Leadership Studies Commons^™

Program Transition Success: A Practical Guide For Educators Moving Sbae Programs, Evey Choat

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

What tools, strategies, and support systems can help agriculture educators navigate leadership transitions and sustain program success when moving between schools or communities? Teacher mobility and leadership transitions within School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) present unique challenges to program continuity, community relations, and professional sustainability. Unlike other subject areas, SBAE teachers often manage multifaceted responsibilities—as classroom instructors, FFA advisors, and community liaisons—making transitions between programs especially complex. This project addresses the lack of structured support for educators navigating these transitions by developing a Program Transition Guide specifically tailored to the needs of agricultural educators in Nebraska.

Guided by Transformational Leadership Theory …

Understanding The Dynamics Of Formal Mentoring In Professional Identity Development Of Early Career Extension Professionals: A Phenomenological Approach, Anuradha Choudhary

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

Formal mentoring plays a crucial role in shaping the professional identity of early-career extension professionals; however, limited research has explored how these dynamics affect professional identity development within formal mentorship structures. This study uses a transcendental phenomenological approach to understand how mentees and mentors perceive the impact of formal mentoring on professional identity development within the Nebraska Extension system. Using criteria-based random sampling and snowball sampling, the study engaged 10 mentees and 10 mentors, employing semi-structured interviews, focus groups utilizing ripple effect mapping, and document analysis of mentoring agreements, program guidelines, and mentoring checklists. Following Moustakas' (1994) transcendental phenomenology framework, …

Between Two Worlds: A Case Study Of Third Culture Identity And Reentry For Unl International Students, John S. Tessalee

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

Third Culture Kids (TCKs) and international students share many commonalities, such as their globalized nature, adaptability, and the adoption of cultural components from their host country versus their home country. However, they contain enough differences to be considered separate groups. Traditionally, people need to be immersed in a culture different from their parents’ culture between the ages of 0 and 18 to be considered a TCK, whereas international students are typically between 18 and 24 years old by the time they attend universities overseas. The cultural absorption of TCKs in their formative years is usually greater than that of international …

Exploring The Landscape Of Collective Leadership Practice In Rural Nebraska: A Qualitative Sequential Multimethod Study, Haden Myles Botkin

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

Rural communities across Nebraska face a myriad of complex challenges that cannot be solved by individual, heroic leaders. As such, collective leadership has begun to emerge in these communities as actors coalesce around local issues. However, little is known about collective leadership practice and development in rural contexts, resulting in a theory-to-practice gap. To that end, this qualitative sequential multimethod study sought to explore how rural community leaders and community development educators perceive, describe, and make meaning of collective leadership practices in rural Nebraska. Three phases comprise this study.

Phase I, the QUAL phase, was guided by the question, How …

A Phenomenological Study Of Rural Immigrants And Their Experiences Of Community Leadership, Jian Ju Yeo

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The turn of the 21st century has seen a new settlement pattern of immigrants bypassing traditional urban gateways and locating to rural spaces instead. Rural immigration presents a unique opportunity to advance the vitality of small towns as the development of communities is best served by a fully networked and integrated community. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of rural immigrants with community leadership. Research questions focused on how rural immigrants perceive, identify with, and access their local community leadership. Through one-on-one interviews, 10 participants provided rich qualitative data that were analyzed to yield …

From Classroom To Content Creator: Leadership Practices And Identities Of Female Science Teachers On Tiktok, Rachel M. Benzoni

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This qualitative multiple case study investigates how four secondary science teachers use TikTok to advocate for science education and how content creation shapes their professional identities as leaders. Using interviews and video content with a framework integrating constructivist leadership, Leader Identity Construction Theory (LICT), and the Social Change Model (SCM), findings show participants enacted leadership outside formal roles through distributed and relational practices leveraging social media's affordances. Five themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Reconceptualizing Teacher Leadership on Social Media, (2) Leadership Through Equity-Driven Practice, (3) Constructing and Leading in Online Professional Learning Communities, (4) Forming and Negotiating Identities in …

Empowering Diversity: A Comprehensvie Approach To Minority Risk Management Education, Jahqethea Johnson

Applied Science Program: Theses

Federal programs are pivotal to the foundation of the United States agricultural sector. Program payments impact the economic well-being of agricultural producers, yet accessibility, outreach and education disparities remain prevalent among socially disadvantaged producer and agriculturists. From 2020-2024, an average of $21.7 billion dollars in federal agricultural payments have been paid to producers. Although federal funding historically supports commodity crops, livestock producers also depend on a distinct set of federal risk management programs, which are often less visible but pertinent for operational sustainability. There is a growing focus on the need for addressing disparities faced by socially disadvantaged producers and …

Planting The Seed: Rumors And Ceo Dismissal, Diego Villalpando

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Researchers have investigated the short-term performance implications of CEO dismissals as assessed through investor reactions to CEO dismissal announcements. While the corporate governance mechanism of dismissal that boards orchestrate when CEOs underperform could be positively perceived by investors, empirical evidence suggests that a positive association between CEO dismissals and investor reactions is equivocal. Thus, in my dissertation, I examine investor reactions to S&P 500 dismissal announcements and further understanding about this intriguing relationship through the development of theory that incorporates the important theoretical mechanism of information uncertainty. Since it is increasingly hard for boards to reduce the information uncertainty surrounding …

The Influence Rural Leaders Have On Local Population Change: A Two-Part Study, Nichole T. Reiner

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This two-part research study aims to understand factors that influence a rural community population and how local leaders believe they can influence those factors to impact population changes. The first study focuses identifying factors that predict population change using a linear regression model. The second study is a multiple case study focused on three communities, where a mix of secondary data and community leader interviews provided an in-depth understanding of how local leaders perceive their capacity to influence factors influencing population change in their communities.

Advisor: LJ McElravy

Educational Leadership In A Vuca World: The Crisis Management Experiences Of Rural School Superintendents, Lucas J. Grossnicklaus

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The job of both urban and rural superintendents is challenging, but it is the rural school superintendency that comes with unique challenges that aren’t always faced by their urban and suburban counterparts. The COVID-19 Pandemic brought about a number of crises for school superintendents such as school closures, mask mandates, and navigating positions taken by governors, teachers unions, and school boards. While concerns about school closures and mask mandates has dissipated, conflict within school districts has only seemed to grow since the pandemic.

This multi-case study explored the lived experience of rural superintendents in the Midwest who have experienced a …

Leaders’ Experiences Of An Organizational Journey To Inclusive Leadership, John Allan Slieter

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of fourteen leaders of a large community healthcare organization while they undertook adoption of an initiative intended to create a more inclusive culture in their organization. Utilizing a Transcendental Phenomenological approach to data collection and analysis, data generation occurred through semi- structured interviews. Analysis of data provided descriptions of the sense making that explains how these leaders experienced the phenomenon contextually. Four themes emerged from this study, (a) Our mission is to serve, (b) Who is at the table? (c) Securing our future, and (d) …

Exploring Mindfulness Within Leadership Development: A Phenomenological Study, Amardeep Kaur

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Leadership is a key to success in a complex, rapidly changing world. While scholarly and organizational interest in mindfulness is growing within the leadership and leadership development space, it remains largely unexplored from the leader's perspective. This phenomenological study explored how leaders perceived and described their mindfulness experiences within their leadership development. This exploratory research used a transcendental phenomenological approach (Moustakas, 1994) to capture their self-expression through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Day's (2000) conceptual framework on leader and leadership development guided the study. The participants were recruited from organizations based in the U.S. that offer mindfulness-based programs, snowball sampling techniques, and …

Stories Of Motivation And Values Of Small-Scale Farmers In Jamaica And The United States, Raquel Taylor

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Small-scale farmers add to global and local food systems through various means such as connecting communities to local food and support economies. Small-scale farms can address issues related to food and nutritional security. However, farming can be a challenging career to engage in, especially for those who are small-scale farmers. Matters related to succession, higher paying off-farm employment, policies, and more can make it challenging to engage in farming. Leaving the question of what would motivate someone to engage in small-scale farming. Motivation can be viewed through multiple lenses; this study chose to use self-determination theory to understand the motivations …

A Fish Out Of Water: An Examination Of Self-Identified Introverted Business Students' Perceptions Of Their Leadership Ability, Katie J. Jolicoeur

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Current American cultural and societal ideals favor personalities that are outgoing, positive, and talkative in nature, due to the rise of the Culture of Personality (Wilmot, 2019; Kim, 2012; Cain, 2013). Beginning with the industrial revolution and expanding rapidly midcentury, parents began to view children who are quiet as less favorable than those who are more gregarious, thus children and parents began forced socialization at an earlier age (Wilmot, 2019; Cain, 2013). Very little, if any, research has been conducted to understand the impact that the cultural ideal of favoring extraversion has upon undergraduate students seeking a degree in business, …

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

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

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 …

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 Research

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 …

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 Research

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 …

Developing Human Potential: A Personal Approach To Leadership, Gina S. Matkin, Jason Headrick, Hannah Sunderman

Zea E-Books Collection

This Online Educational Resource textbook is intended to provide an overview and introduction of leadership through the lens of how students can develop and maximize their own interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills are crucial to navigating the professional world and can help us to better understand ourselves. This textbook approaches interpersonal skills from a personal level and allows the reader to immerse themselves into activities and scholarship across topical areas. Through the text, learners can create their own Personal Leadership Philosophy and expand this into a Civic Leadership Philosophy to help them understand the impact leaders can have on their communities …

Implicit Leadership Theories In The Performing Arts, Alison Gillespie

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

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 Research

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 …

The Role Of Gender And Curiosity On Transformational Leadership: A Mixed-Methods Study, Brooke Colleen Mott

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Environmental leaders are tasked with finding innovative solutions to dynamic environmental challenges. Leaders must gain and use new knowledge and experiences that motivate resolving gaps in one’s knowledge (i.e., curiosity) and thereby find forward-thinking solutions. Although curiosity is an integral part of human existence, it may be experienced in various ways. Studies have shown that men and women may possess different leadership styles. Nevertheless, the influence of curiosity on leadership between genders has not been as readily explored. Women exhibit unique characteristics for successful leadership in many contexts, but they are often underrepresented in natural resource management overall. Characteristics of …

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 Research

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 Research

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 …

The Intersection Of Leadership Identity Development And Meaning-Making Experiences In College Students, Tori Pedersen

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The current study explored the intersection of meaning-making with leadership identity development through a narrative lens. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with six senior college students who participate in a leadership mentoring program. Results showed there are six themes of meaning-making experiences that influence leadership identity development: : (a) Confidence, (b) Growth From Challenges, (c) Identity, (d) Influence by Others, (e) Influencing Others, and (f) Involvements. These findings encourage the practice of developing leadership development curricula based upon these themes to further develop leadership identity in students.

Perceptions Of Future Community And Individual Well-Being In Rural Nebraska, Amanda L. Kowalewski

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Populations of rural areas continue to decline, yet some communities are more vibrant than ever. While past research has studied current satisfaction or well-being, few have examined future well-being. Using an ordinal logistic regression and combining primary and secondary data sources, this study investigates the predictors of rural Nebraskan’s sense of future well-being, both at the community and individual levels. The model indicates that resilience may be more important in well-being than social capital. Additionally, certain satisfaction indicators are more important than others. Factor analysis was employed to re-index variables, and findings were similar. Social capital, resilience, and quality of …

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 Research

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 Research

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, …

Real-Life Conundrums In The Struggle For Institutional Transformation, Julia Mcquillan, Nestor Hernandez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Intersecting systems of inequality (i.e., gender and race/ethnicity) are remarkably resistant to change. Many universities, however, seek National Science Foundation Institutional Transformation awards to change processes, procedures, and cultures to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments more inclusive. In this article we describe a case study with observations for eight years of before (2000–2007), five during (2008–2013), and seven after (2014–2020) intensive efforts to increase women through reducing barriers and increasing access to women. Finally, we reflect on flawed assumptions built into the proposal, the slow and uneven change in the proportion of women over time, the strengths …

Project Leadership, Ellie Russell, Paul Pechos

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

This club lesson plan is designed for middle schoolers to increase their leadership abilities through games relating to communication, cooperation, service, and leadership styles.

Characteristics That Motivate A Volunteer Workforce: A Case Study Of One Of America’S Largest Volunteer Organizations, Jono Anzalone

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A vast amount of research exists on organizational development and leadership theory targeted for organizations with a paid workforce as well as literature that discusses volunteer motivation and management. However, existing literature fails to address leadership theory, practices in organizational development, and performance improvement for a volunteer-led workforce, one in which both volunteer and paid staff compose the workforce. A bridge of the gap in literature is needed to help inform training and development practices of the American Red Cross and other non-governmental organizations. In addition, high volunteer turnover and low satisfaction has a costly impact on organizations critical …