Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
Browse
13 results
Search Results
Item SHATTERING THE COLLEGIATE GLASS CEILING: UNDERSTANDING THE EXPERIENCES OF WOMEN STUDENT GOVERNMENT PRESIDENTS(2019) Davis, Kristen Rupert; Griffin, Kimberly A; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the last few decades, leadership skills have arisen as a core part of undergraduate education. The general outcomes associated with leadership skills in college include decision-making skills, increased cognitive complexity, and navigating group dynamics and relationship building (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). While leadership skills are derived from a variety of experiences on campus, positional leadership experiences help students develop concrete and specific outcomes associated with self-confidence, the development of a sense of competence higher levels of psychosocial development, a stronger ability to clarify their purpose in life, and greater aptitude for career planning and life management (Astin & Leland, 1991; Foubert & Grainger, 2006). In particular, serving as the president of a student organization has been associated with increased self-efficacy and growth in perceived leadership ability specifically for women (Bardou, Bryne, Pasternak, Perez, & Rainey, 2003; Dugan, 2006; H. S. Astin & Kent, 1983). However, women less likely to reap these gains, as they are less likely to take on positional leadership roles in college (Stevens, 2011). This is especially apparent in high-ranking leadership role like student government president. The purpose of this study was to better understand women college students’ journey to and through being a student government president, and whether and how gender and sexism influenced their presidential experiences. Case study methodology and a narrative approach to data collection was used to answer four research questions. Participant interviews garnered 5 themes including: (a) Systemic Issues of Diversity and Inclusion on Campus, (b) Catalysts, Influencing Factors, and the Impact of Identity on Running for Office, (c) Impact of Leadership Style, Assumed Biases, and External Feedback on Women Leaders, (d) External Expectations of Image and Presentation, and (e) Relationships with Administrators. Findings from this study suggest that more research on women in leadership in both college and in the workforce is necessary. They also suggest that administrators and campus community members need to be cognizant of bias and stereotypes when engaging with women student leaders. Lastly, findings indicate that issues of inclusion and diversity on campus impact how women engage in leadership roles on campus.Item Exploring the effects of social perspective-taking and socio-cultural issues discussions on college students' civic identity(2012) Johnson, Matthew Robert; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Colleges and universities have a long-standing tradition of preparing students to be civically engaged (Colby, Beaumont, Ehrlich, & Corngold, 2007; Jacoby, 2009; Kezar, 2002). In response to a decline in civic engagement among college students and the greater American public, colleges and universities began offering a wide array of civic engagement efforts designed to increase students' involvement in civic life (Jacoby, 2009). These efforts, such as service-learning, volunteering, and community service opportunities are prolific within higher education. However, the extent to which these civic engagement efforts effectively engage elements of diversity remains mostly unexplored (Dunlap & Webster, 2009; Hero, 2007; Hurtado, 2001, 2003, 2006). The primary research question in this study examined the role of social perspective-taking and socio-cultural issues discussions on college students' civic identity, while the secondary research question examined whether these relationships varied by race. Using 45,271 cases from the 2009 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, structural equation modeling was used to explore a model that included four latent variables: social change behaviors, socio-cultural issues discussions, social perspective-taking, and civic identity. Results from the primary research question showed positive, moderate relationships of social change behaviors on civic identity, social change behaviors on socio-cultural issues discussions, socio-cultural issues discussions on social perspective-taking, and social perspective-taking on civic identity. Weak, positive relationships were found for social change behaviors on social perspective-taking and socio-cultural issues discussions on civic identity. These results indicate that the direct effect of the relationship between engaging in social change behaviors on students' civic identity is much stronger than the indirect effects derived from including socio-cultural issues discussions and social perspective-taking. In addition, engaging in social change behaviors did not predict social perspective-taking and engaging in socio-cultural issues discussions did not predict civic identity. The secondary research question explored the differences by race in the structural paths in the model. This analysis showed significant variant paths between students of color and White students on every path except social change behaviors to socio-cultural issues discussions.Item Exploring the Relationship between Socio-Cultural Issues Discussions and Social Change Behaviors(2011) Segar, Thomas Christopher; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between student participation socio-cultural issues discussions and student participation in social change behaviors. This study utilized data from the 2009 administration of the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL), a national research project designed to explore student experiences and environmental factors that contribute to student leadership development. An internet-based survey was used to collect data from participants at 101 higher education institutions throughout the United States. The usable sample for this study consisted of 94,367 undergraduate students who completed at least 90% of the core survey and scales used for the study. An adapted version of Astin's college impact model (Astin, 1991; 1993) provided the conceptual framework for the study. In this input-environment-outcome (IEO) model participant demographic characteristics and pre-college experiences represented the inputs. The environment included institutional characteristics, positional leadership experiences, leadership capacity, and socio-cultural issues discussions, which was the main independent variable for the study. Self-reported frequency of participation in social change behaviors was the outcome and dependent variable. Results indicated that the regression model accounted for 46% of the variance in predicting student participation in social change behaviors. Demographic characteristics were a positive but weak predictor of participation in social change behaviors. Institutional characteristics were found to have little influence in predicting student participation social change behaviors. Pre-college leadership experiences and positional leadership experiences were found to be strong predictors of social change behaviors. After accounting for these variables, socio-cultural issues discussions were found to be a positive weak predictor. When matched with other environmental predictors, socio-cultural issues discussions contribute to student leadership experiences related to participating in social change behaviors. Implications for practice provide practitioners with strategies to increase the likelihood of student participation in social cange behaviors.Item Educating for Change: How Leadership Education and Training Affect Student Activism in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Undergraduates(2011) Leets, Craig Stuart; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explored the extent to which leadership education and training experiences predicted student activism in lesbian, gay, and bisexual undergraduate students. The impact of these experiences were compared to the impact of participants' involvement and leadership in co-curricular and off-campus organizations to identify the additional ways that leadership education and training can supplement a student's organizational participation in encouraging student activism for this student population. Data from 2,681 students who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual on the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership were used for this study. A single hypothesis was tested using the College Impacts model as the conceptual framework, and multiple regression was the chosen statistical method. The model established for this study explained 51.3% of the observed variance in student activism with demographic variables, pre-college experiences, organizational participation, and leadership education and training experiences serving as positive predictors.Item Examining Developmental Stages of Leadership for College Students: A Validation Study of the Leadership Identity Development Model(2011) Wagner, Wendy; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to confirm or disconfirm the leadership identity development (LID) model (Komives, Longerbeam, Owen, Mainella, & Osteen, 2006). The LID model identified six stages in the development of a leadership identity. Although used widely to inform the design of leadership development programs, it has not been validated by further research. This study used Q methodology to classify subjects with similar views of leadership into groups. The resulting groups were congruent with the stages of the LID model that are most frequently experienced during the college years. Thirty-nine subjects described their points of view about leadership and themselves as leaders through a 64-item card sort, placing the cards into piles along a continuum from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Principle components analysis was used to classify subjects into groups based on similarities in the card sorts. The way each of the four resulting groups described leadership was interpreted by examination of an aggregate card sort representing the views of the students in that group. These descriptions were compared to the stages of the LID model. Factor one from this study was similar to stages four through six of the LID model. There was no evidence distinguishing these three stages from each other in this subject sample. Factor two was similar to stage three with an independent view of self with others. Factor three was similar to stage three with a dependent view of self with others. Factor four had only a single subject, whose description did not readily fit into the LID model. Further research is needed to examine the LID stages experienced pre-college, as well as further exploration into whether LID stages four through six are truly distinct. However, the findings of this study do provide support for the existence of the stages of development most often experienced during the college years (stages three and four) as described in the LID model.Item EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLLECTIVE RACIAL ESTEEM AND LEADERSHIP SELF-EFFICACY AMONG ASIAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS(2011) Lee, Douglas Henri; Jacoby, Barbara; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explored whether collective racial esteem was a significant predictor of leadership self-efficacy for Asian American college students. The subjects of the study were undergraduate students from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership who identified as Asian and United States citizens. An aggregated Asian, Chinese, Filipino, and Indian/Pakistani samples were drawn from the MSL in order to study the diverse Asian American population. The aggregated Asian sample included all the ethnicities in addition to the three samples. The hypothesis was tested using a modified Input-Environment-Outcome model as an organizing framework and hierarchical multiple regression as the statistical method. Collective racial esteem was observed as a significant predictor of leadership self-efficacy for the aggregated Asian sample, the Chinese sample, and the Indian/Pakistani sample. The null hypothesis was rejected for these three samples. The null hypothesis failed to reject for the Filipino sample. The study's findings offer suggestions for practitioners and researchers.Item AN EXAMINATION OF THE LEVEL OF LEADERSHIP KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS OF SCHOOL DISTRICT SPECIAL EDUCATION COORDINATORS(2011) Gurley, Susan A; Burke, Philip J; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine the level of leadership knowledge and skills of district special education coordinators in a school system that serves a large number of parents serving in the military. Using the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) six professional standards, special education administrators ranked how essential the CEC identified knowledge and skills are to their everyday performance on the job. CEC Standards for leadership knowledge and skills were ranked as to how essential they were to day-to-day needs on the job in support of students with disabilities. This study also explored the relationship among teachers, administrators, and special education coordinators on what they identify as essential to their day-to-day job performance. All respondents provided a self-assessment of their perceived level of knowledge and skills by completing an on-line web-based survey yielding a return rate of 81.5%. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for this study. After investigating the perceived ratings and the ranking of essential levels of the CEC standards, it was found that coordinators viewed all six standards as essential and ranked their highest level of competency as Program Development and Organization. Coordinators ranked themselves as least knowledgeable in terms of Evaluation. Coordinators identified Program Development and Organization as the most essential skill to day-to-day performance and viewed Research and Inquiry as the least essential skill to daily performance. There was no significant difference among the coordinators on their perceived level of competency across the geographic regions of the system. The degree to which the ratings of essential skills matched among the coordinators, teachers, and administrators revealed both coordinators and teachers viewed Program Development as more essential to day-to-day job performance whereas administrators indicated Leadership and Policy and Program Development were the two most essential standards for serving students with disabilities in the school. The standard reported as least essential to the day-to-day performance of serving students with disabilities was Evaluation.Item Examining the Socially Responsible Leadership Development Outcomes of Study Abroad Experiences for College Seniors(2010) Lee, Amye Mae; Komives, Susan R.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explored the leadership development outcomes of study abroad experiences for college seniors. This is the first study attempting to identify the link between involvement in study abroad, a growing trend in higher education, and student leadership development, a value of higher education institutions. Data from the 2009 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership was used in this study, specifically the sample of over 31,000 seniors from 99 four-year institutions. The hypothesis that study abroad contributes significantly to student leadership development was tested using hierarchical regression statistical analysis. This study's model explained 21% of the variance in the omnibus measure of the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale (SRLS), with pre-college leadership development factors as the only independent variable with significant contribution. A post-hoc analysis found that there was a small but significant difference on the omnibus SRLS between those who did, and those who did not, study abroad. This study's findings offer implications for higher education practitioners and research.Item Peer mentoring and leadership: Differences in leadership self-efficacy among students of differing peer mentoring relationships, genders, and academic class levels(2009) Smith, Meredith Ann; Clement, Linda M.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the relationship between peer mentoring and leadership self-efficacy. The design of this study was an ex post facto analysis of a sub-study of 2006 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership. The sample included 10,555 respondents from 52 institutions ranging in Carnegie classification type. The researcher utilized a one-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to see if there was a significant difference in leadership self-efficacy between students who served as peer mentors and students who did not serve as peer mentors in college. The study found that students who served as peer mentors in college had a significantly higher leadership self-efficacy than non-peer mentors. Additionally, the study also examined the subset of respondents who identified as peer mentors in college. Utilizing a two-way ANCOVA, the researcher found no significant difference in leadership self-efficacy between male and female peer mentors. The finding of no significant difference in leadership self-efficacy between gender groups is important because past studies on college students have found that men typically report higher levels of leadership self-efficacy than women. The researcher did find significant differences for each class-standing group in same two-way ANCOVA. The post-hoc Bonferroni multiple comparison procedure showed that there was significance across all class-standing groups. Another important finding from this study was that students who had mentors in college were more likely to serve as mentors. This post-hoc analysis was computed through implementing a chi-square test for independence. The overall findings of this study add important foundational understanding of the relationship between peer mentoring and leadership in college students.Item EXAMINING FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LEADERSHIP SELF-EFFICACY IN COLLEGE STUDENT MILITARY PROGRAMS(2009) Wilson, Wendy L; Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Karen; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current study examined the relationship between college experiences and socially responsible leadership with leadership self-efficacy for students who participate in military education programs. This study applied the social change model for leadership development, SCM, as the theoretical lens through which a socially responsible leadership process was understood in these programs. In addition, Astin's (1991) college impact model was applied to the design of the study in order to understand the relationship between involvement measures and leadership self-efficacy, an outcome of military education programs. This ex post facto study was a secondary analysis of data collected through the 2006 administration of the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL). The MSL provided a national sample of 1413 students who indicated involvement in a military student group. These military education programs were defined broadly and included participation in Corps of Cadets and ROTC students. The findings of this study indicate significant differences between students who participate in military education programs and other college students in terms of leadership self-efficacy. Military students indicated greater efficacy for leadership even when differences in background were accounted for. Second, the values of socially responsible leadership and leadership self-efficacy were positively correlated for students who participate in military education programs. Finally, the conceptual model designed for this study to understand leadership self-efficacy for military students was able to explain 49% of the variance in the criterion variable. Several factors significantly contributed to leadership self-efficacy, including demographic characteristics, a leadership self-efficacy quasi-pre-test, academic classification, leadership experiences, and socially responsible leadership. The study provided support for leadership self-efficacy as an outcome for students who participate in military education programs, and the use of socially responsible leadership as a means to understand leadership self-efficacy for this population. The study also identified areas of the campus environment that might be incorporated and developed further within military education programs in order to take full advantage of the college environment.