By: Jasmine Richardson Faculty: Kathy Guthrie, Vivechkanand Chunoo

Diverse Leader Identity

A CONCEPTUAL MODEL ILLUSTRATING THE GROUNDED THEORY OF DEVELOPING A LEADERSHIP IDENTITY IS PRESENTED

Responding to the challenge placed before higher education to develop the next generation of leaders who have “the competence and character necessary to lead…our modern society” (Nohria & Khurana, 2010, p. 3), this proposed project focuses on leader identity of students from diverse backgrounds. The modern world is experiencing constant transformation, as evident in the context of demographic changes nationally and globally.

Although diversity is a valued and defining feature of our society, it also presents challenges and opportunities that need to be addressed. As Hurtado (2007) observed, the United States is a country where “economic, racial, and religious differences are prevalent and inevitable” and where “racial and economic inequalities [are] starkly evident” (p. 186). One of the challenges is the seemingly intractable inequality in educational outcomes for citizens of different racial/ethnic backgrounds (Lee, 2002; Reardon & Galindo, 2009; Smith, Altbach, & Lomotey, 2002; St. John, 2003). This challenge provides educators an opportunity to learn and accept responsibility

for closing the educational outcome gap for students from diverse backgrounds.

Universities not only have the responsibility to develop students as leaders; they have the vital responsibility to develop diverse students to lead. Beyond changing demographics and university mission statements, evolution as a society will continue to be stagnant until the leadership talents of students from all backgrounds are engaged. An enriched understanding of how campus leadership programs enhance the leadership learning of students from diverse populations will lead to better campus-based programs and an increase in the diverse leadership cadre for society. That is, there is a need to better understand what contributes to undergraduate leadership development, the leadership perspectives of students with diverse backgrounds, and the policies, programs, and practices that are effective in developing all students into future leaders. These beliefs created two guiding questions for this proposed project. They are: • How do students from diverse backgrounds develop their leader identity and capacity to engage in the leadership process? • What environments contribute to leader and leadership development for students from diverse backgrounds? The analysis that is used in the data was open, axial, and selective coding. Each data coding was conducted efficiently to interpret the concept of the research. The most important was selective coding; it indicated the organization of the one central category or in other words “what the research is all about”, which are the 5 categories of leadership identity: developmental influences, developing self, group influences, students’ changing view of self with others, and to students broadening view of leadership. The comparative analysis was constant in the study of “each participant response that was compared and connected to others as categories, properties, and dimensions emerged”. Of the methods to observed the experiences of the students, the impact on them lead to an emergent theory. “The theory emerged as the relationships between the concepts combined into an integrated framework that explained the phenomenon of leadership identity” (Strauss & Corbin). The focus of this finding was to interpret how group influence interaction changes the view of creating a shared meaning with others to develop leadership identity. From that illustrative theory, each participant explains their stories and elaborates their view in the 6 stages of the leadership identity.

A qualitative research approach will be taken. At least 20 interviews with diverse student leaders will be conducted; however, saturation

point will be taken into consideration. Diverse student leaders will be recruited through Student Government Association, Registered Student Organizations, and students enrolled in

leadership-focused courses at Florida State University. While some students may hold established leadership positions, that is not a requirement to participate in this proposed study. We want to gain insight from all involved in the leadership process, which will include

those without “official” leadership positions.

Guthrie, K. L., Bertrand Jones, T., Osteen, L., & Hu, S. (2013). Cultivating leader identity and capacity in students from diverse backgrounds. ASHE Higher Education Report, 39(4).

The purpose of this project is to investigate the leadership identity development of students from diverse backgrounds in higher education. In institutions of higher education, leader identity is understood to be influenced by the development of student’s self-efficacy and

certain leadership skills. The leadership identity model described by Komivas, et al. (2005, 2006) provided a

conceptual framework for this project. The model illustrated the cycle of developmental influences that are essential to the understanding of what contributes undergraduate leadership

development; the leadership perspectives of students with diverse backgrounds; and the policies, programs, and practices that are effective in developing students into future leaders.

The qualitative data collected for this project originated from interviews and focus groups with current Florida State University student leaders from different backgrounds in different

stages of leader identity development. The final results will detail insights gained from students and enhance our understanding of

undergraduate leader identity development.

The Research Team will conduct 60-90 minute focus groups with diverse student leaders who self-identify both as a member of an underrepresented group and as a

leader. An focus group guide developed by the PI will provide specific questions that

focus on answering the research questions of how leader identity and leadership capacity are developed in diverse students and what environments best contribute

to this development. Interviews will be audio-recorded and transcribed. Analysis of the transcriptions

will be completed by using NVIVO 10 qualitative software.

The theory of this studied, explains that there are not a lot of scholarships that has a clear focus on how leadership identity is developed over time. The approach to understand the

process in creating a leadership identity was to foster the idea of observing students’ working effectively with others towards a shared purpose. Throughout the studied of this article, what came to mind was, how would observing leadership identity be useful in the

process of developing a new perspective of how students view leadership to a wider spectrum then just a centric view.

From the beginning of the developmental influences stage to the students broadening view of leadership, this study captures the idea of how the identity of leaders are

developed through influences, to transitioning to the scope of leadership role. It helps recognize the student role in leadership from viewing others experience, and learn new

ideas, and languages to aid their development. Developmental influences are most useful in the sense to understand what contributions from others are helpful in building an identity for students. Of all the participants in the study, each individual describes an experience that had an impact on them, which has helped clarify personal values and

interest, and helped students experience diversity, learn about self, and develop new skills. The primary finding of this theory was that leadership identity is developed through 6-stages. In the process, the findings in each experience changed the view of the students

from a perspective of an external view of leadership to leadership as a process. As mentioned in the developing an awareness of leadership “students in this study described their shifting leadership identity as moving from a hierarchical, leader-centric view to one

that embraced leadership as a collaborative, relational process” (Komives, S., Owen, J., Longerbeam, S., Mainella, F., & Osteen, L. (n.d.). Overall the participants in the study had a clearer knowledge of how their identity is developed through leadership. The diversity

of the participants made it a better study because, the backgrounds of each of the individuals had experienced a different view of what leadership is then others.