Leadership Identity Development Research Articles

Integrating worthiness with leader identity development for college students.

While leader identity development (LID) and meaning making are interwoven and essential for student development, little research has explicitly explored their intersection. In this article, we briefly summarize the work of two research projects that explored the intersection of LID and meaning making, including a review of the findings that "worthiness" is a central component of the LID process among college students. Next, we propose an Input-Process-Worthiness-Outcome model for LID that highlights the centrality of worthiness, conceptualizing inputs as developmental experiences; processes as meaning making, and outcomes as personal development. Finally, we close with a review of the scholarship behind the concept of worthiness and point out future research directions that require exploration regarding worthiness in LID, particularly among college students.

Leadership and bisexuality: Dually occurring processes of identity development.

With the growing importance of identity development, it is important to see the intersections that occur with one's identity as both a leader and as bisexual. Leader identity and bisexual identity development can occur in tandem, with critical moments influencing both dually occurring identity development processes. By understanding the need that the field of leadership education has to explore the development of bisexual leaders and leadership educators, the authors discuss the need to center minoritized identities in our scholarship and practice within the field.

How students learn to lead in pre- and early-career experiences.

This study illuminates the leadership experiences of undergraduate business students undertaking a 1-year work placement. Semi-structured interviews and reflective journals were used to explore the students' leadership experiences before and during their placement. Through reflection on these experiences, students were able to make sense of their own leadership learning as well as develop their leadership identity. A main contribution of this study has been the formulation of a theoretical model that fully acknowledges prior lived experience, and the multi-layered and complex process of leadership identity development.

A turning point: utilizing responsive interviewing and graphing as meaning-making techniques to develop leader identity

PurposeThe purpose of the current innovative practice paper is to introduce a technique to explore leader identity development and meaning-making that builds on the narrative pedagogical tradition. In this paper, we recommend a process for combining turning-point graphing and responsive (semi-structured) interviews to co-explore leadership identity development and meaning-making with college students.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides student feedback data on the effectiveness of the technique in improving understanding of leader identity and transforming meaning-making.Originality/valueWe hope practitioners can utilize this approach to build leadership identity development and meaning-making capacity in college students.

Leadership identity development, meaning-making and the intersection of marginalized social identities: a scoping review

PurposeThe current paper is part of a larger scoping review project investigating the intersection of leader(ship) identity development and meaning-making. In this review, we analyzed 100 articles to determine the current extent of literature that covers the intersection of leader(ship) identity development, meaning-making and marginalized social identities.Design/methodology/approachA review of the extant literature is included, and a conceptual model is suggested for further exploration into this critical and under-researched domain.FindingsMore research is needed at the intersection of leadership identity development, meaning-making and marginalized social identities.Originality/valueAs this area of study has expanded, scholars have noted an absence of research on the effect of multiple social identities, especially marginalized identities, on meaning-making and leadership identity construction.

A qualitative study unpacking the leader identity development process taking a multi-domain approach

PurposeThe purpose of the study is an in-depth exploration of the processes through which a leader develops their leader identity in strength, meaning and integration, with resulting enrichment outcomes.Design/methodology/approachUsing multi-domain leader identity theory, this study provides an in-depth exploration of the processes through which a leader develops their leader identity. Set in a healthcare context, 26 participants took part in an 18-month multi-domain leadership development program.FindingsFindings indicate a typology of leader identities, capturing the dynamic nature of leader identity based on combinations of strength and meaning. Our research also suggests that as the leader develops, their leader identity can change from a differentiated identity as a leader to a more integrated leader identity, with resulting enrichment outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsThe results suggested value in inherently multi-domain focus using event-based reflection and, as such, are useful in leader identity development programs. We recommend future research generalize to other settings and a larger population.Practical implicationsBy taking a multi-domain approach to leader identity development, the leader has the opportunity to learn and develop in a more holistic way. They are encouraged to reflect on and learn from leadership experiences throughout their entire lives, adding breadth and depth that are often overlooked in development programs.Social implicationsDeveloping leaders who understand who they are and are capable of critical self-reflection and learning is a fundamental requirement for the positive advancement of society.Originality/valueThe value of the study lies in the first longitudinal, work-based empirical study taking an explicitly multi-domain approach to leader identity development.

Men as Advocates for Women in Leadership

Despite improvements in gender equity within higher education nationally, underrepresentation in women’s leadership persists in Christian higher education. As women in leadership navigate the context of member institutions of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), characteristics of evangelical culture (e.g., theological views of gender, traditional gender role expectations) may at times impede these relationships across gender; however, some evidence has suggested that women who attained a presidency within a CCCU institution have identified male advocates to be influential in their leadership journeys. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of men who had been identified by women presidents of CCCU institutions as having been advocates in their leadership identity development and journeys. This article explored the findings of a hermeneutic phenomenological analysis of data from interviews with 14 male participants nominated by women presidents of CCCU institutions across North America. The findings of this study centered on three themes: (a) the pursuit of theological congruence, (b) gender blind, the double bind, and being first, and (c) pragmatism and persuasion. Based on these findings, the interdependence of organizational culture, self-awareness, and the social construction of a leadership identity through reciprocal relationships was discussed. Implications for practice include recommendations for evaluating institutional contexts and personal biases, as well as cultivating reciprocal relationships between women and men.

Knowing, Being, and Doing Gender and Leadership: A Critical Feminist Exploration of College Students’ Gender and Leadership Identity Development

Through an instrumental case study from a critical feminist lens, we explored college student gender and leadership identity development in a gender and leadership focused course. We examined FemCrit perspectives on knowing (exploration of socialization), being (reflection on identity development), and doing (recognition of gender performance and action of disruption) gender and leadership. We found indications that higher education professionals need to integrate gender and leadership socialization reflection. They should also create developmentally appropriate spaces for students from differing racial/gender identities to explore their gender and leadership understanding. Finally, educators should support students in capacity-building for recognizing performative gendered structures in leadership and encourage students to take action to disrupt and reconstruct leadership from a gender expansive frame.

Does Work Engagement Affect Leader Identity Development? Validating the LIWEDC Using the Grounded Theory Approach

Does Work Engagement Affect Leader Identity Development? Validating the LIWEDC Using the Grounded Theory Approach

From Becoming to Being: how STEM teachers develop leadership identities

ABSTRACT The development of STEM teacher leadership identity empowers K–12 teachers to make changes to improve teaching and learning. Identity development might not be productively supported in all school settings, however. Hence, external professional development programs should offer opportunities to supplement this identity development. We construct and propose a Can’t-to-Becoming-to-Being model to describe STEM teacher leadership identity development as a progression of stages from weak to strong identity. Using interview data over two points in time with 127 STEM teacher leaders, we illustrate four stages of development: Can’t, Can, Should, and Being. We also elucidate the conditions that teachers identify as catalyzing or inhibiting identity development, with attention to the impacts of teacher leaders’ participation in professional development programs. Our findings indicate that the Can’t-to-Becoming-to-Being model is useful for describing how teachers may develop STEM teacher leadership identity and may provide researchers a tool for exploring this process. Professional developers might consider the catalysts (and inhibitors) we identify as a means of strengthening teacher leadership identities in the design and implementation of professional learning. External spaces separate from school communities may offer teacher leaders opportunities to try out provisional selves and provide additional motivation to propel participants to Being teacher leaders.

Leadership identity development.

This article examines various applications of the leadership identity development (LID) grounded theory and model and explores the process used to apply LID to the construction of collegiate student leadership development experiences. Featured programs include those that use LID as a design element of the program, but do not explicitly teach it; those that explicitly teach the content of the LID theory and model in leadership programs and curricula; and those that use LID at the institutional level to inform university-wide leadership programming. The article concludes with critiques and considerations for leadership educators interested in applying LID in their leadership education and development programs.

Dueling Roles in Dual Language Education: Exploring Leader Identity Development in Dual Language Strands

Purpose: Building on research in educational leadership, dual language leadership, and leader identity development, this study examines how principals of schools with dual language immersion (DLI) strands perceive and enact their leadership roles and identities. As DLI strands proliferate in schools and districts, this research contributes to understandings of principals’ leader identities as they implement these programs. Research Methods/Approach: We used an embedded single case study design, with the phenomenon of Indiana school leadership in DLI strands as the case and principals as the embedded units of analysis, and we conducted semistructured interviews with over 80% of Indiana DLI strand principals ( n = 26). We conceptualized this as a single case, due to the common policy context of state legislation related to DLI and school choice. Findings: The DLI strand principals described their leadership work through primarily instructional and distributed leadership dimensions, drawing upon their historic, epistemic, and political understandings of their roles. Principals draw less upon the emotional and narrative dimensions of their leader identities, which are more apparent in teacher identity literatures. Implications for Research and Practice: Principals of new DLI strands often have limited expertise related to DLI models and have not considered how their roles should accommodate leading “two schools in one.” We provide recommendations for both practitioners and researchers in leadership preparation to encourage school leaders’ deeper engagement in reflective work across the dimensions of leader identity development. We furnish a matrix of questions to guide this work.

Understanding the process of teacher leadership identity development

ABSTRACT This study seeks to better understand the process by which secondary STEM teachers begin to see themselves as teacher leaders after participating in a 7-year professional development program. Twenty experienced teachers from different rural schools in a Southeastern state of the United States participated in a rigorous curriculum aimed at increasing their professional skills and capacity as educational leaders. Viewed through the lens of the Community of Practice Teacher Leadership Model, a qualitative analysis of teacher interviews provides evidence of the mechanisms involved in the participants’ professional growth. We found that recognition of the teachers’ leadership competencies performed within this long-term community of practice drove the cycle of teacher leader identity development. Implications of these findings include insight as to how this change in identity can be influenced, as well as identifying important connections between some existing frameworks describing the development of teacher leadership identity.

Cultivating Leadership Identity: Exploring the Motivations and Experiences of Aspiring School Leaders

<p style="text-align: justify;">We know that school principals are critical to school success and must have the appropriate knowledge, skills, and dispositions to lead effectively. However, research shows that identifying these potentially effective leaders is difficult. Furthermore, little is known about the motivations and experiences of aspiring school leaders. This study, conducted at a university in the Southeast United States, aims to understand better the lived experiences and motivations of aspiring public and private school leaders enrolled in graduate principal preparatory programs. Through phenomenological document data analysis of 38 written narratives from 19 participants, the authors revealed several common experiences contributing to participants’ leadership identity development: early life leadership experiences, exposure to models of leadership, and leadership opportunities in their professional lives. Findings also support existing literature on the altruistic motivations of school leaders. Finally, the authors discuss implications centered primarily on growing the principal pipeline, suggesting a focus on youth/student leadership opportunities and teacher/staff leadership experiences.</p>

Using the Leadership Identity Development (LID) model to frame college student leadership development programs

Student affairs practitioners need to use theory or models to provide a framework for their work with college students. This article shows how a college campus practices leadership development within the Leadership Identity Development (LID) Model framework. In addition to providing steps for using the model in practice, some challenges are noted in its use.

Manifestations of leadership identity development among multicultural higher education students

PurposeThis study aims to examine how leadership identity manifests at the individual and collective levels within a relational training context among a group of multicultural higher education students.Design/methodology/approachThis is a case study and examines the interactions among eight multicultural students through the theoretical lens of leadership identity development (LID) theory.FindingsThe main findings of this study suggest that LID manifests through an open will and intensifying motivation to the collective impulse of achieving shared goals through nurturing the collective cognition to integrate diverse perspectives and a broadening view of leadership as a collective capacity for co-creation and generativity.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the paper builds on a case study with a limited number of participants and the ability to generalise its findings is partial, the study may provide practical applications for training leadership in other collaborative contexts and supporting it at the individual and collective levels.Originality/valueThe LID theory and LID model have been applied simultaneously to a training lab to examine how LID manifests among a multicultural group of higher education students. The lab emphasises a participatory leadership-oriented pedagogy.

Girls’ and young women’s leader identity development: a scoping review

PurposeThis scoping review aims to examine peer-reviewed literature related to girls’ (age 0–18) and young women’s (age 19–30) leader identity development.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a scoping review. A research librarian was consulted at the start of the project. Two sets of search terms (one for each age group) were identified and then used to find publications via our selected databases. The search results were uploaded to Covidence and evaluated using the determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The final sample of articles for the review was analyzed using exploratory coding methods.FindingsFrom the analysis, four domains were identified that influence girls’ and young women’s leader identity development: relationships, personal characteristics, meaningful engagement and social identities.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to solely explore girls’ and young women’s leader identity development. The factors and domains identified provide useful guidance for future research and practice. The findings reveal considerations about leader identity that can inform the creation of effective leadership development initiatives for girls early in their lifespan. These interventions could provide girls with a strong leadership foundation that could drastically alter their leadership trajectories in adulthood. Previous research has conveyed the advantages of having more women participate in leadership. Thus, this potential not only benefits girls and women but organizations and society at large.

Exploring the utility, limitations, and possibilities of the leadership identity development (LID) model.

The article summarizes a conversation with early career scholars who utilize the LID theory and model in their scholarship and practice. Authors offer thoughts as to which aspects of leader and leadership identity development remain most useful to leadership education and development, as well as ways this body of scholarship might also be incomplete and insufficient. They reflect on how leader and leadership identity development theorizing is related to identity, equity, and power. The article concludes with ideas about how the scholarship and practice of leadership identity development may evolve in the future for deeper leadership identity development.

Student involvement as a catalyst for leadership identity development.

This article explores the connection between college student involvement and leadership identity development (LID), focusing specifically on the cocurricular experiences of student clubs and organizations, student government, sororities and fraternities, and student recreation/athletics. Key considerations for focusing on students' LID through student involvement opportunities are included.

Extending the scope of leadership identity development.

This article addresses the limitations of the existing leadership identity development literature and offers suggestions for extending the scope of knowledge and understanding of the topic to evolve leadership education research and practice. Authors suggest utilizing multi-level, complexity, and systems views in the study of leadership identity development as a way to explore beyond constructivist, individual-focused conventions that undergird the extant literature. It concludes with considerations for leadership educators to explore in efforts to expand and evolve their teaching, research, and practice related to leadership identity development.