Evolution of STEM Leadership Self-Efficacy within an NSF S-STEM Program

Bruce D. DeRuntz; Harvey Henson; Tom Withee; Olivia Hood

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Conference: 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual Conference
Publication Date: July 26, 2021
Start Date: July 26, 2021
End Date: July 19, 2022
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Tagged Topic: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 4
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--37115
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/37115
Download Count: 277

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Paper Authors

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Bruce D. DeRuntz Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

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Bruce DeRuntz, PhD, is a Professor in the College of Engineering at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where he teaches classes on project management and leadership. He consults with universities and companies on their leadership development of human resources for project management teams. He is the Director of SIUC’s Leadership Development Program and the former Editor of the ASQ’s Quality Management Forum. He is a Fellow with the American Society for Quality and holds certifications for Six Sigma Black Belt, Quality Engineer and Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence.

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Harvey Henson Southern Illinois University - Carbondale orcid.org/0000-0003-4189-3063

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Harvey Henson is Interim Director of the STEM Education Research Center and has a joint faculty appointment in Science Education and Geology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Henson's research focuses on STEM leadership; teacher partnerships and professional development; preservice teacher education and literacy in STEM; geohazards education; and applied geophysical investigations. Henson leads teams of STEM educators and researchers at SIU and other universities, partners with K-12 educators, and mentors graduate and undergraduate students to conduct this research and advance STEM literacy. Henson has managed in excess of $26 million in external grants from the NSF, Illinois Emergency Management Agency/FEMA, Illinois State Board of Education, Regional Offices of Education, NSTA, National Park Service, and other agencies to support these research and scholarship activities.

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Tom Withee Goshen Education Consulting Inc. orcid.org/0000-0002-8952-6556

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Olivia Hood Leadership Development Program

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I am a Master's in Public Health student at SIUC who has been involved with the Leadership Development Program (LDP) for three years. While pursuing my passion for leadership I've had the opportunity to grow my own leadership skills, mentor over 40 students, and be a visionary for the program's development. I now serve as the Coordinator for the LDP while I use my leadership skills in my field of public health.

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Abstract

An engineering leadership development program (LDP) at a major midwestern university has received NSF S-STEM grant support for the past 10 years and has achieved higher and faster time to graduation rate for engineering transfer students in a peer-comparison study (DeRuntz, et.al 2019) (DeRuntz, et. al 2017) (Palmer, et. al. 2016) (Kowalchuk, et. al 2013). Through the award of a Track 2 S-STEM three years ago, the LDP has now expanded into the STEM majors at the university and has made an important discovery regarding the evolution of Leadership Knowledge among some of the STEM leaders. The participants in the LDP program have shown statistically significant changes on Leadership Self-Efficacy Survey (Bobbio, Manganelli, 2009) and the Motivation to Lead Survey (Chan, Drasgow, 2001) when compared to their peers. We noticed an apparent regression in the Leadership Knowledge data scores. However, upon further examination there appeared to be a response-shift bias in these results (Rohs 1999). In other words, participants rated themselves higher on the pre-test and then lower on the post-test; even though they had made significant gains as measured in the other program data collected by the external evaluator. This conclusion is further confirmed by interactions and observations recorded by the program Co-PIs, coordinator, coaches, and senior leadership.

Overall, LDP scholarship students demonstrated significantly higher Leadership Self-efficacy in comparison to their own pre-survey scores (p = 0.020) and, in comparison to control group findings (p = 0.005). The LDP scholarship students also demonstrated significant growth on the Motivation to Lead survey in comparison to their own pre-survey scores (p = 0.012) and, in comparison to the control group (p less than 0.001). Students in some of the survey responses self-reported that they now understand better what they thought they understood before entering the program. Although it seems they regressed in their Leadership Knowledge, this new information is actually a significant indication these leaders have accomplished the first step in leadership development. By their responses they have shown an accurate self-awareness, honesty, and self-discipline. They have demonstrated that they can lead themselves.

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DeRuntz, B. D., & Henson, H., & Withee, T., & Hood, O. (2021, July), Evolution of STEM Leadership Self-Efficacy within an NSF S-STEM Program Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37115

TY - CPAPER
AB - An engineering leadership development program (LDP) at a major midwestern university has received NSF S-STEM grant support for the past 10 years and has achieved higher and faster time to graduation rate for engineering transfer students in a peer-comparison study (DeRuntz, et.al 2019) (DeRuntz, et. al 2017) (Palmer, et. al. 2016) (Kowalchuk, et. al 2013). Through the award of a Track 2 S-STEM three years ago, the LDP has now expanded into the STEM majors at the university and has made an important discovery regarding the evolution of Leadership Knowledge among some of the STEM leaders. The participants in the LDP program have shown statistically significant changes on Leadership Self-Efficacy Survey (Bobbio, Manganelli, 2009) and the Motivation to Lead Survey (Chan, Drasgow, 2001) when compared to their peers. We noticed an apparent regression in the Leadership Knowledge data scores. However, upon further examination there appeared to be a response-shift bias in these results (Rohs 1999). In other words, participants rated themselves higher on the pre-test and then lower on the post-test; even though they had made significant gains as measured in the other program data collected by the external evaluator. This conclusion is further confirmed by interactions and observations recorded by the program Co-PIs, coordinator, coaches, and senior leadership.

Overall, LDP scholarship students demonstrated significantly higher Leadership Self-efficacy in comparison to their own pre-survey scores (p = 0.020) and, in comparison to control group findings (p = 0.005). The LDP scholarship students also demonstrated significant growth on the Motivation to Lead survey in comparison to their own pre-survey scores (p = 0.012) and, in comparison to the control group (p less than 0.001).

Students in some of the survey responses self-reported that they now understand better what they thought they understood before entering the program. Although it seems they regressed in their Leadership Knowledge, this new information is actually a significant indication these leaders have accomplished the first step in leadership development. By their responses they have shown an accurate self-awareness, honesty, and self-discipline. They have demonstrated that they can lead themselves.

AU - Bruce D. DeRuntz
AU - Harvey Henson
AU - Tom Withee
AU - Olivia Hood
CY - Virtual Conference
DA - 2021/07/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Evolution of STEM Leadership Self-Efficacy within an NSF S-STEM Program
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/37115
DO - 10.18260/1-2--37115
ER -