Leadership Studies Commons^™

Cultivating Success For Foster Youth Students In Higher Education Through Mentorship, Anita Duong

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Foster students on campus lack intensive support and mentorship through college. The purpose of this research was to study how the University of San Diego can support staff who serve as mentors to the Torero Renaissance Scholar (TRS) students, a program dedicated to supporting foster students. The questions addressed were: What are the needs and concerns of the TRS mentors? How can USD support the needs and concerns of the TRS mentors? I conducted interviews, facilitated a workshop, and held a focus group for the mentors to express the support they needed. The outcome of the interviews and workshop indicated …

Preparing Youth For Civic Life And Leadership: Evaluating The Washington County 4-H Youth Officer Program, Paul A. Hill, Katarina J. Aikens

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

The Washington County 4-H Youth Officer Program was designed to address youth preparedness for civic life in a democratic society. This program is targeted to students in grades 6-8th, who are at a critical stage in their development as citizens. The program emphasizes experiential learning, which allows youth to learn by doing as they deliver public speeches, visit with elected officials, and facilitate business meetings using Roberts Rules of Order. A total of 24 youth participants completed the program over two years. Evaluation results showed the program was successful in achieving student learning outcomes, with significant improvements in citizenship knowledge …

Influence Of K-12 Oss Experience On Black Students Who Have Graduated From Post-Secondary Programs: A Qualitative Study, Andria Michelle Watkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of African Americans who had served at least two out-of-school suspensions (OSS) during their K-12 epoch but whose life outcomes did not reflect the deficit outcomes that researchers often use to describe that population. The central research question asked: What are the lived experiences of African Americans who had served at least two OSS and persisted to the completion of a post-secondary program? Guiding questions were implemented to understand further the phenomenon: How do African Americans believe their identity has been positively or negatively influenced by OSS? and …

Leadership And Service: Kenyan Teachers Bringing Community Cultural Wealth Into Practice, Peter Njagi Mwangi

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This study explores the complex leadership tasks high school Kenyan teachers provide in their communities, giving a detailed look at how these educators balance their responsibilities as both classroom teachers and community leaders. Historically, Kenyan communities are frequently viewed through a deficit lens, and this study sets out how the cultural wealth of the dynamic teacher and learner communities cross the boundaries between local communities and educational institutions. To enable a new type of bridging school and the community, this study reveals the interconnectedness of school and community through the interplay of teachers moving fluidly in both spaces and influencing …

Leadership For The Future: Towards The Challenge Of Understanding Leadership In The Aec Sector, Roisin Murphy Dr, Rory Concannon, Oluwasegun Seriki Dr

Conference papers

The Irish Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector faces ongoing challenges relating to low productivity, digital adoption, sustainability, and innovation. Effective leadership is required to transform the sector to address these challenges and meet the future needs of society. However, there remains a lack of empirical evidence relating to leadership requirements, assessment, and development, in the context of the Irish AEC sector. As part of an ongoing study with the aim of developing resources to support leadership development, this research, conducted through a review of literature, examines how leadership is being assessed and explored in the AEC sector. The findings …

The Art Of Problem Solving, Taylor Jones

Goal 3: Interpersonal Intelligence Narrative

Lesson Outcomes:

• Be able to identify and resolve a problem

Purpose: Problem–solving isn’t just a skill that will be used in an academic setting; it will be used throughout a lifetime. Identifying a problem's cause, choosing how to react, and applying that solution is a vital life skill.

How To Keep A Clean Space For A Clear Mind, Taylor Jones

Goal 3: Interpersonal Intelligence Narrative

Lesson Outcomes: In this lesson, students will learn how to maintain a clean space for a clear and healthy mind. o Maintaining a clean space will help the student’s mental health, o Teach responsibility and cleanliness o Be considerate of others if spaces are ever shared.

Purpose: This program aims to help students maintain a clean living space and tips to keep it.

Police Officers’ Perspectives On The Death Of George Floyd By Minneapolis Police Officers: A Descriptive Study, Janet Henderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On May 25, 2020, four Minneapolis police officers reported to the location where an African American man had been accused of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill in a convenience store. After being taken outside of the store, the man, George Floyd, was eventually placed in the back of a police patrol car, after he was handcuffed. Saying he was claustrophobic and resisting arrest, Mr. Floyd was removed from the patrol car, and placed on the ground on his stomach. One of the patrol officers, the most senior officer present, and a field training officer, placed his knee on …

Equalizing Community Voice In An International Service-Learning Project: A Narrative Inquiry Of A Social Entrepreneurial Peruvian Women's Group, Monica D. Hernandez

Theses & Dissertations

Traditionally, international service-learning (ISL) programs are created and led by host groups, which frequently overlook the international communities’ learning process and perspectives and the long-term impact of service missions on the community. Fundamentally, ISL is meant to address community needs. With the principal focus being on enriching students’ learning, community voice is often eclipsed. The research aim was to investigate the empowerment and efficacy of an ISL project to strengthen relationships between engaged scholars and international communities and improve future service-learning trips. Using a qualitive narrative research design, I investigated a 2021-2022 ISL Based Photovoice Project applying Kolb’s Experiential Learning …

Establishing Connectivity And Trust In High Schools During Covid-19, Lisa De Leon, Matthew D. Wilkens

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Although meta-leadership was originally a framework used to examine healthcare leadership in crisis, it is also a valuable framework for educational leadership. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused school leaders to endure a crucible of fire in every area, such as balancing children’s safety with losses to education quality. The action plans of educators are frequently in flux as the pandemic evolves and unfolds. The continuation of this crisis has led to uncertainty, and at times, chaos.

This study examines how meta-leadership, with emphasis on connectivity, has been applied by educational leadership in American high schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 …

Leadership, Service, And Wicked Problems: Impact Of War, Lack Of Funding, And Covid-19 In Service Of Those With Fewer Opportunities, Ruth V. Akumbu

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

As the world and organizations struggled to overcome the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, I, the Founder and CEO of Plant A Seed, also known as Plant a Seed Africa, used this chaotic period to assess and address issues facing the organization. Multiple challenges are addressed, including the pandemic, financial, political, and leadership. I created a new leadership strategy that switches between pacesetting, visionary, and transformational leadership styles. The new organizational change model will use the 5-F or Plant A Seed 5-F model.

Leading And Mentoring Women In Stem: Mitigating Gender & Microaggressions, Lilicia Bailey, April Curry

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Microaggressions, behaviors that can be nonverbal or verbal, can occur when individuals “communicate negative, hostile, and derogatory messages to people rooted in their marginalized group membership (based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality).” This statistic, according to the Institutional Transformation program at the University of New Hampshire,¹ is in alignment with what researchers indicate regarding microaggressions, asserting that they can be “intentional or unintentional” can occur daily, and are unacknowledged (Making the Invisible Visible: Gender Based Microaggressions, n.d.).

We consider the various types of microaggressions, specifically those based on gender, and assess the effect it has on women in leadership …

The Pathway Forward: Uncovering The Barriers Faced By Women Police Chiefs, Michael Llamas, Amor Roma, Tianshi Hao, Wendy Perkinson, Kayleigh Axtell, Anshu Lal, Jesse Llamas

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Women have encountered many obstacles in their quest to gain leadership in law enforcement. While research has studied how well women officers strive to achieve higher-level positions within police departments, the challenges women face when they gain top leadership roles remain largely unexplored. This research paper will discuss the unique challenges faced by women police chiefs, drawing from first-hand experiences of women police chiefs and existing literature. The study finds that women police chiefs encounter challenges in communication, transferring to a new department, overtasking, introvertedness, and general police chief stress. The study also finds that women police chiefs implement ways …

Subject-Matter Coursework Vs. Subject-Matter Exams (A Situational Analysis), Dennis Douglass

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Year after year, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing receives a significant number of applicants from those who want to teach in the State of California. Focusing on one of the critical concerns of low student performance and academic achievement begins with identifying potential problems within the education system, such as a lack of quality or best-fit educators in California. Becoming a teacher in the State of California has demonstrated many areas where the credentialing criterion may contain the answers to achieving higher standards and expectations from our youths in California. Incorporating subject-matter exams onto the list of teacher credentialing criteria …

An Analysis Of The Rising Xenophobia Against Asian Americans In The U.S. And Higher Education Regarding The Effects Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Shiqian Zheng

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

This paper analyzes the cause of anti-Asian hate, the rising xenophobia against people with Asian origins, as well as the vaccine distribution and governmental leadership. By conducting a short case study on universities’ leadership during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States, this paper contributes to the literature regarding Asian Americans overall, as well as to the literature on approaches to a public crisis on hate crime in higher education in the United States.

The Reluctant Feminist: Angela Merkel’S Cautious Leadership, Ls Gaiek, Marlyn Garcia

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Abstract: What does it mean to be a modern feminist global leader today? Global leadership research is growing, but less research focuses on female leaders, even though the 21st century thus far contains a significant rise of female leaders. Angela Merkel’s infamously historic reticence and aversion, concerning speaking about feminism, irrevocably dissolves in an interview in January of 2019. This interview offers a glimpse into Angela Merkel’s cageyness, and provides an intimate insight into her circumspect perspective concerning feminism. This article aims to explore barriers and challenges to Angela Merkel’s rise as a global leader, how crisis forged and …

Black Women And Theoretical Frameworks, Laschanda Johnson

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Despite the upsurge in the number of woman students as well as novice faculty /administrators, there are still too few women leaders to inspire the shifting demographics. The growing number of female undergraduate students in most parts of the world has created the erroneous perception that gender equality in higher education has been attained. While women's contribution to higher education has increased, the attainment of leadership positions is practically unknown from the global perspective. Given that higher education is becoming a more complicated global enterprise, gender equality in leadership is not only an issue of impartiality but also a need …

Book Review: The Courage To Lead Through Values: How Management By Values Supports Transformational Leadership, Culture, And Success, Nidhi Aggarwal, Nana Manu, Eya Mahouachi, Jyoti Aggarwal

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

The Courage to Lead through Values: How Management by Values Supports Transformational Leadership, Culture, and Success is about being fearless and implementing the values in changing or sustaining the organization and its people. Transformational leadership is shown as an influential factor in the individual’s ability to deal with different circumstances and where leaders courageously provide support to maintain the employee confidence level. This book is also about the type of leader an individual can become, who may not have answers or solutions to every problem, but genuinely keep working on and acknowledge their inner sense of courage and values by …

Built For Continuous Improvement: Professional Accountability In The Academic Setting, Richard Sinclair

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

One way to organize schools to continue to improve is to build the culture around the natural spirit of its people. Rich Sinclair collected data from one of North Carolina’s highest-rated public schools to learn how the design and development of their professional culture have progressed over the last five years, including through the height of the pandemic. This mixed-methods study on the K-12 efficacy of values-driven organizational development offers three lessons that can help guide systematic efforts to align more school work environments with the best in the world.

The Efficacy Of Social And Emotional Learning For High School Students With Cognitive Disabilities, The Experiential Approach, Lawanda Fox

Dissertations

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is essential to all students' education across all grade levels. However, what does that look like at different developmental stages, and how can SEL best support learning and development for high school students with cognitive disabilities? Young people are becoming more aware of their identities and values in high school. They build upon many social and emotional competencies (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making) developed throughout elementary and middle school. However, students with cognitive disabilities are more challenged than their peers without disabilities to accomplish these competencies. This study aims to identify …

Lifelong Learning & Mindsets: Two Critical Components To Further Your Thinking And Learning, Andrew Castagna

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Pursuing something new can seem overwhelming due to the amount of time, effort, and practice it may take, but the journey can be just as rewarding as the destination, and every step taken towards it is a step closer to achieving it. With dedication and perseverance, anything is possible. Investing in oneself can lead to personal and professional growth, which can result in improved confidence and skills. It can also present opportunities. Through six years of researching, understanding, and learning about personal growth within the Critical and Creative Thinking program at the University of Massachusetts Boston, I have come to …

Utilizing New Technologies To Measure Therapy Effectiveness For Mental And Physical Health, Jonathan Ossie

Dissertations

Mental health is quickly becoming a major policy concern, with recent data reporting increasing and disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, increased substance abuse, and elevated suicidal ideation. One specific population that is especially high risk for these issues is the military community because military conflict, deployment stressors, and combat exposure contribute to the risk of mental health problems.

Although several pharmacological approaches have been employed to combat this epidemic, their efficacy is mixed at best, which has led to novel nonpharmacological approaches. One such approach is Operation Surf, a nonprofit that provides nature-based programs advocating the restorative …

“The Juggle Is Real”: An Examination Of The Realities Faced By Working Mothers At The University Of San Diego And The Impact Of Institutional Policies On Their Quest For Work-Life Balance, Colleen K. Smith

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my action research was to gain a better understanding of working mothers at the University of San Diego (USD) and the influence of institutional policies in their lives. My research question was: What can I learn from the lived experiences of those who identify as women and mothers and work at USD that will bring awareness and changes to the policies and practices affecting them? As a mother working at USD, this research has significance in my life. Participants included 14 full-time staff and administrators with children 5 years old or younger. My findings indicate USD mothers …

Enhancing Student Leadership Skills Through Project-Based Learning In The Postgraduate Research Experience, Enung Hasanah, M Ikhsan Al Ghazi, M. Ikhwan Al Badar, Fauzia Fauzia M.A.

The Qualitative Report

Project-based learning (PjBL) is one of the learning models recognized by education experts as an effective method of achieving learning objectives in developing process skills; however, few studies have examined its potential for fostering leadership skills. This study aims to investigate postgraduate teacher students' experiences with project-based learning as a means of developing students leadership skills. The research involved 24 postgraduate students and utilized a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis. The findings reveal that while some aspects of project-based learning were perceived as straightforward, other steps were deemed challenging, particularly those that involved higher order thinking skill and …

Developing And Establishing Validity Evidence For A Measure Of Situational Leadership In An Outdoor Leadership Context, Guy B. Debrun

Dissertations, 2020-current

Discussions of what it means to be an effective outdoor leader are common in outdoor education literature (Smith & Penny, 2010). Research has identified core competencies, conceptual frameworks, and course curricula for effective leadership. However, the criteria upon which judgements are made about leaders lack clarity (Smith & Penny, 2010). Furthermore, very little is documented, and few evaluation instruments exist to evaluate outdoor leader effectiveness (Phipps et al., 2005). The lack of instruments is problematic for four reasons: (1) it hampers efforts to create recognized outdoor leader certifications, (2) it impedes efforts to demonstrate the value of outdoor leadership program …

Balancing Act: A Study Of Graduate Student-Parents And Their Experiences Navigating Family And Academic Demands At The University Of San Diego., Jessica Rammell

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to learn about the experiences of graduate students who are raising children while enrolled in master’s and PhD programs at the University of San Diego. The question that guided this research was: What do the stories of graduate student parents inform us about the need to improve policies and practices at USD? Three cycles of action research were conducted at the University of San Diego between November 2022 and March 2023, with a total of seven participants. The methods of research included focus groups, interviews, and a creative group session. It was found that …

First-Generation Latina Testimonios: Navigating A Predominantly White Institution And Achieving Academic Success, Nancy Correa

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my research was to understand the experiences of Latina first-generation college students at the University of San Diego, a predominantly White institution. Six Latinas participated in a series of group platicas to share testimonios with one another and build community. One research question that guided this study was: “How can the self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and academic achievement of first-generation Latina students be enhanced in a predominantly White institution?” Findings suggested participants’ negative experiences with faculty and White classmates impacted their sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy. Most participants worried how they will continue to finance college …

The Untapped Potential Of Commuters: Engaging Faculty And Staff To Foster A Commuter-Inclusive Space And Student Interest At The University Of San Diego, Monica Gonzalez Herrera

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The commuter student population faces many challenges in getting involved on campus. Taking an asset-based approach, this study aimed to enhance first-year commuter engagement and support their sense of belonging at a private, faith-based university. By modifying McNiff and Whitehead’s model of reflect-plan-act-exhibit, students were invited to engage in several identity, community, and leadership activities throughout the academic year. Results suggest first-year commuters need role modeling or mentorship that is challenging and supportive, the support of creating a ‘third space’ away from home and school, and the development of authentic and genuine connections among peers and staff. It is recommended …

Creating Community Among Women Of Color In Stem At The University Of San Diego, Alejandro Picasso

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Women of color (WOC) are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and many feel disconnected from their fields of study. At the University of San Diego (USD), a predominately White institution, WOC in STEM are particularly underrepresented. Thus, I explored how USD might create a community that could enhance the belonging, retention, and the future success of WOC in STEM. I sought to learn if the USD environment welcomed and allowed WOC to feel they belonged. Findings indicated USD and the STEM departments provide these students with a welcoming environment. However, the lack of representation of WOC faculty …

The Valley In Between: Fostering Biracial Pride And Exploring Community On Usd Campus, Pauline Herring

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Biracial students face more challenges in higher education than students with one racial identity because universities lack student support services for biracial students, affecting their student development and compromising a student’s success. This study aimed to create an identity-based student service for biracial students to support them and provide a way to foster biracial pride. My guiding questions are: How can I assist bi-racial students in finding a sense of community at USD by centering their stories and needs? How will the concept of biracial pride impact students and their higher education experience?