Recognize When You Are Called, Kevin L. Warneke

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This phenomenological study describes the experiences of 12 residents of a Midwestern community who were identified by their peers as possibly possessing a calling. The central research question was: What are the experiences that lead to feelings of strong commitment in their lives? Calling was defined as a summons, which originates outside of one’s self, to serve a cause that betters humanity. Participants described the strong commitments they felt in their lives and explained their origins. Five themes emerged from the semi-structure interviews: (a) “You have to be asked and respond to being asked” – the role of a mentor …

Navigating The Gate Keepers: A Mixed Method Study Of Early Career Librarians In The Tenure Process, Judith Wolfe

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The “gate keepers” oversee the enforcement of the rules, set by the university, for those seeking tenure. This elite club decides what counts, how it is completed and evaluated, and where to set the equity bar. The pre-tenured librarian expects to be treated with openness and fairness but may be met with bias and secrecy. Without a network or mentoring system many early-career librarians are not reappointed, are denied tenure, and become dropouts in the last year of the tenure process.

This study explores mentoring functions as they relate to joining the “club” within an academic library. This study also …

Studies On Critical Thinking For Environmental Ethics, Courtney Quinn

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This study examined the role of critical thinking in regards to environmental ethical issues. First, an instrument was developed and validated to quantitatively measure students’ ability to apply critical thinking skills to various environmental ethical issues. Next, the instrument and a qualitative assessment were used to examine critical thinking capabilities of freshmen upon entry to a large introductory course. Last, the Environmental Ethics Critical Thinking Assessment, in conjunction with the qualitative assessment, were used to examine the change in critical thinking ability of all students in a large introductory course from pre to post-semester. In both studies, numerous antecedents to …

Sustainability Leader Competencies: A Grounded Theory Study, Pamela G. Schwalb

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The purpose of this critical qualitative study was to develop a theory of the competencies of a sustainability leader, grounded in research. A sustainability leader is generally described as an individual who creates profit for his/her stakeholders, while protecting the environment and improving the lives of those for whom he/she impacts as a result of his/her leadership. Nearly 60 individuals familiar with sustainability were asked to characterize an effective leader of a sustainability initiative or a sustainability organization.

The study revealed there is more than one way to be a sustainability leader—different paths can result in decisions and actions that …