You are on page 1of 22
Running Head: TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STD DEV ‘Transformational Leadership in College Student Development Ryan Bradshaw George Mason University HE 710 Dr. Lester TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT ‘Transformational Leadership in College Student Development “Transformational leadership is one of the most prevalent leadership theories in the last 30 years (Northouse, 2016). The theory stems from Burns’s 1978 work Leadership, which looked at both leadership and followership and the connection between the two (Dugan, 2017; Ingleton, 2013; Northouse, 2016). According to Dugan (2017), Burns saw a bidirectional relationship between leaders and followers where the development of both parties is taken into account along a continuum with transactional leadership (e.g., money paid to worker for doing the job) at one x» end and transforming leadership at the other end. Bums saw transforming leadership as set, leveraging “both leaders” and followers’ mutual morality, motivation, and aspirations to ~ yw var a t One sesomplish goals" (Dugan, Leadership Fhcry-Clvating Gos Prpesies, 2017) Lar by eaek fer AGS Northouse (2016) believes that transactional leadership is very common and used by most leaders, but that transformational leadership is different in that it enables followers to reach their fullest potential by being focused on the follower’s own needs and motives. rv Critics of transformational leadership believe that there is a lack of empirical evidence 2 a Se Wr 54 (that shows that a leader’s use of transformational leadership behaviors effect the follower's py! leadership abilities (Dugan, 2017). Northouse (2016) suggests that the word transformational is part of the issu, as it implies thatthe leader hes special g lin tha tanto the ol mE ol a ~ Ra 0 VRS Align wl the rather than implying that i al chared relationship between the leader and foll ie is plying uct &¢ mutually beneficial to both parties, which is the way Burns (1978) ori al et defined the term. (ois sonnae an image of a leader transforming a follower based solely on their vision of what they feel is best for the follower, which implies a patriarchal relationship, in which the leader would act “in a ‘fatherly’ or ‘motherly” way” towards their followers and makes the majority of key decisions that affect both parties (Northouse, 2016, p. 77)/This perceived definition is a PRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT. challenge that transformational leadership must overcome in order for the general public to (sk understand the mutual benefit for leaders and followers that this leadership style can provide. A transformational leadership style is effective adi is the best leadership style to use ZU Set when working with certain college students. College is a ites that provides opportunities for students to hone their Teadership skills and develop into future leaders (Astin & Astin, 2000). The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) identifies effective leadership as a skill that college students should have gained by the time they graduate and also recommends mentoring relationships between students and faculty (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education, 2015). Research indicates that students can learn leadership by having a faculty ee from the institution serve as their mentor (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Astin fAstin (2000), in their work Leadership Reconsidered, published for CAS, recommended transformational leadership as a model for university faculty and staff to use when mentoring students. yd ye situations, transformational leadership can be an effective leadership style used to develop YY . re Wwe — Sak? S college students in ypfuture transformational leaders. pW eb c ee \De oh Ne 7 ye \y Transformational Leadership XN ‘Transformational leadership as a theoretical model of leadership can be traced to James MacGregor Burns and his book Leadership (Dugan, 2017; Ingleton, 2013; Northouse, 2016). Bums (1978) saw that most literature on leaders and followers up until 1978 focused either on the leader, typically a hero or villain of history, or the followers, regular people that made up the electorate, the army, or everyday people, but not the relationship between the two parties. His TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT under a transformational leader could help them succeed as students in the stressful experience of being a college student. Student Involvement Student development theory and the concept of student affairs in American higher ‘education dates to the 17" century. It began with one-on-one tutoring of primarily children of __ White, land-owning elites receiving training for professional careers of the 17" century and ‘evolved to the concept of in loco parentis in the 19" century that allowed colleges to act in place of parents and to control most aspects of the students” lives. Student affairs professionals in their current form began to be seen in the early 20" century, which increased the focus of college student's personal growth and development of their higher education experience. The role of Dean of Students emerged to fill this role to oversee the non-academic development of the student (Gillett-Karam, 2016), Present day students experience growth development opportunities both from faculty members in the classroom and from student affairs professionals outside of the classroom, Over 80% of U.S. college campuses today use student affairs professionals to implement formal student leadership development programs on campus, many of which use transformational leadership as their theoretical foundation (Owen, 2012). Student Involvement Theory in relation to Transformational Leadership “The concept of student involvement is defined by Astin as “the amount of physical and psychological energy that a student devotes to the academic experience” (1999, p. 518), Student involvement includes time spent studying, interacting with faculty and participating in student organizations, which makes it unique compared to other student development concepts (Wolf Wendel, Ward, & Kinzie, 2009). Astin (1999) believes that faculty members should not treat a {RANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT student as a black box with inputs and outputs, but instead, should kindle student involvement in the learning process in order to increase the effort they put into their own leaming. Thié concept of involving the student in ther learning proces sa tenet ofthe transformational leadership... notion of the leader involving the follower in determining the best course of action for their re Jae xt positive development, Os x ‘The most finite resource students have is time; faculty and administrators need to find Sox Xways to get students to spend their finite amount of time in academic experience (Astin, 1999). OQ © Astin (1999) argues that the more effort and time students put in to the university experience, the 2/ greater the amount of experiences of learning and student development the student will U experience as a result. Wolf-Wendel et al. (2009) agree, stating broadly that “involvement has 2 >Qy_ been linked via research to almost every positive outcome of college” (p. 412), which includes WV \x. student skill development, Student involvement, particularly with faculty as mentors, has also x pr io” Sy been linked to positive effect on student retention on campus (Tinto, 2007), while involvement aX 2 o\V environment that fosters both academic and extracurricular involvement in campus life should be r fostered on campus by both administrators and faculty. a fe Astin (1993) additionally developed a theoretical model of student engagement, the 1 4 Z L K “Input-Environment-Outcome” (I-E-O) model. In the model, students are the “input”, including all prior experiences and perspectives they bring to the situation, and the “output” is the student's newfound ability after the engagement. The “environment” is the situation in which the change occurs, including the location, the individuals it occurs with, such as university faculty and staff, and the theoretical model that used to facilitate the student development (as cited from Bresciani, TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT 2011; Rosch, Simonsen, & Velez, 2015). Faculty and staff members utilizing transformational leadership traits with their students is an example of the environment in the I-E-O model. ‘Astin and Astin (2000) see higher education as an entity that “has the potential to produce future generations of transformative leaders who can devise more effective solutions to some of our most pressing social problems” (p. 6). The authors present a transformative leadership approach across an institution as a means to create an environment that enables faculty, staff, and students to personally benefit while building a better society and contributing to a common good. Students develop and grow by being empowered by faculty and staff to make decisions on the subjects that affect them, under the stewardship of the faculty and staff (Astin & Astin, 2000). Student Leadership Development on Campus ‘Through the 1990s, a dearth of literature existed on the subject of college student leadership development, Zimmerman-Oster and Burkhardt (1999) used this need as the motivation for their research and used both qualitative and quantitative methods to identify best practices of leadership programs that could be used to sustain quality programs for developing new young leaders on campus. The researchers utilized the LeaderShape program as an example of such a program to quantitatively study the pre- and post-leadership traits that a set of the student participants in LeaderShape could develop as a result of participation. Qualitative methods were also used to evaluate several other leadership development programs through interviews with participants. The results of the study showed that students who participated in the LeaderShape program saw a great increase in their own transformational leadership skills, such as ereating a vision for their student organization. This skill development would allow student leaders to «RANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT. utilize transformational leadership practices with their peer student followers. The qualitative results of the study also showed that student participants in other leadership programs were able to significantly increase their perceived abilities to set goals, have a sense of ethics, take risks, have civic responsibility, be multiculturally aware, and be interested in developing their community, which can be related to skills of a transformational leader. The results suggest that transformational leadership skills can be leamed by students and that leadership education and training programs employing transformational leadership are a useful way to help students develop “knowledge, skills, and values that are consistent with the objectives of the program: (Zimmerman-Oster & Burkhardt, 1999, p. 63) they-participate in, Modern campuses offer numerous programs in which students can participate to Potentially grow as a leader. Owen (2012) found that over 80% of colleges claim to use post- industrial, relational, complex approaches, which includes transformational leadership skill development, to administer their leadership development programs on campus. Rost and Smith (1992) define as post-industrial as leadership theories stemming from the 1990s onward. Dinh et al, (2014) similarly found, in a review of leadership articles published in 10 top-tier academic Journals from 2000-2012, that transformational leadership was the most frequently researched and practiced theory of leadership. Dugan’s (2006) work took a more direct approach and examined the types of programs that campuses offer that enable students to develop their leadership skills, including transformational leadership skills. The study utilized Tyree’ (1998) Socially Responsible Leadership Scale, which included the elements: Consciousness of Self, Commitment, Ve f- Collaboration, Citizenship, and Common Purpose, among others. Dugan then had 859 students\ “©. from classes represe 1g all of the colleges of the institution respond to a survey asking about TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale as well as about the types of programs they were a member of on campus. These programs were Formal Leadership Programming, Student Organization Membership, Community Service, and Positional Leadership Role on campus. The study's results showed that Community Service was the program type that resulted in the highest scores across the largest number of scales, while positional leadership helped students gain higher skills in group and societal levels of leadership. Involvement in student organizations and formal leadership programs led to limited effects on the student's leadership ability but did positively influence the student's sense of citizenship and common. (i Leadership development programs on campus are an integral part of Astin’s (1993) ) \ campus environment that leads to student development as leaders. Programs that focus on developing transformational leadership skills are important to students growing as leaders, ‘Transformational Development for College Students Ingleton (2013) argues that today’s modem world requires new leadership competencies that enable a leader to be more adaptive and creative, but that leadership educators have been tunable to adequately select appropriate concepts to use with millennials. She contends that Astin and Astin’s (2000) work shows that formal leadership development programs give students the skills that are needed by leaders in today’s society and that Zimmerman-Oster and Burkhardt’s (1999) work shows that student leadership skill development is accelerated through formal leadership programs. Ingleton used Tichy and DeVanna’s (1986) characteristics of transformational leaders to contend that transformational leadership contains seven optimal facets that can be used to build a student leadership development program that enables students to gain the skills and 10 «RANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT. competencies to enact positive change in society. Ingleton further breaks down the identified facets to demonstrate that transformational leaders: are change agents, enabling them to guide their followers with a directed vision; are courageous and willing to change the narrative and status quo to help the follower succeed; demonstrate concer for their followers, which is a component of the shared responsibility for sucess of transformational leadership shown by empowering followers in the decision making process; are able to recognize the creative energies of followers in the pursuit of shared purpose and to help them develop using thase energies; demonstrate unquestionable character and practice ethical behaviors when developing their followers; are communal, emphasizing inclusivity with all members of their community; and, are Acreators or co-creators of vision, articulating a vision and crafting it with their followers. She concludes that “educating students in transformational leadership will allow student leaders to ~ ¥ raise the consciousness of themselves, their followers and ultimately the organization, embrace X°© AQNuust and emphasize mutually influential relationships.” (p. 5) yw Quinlan (2014) adds that transformative leadership is an important component to student development and leaning. She considers transformational leadership as being aligned with {© authentic leadership, as opposed to the more traditional instructional leadership model that is by ye? focused on tasks and technical involvement in teaching. As a result, she recommends that leaders focus on the environment in which student learning takes place and that they use their ‘transformational leadership techniques to create an atmosphere where leadership of teaching is enhanced to in turn enhance student learning. Creating this type of environment matches the of Astin’s (1993) I-E-O model, which Rosch et al. (2015) also consider an important factor in fostering transformational leadership development. W TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT Students who are afforded an appropriate environment to develop as transformational leaders, under the guidance of a transformational leader, are able to gain the skills outlined by Ingleton to become a transformational leader themselves. Universities must create and facilitate this environment, through their faculty and staff, to enable this development to occur. ‘Transformational Leadership Skill Development Research shows that transformational leadership skills can be developed by students as a result of seeing them displayed ay and experiencing them from a leader who is influential in their lives. Zacharatos, Barling, & ‘Kelloway (2000) were interested in the development of transformational leadership skills and behaviors in adolescents, which they saw as containing four components: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. They worked on the hypothesis that adolescents who observe any of these four transformational leadership traits from their parents will adopt similar behaviors for themselves when acting in a leadership role. The study was conducted with 112 students, 87 females and 25 males, from high school sport teams who were asked to rate their parent's child rearing behaviors and their own self-perceptions of their transformational leadership behaviors. One to five peers and the adolescent's coach were also asked to provide feedback on the student’s leadership behaviors, ‘The results showed that students whose fathers exhibited transformational leadership ‘behaviors were perceived to exhibit those same leadership traits. The students were also seen as being capable of motivating their peers and were viewed as effective leaders by their peers and coaches. The study showed that transformational leadership traits can be leamed behaviors from family members and used by successive generations (Zacharatos et al., 2000). 12 fRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT. Participation in organized leadership programs is also shown to increase transformational leadership skill development in young (Rosch et al., 2015). Students involved in chapters of the 0 AY & FFA (formerly the Future Farmers of America) who were exposed to an organized leadership \Y program under the direct of a chapter leader, showed increased abilities to practice ‘transformational leadership with their peers. The study was notable because female students saw the largest increases in transformational leadership skills as a result of the exposure, Zacharatos et al. and Rosch et al.s studies show the importance of college student services professionals and faculty members demonstrating transformational leadership skills and forming transformational leadership leader-follower relationships with students, These relationships can be mutually beneficial to both parties and help the students succeed as future leaders. ‘Transformational Leadership Exemy ied on Campus A strong leadership educator on campus is an integral part of the student's leadership Jeaming environment. Hastings and Kane (2018) identify that educators on campus must find a (sweet spot) between mentoring, coaching, and advising in this student environment to build a x ot) Ne Positive relationship that transforms the student, and potentially their student organization. They add that the relationship between the student follower and the faculty leader is paramount to the transformation of the student occurring. Owen, Hassell-Goodman, and Yamanaka (2017) also add that the CAS report for Student Leadership Programs calls for leadership educators to be Well versed in skills that assist a diverse range of students to grow as leaders, These skills are demonstrated by leaders using a transformational development model. ‘TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT The act of ment 1g a student on campus is important, but what determines the student's level of growth is the type of relationship that is formed (Campbell et al., 2012). Mentors who engage their students in personal development and empower the students as leaders, both characteristics of transformational leadership, see students develop additional psychosocial and leadership skills. The researchers in this study also found that student who were mentored by student affairs professionals, rather than faculty, also saw greater growth in leadership skills. (Campbell et al., 2012). Sosik and Godshalk (2000) also found that when mentors used transformational leadership skills, protégés were more receptive to the mentoring, Godshalk and Sosik (2000) added that developing a mutually beneficial relationship, a component of transformational leadership, was important to the success of the mentoring relationship between ‘mentor and protégé. Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) and the CAS standards guide (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education, 2015) both also stress the importance of mentorship of students in their development as leaders. Therefore, itis essential for mentors to practice transformational leadership with students to help them grow. ‘Additional scholarly work on the topic of transformational leadership has focused on campus leadership's use of transformational leadership traits in carrying out their duties and the effect it has on students. Bolkan and Goodboy (2011) used three characteristics of transformational leadership: charisma, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation, which were based on Bass’s (1985) construct of transformational leadership, and asked college students to identify which instructor communication behaviors they thought best promoted these behaviors. Results showed that students saw their instructor as charismatic by them demonstrating certain traits, including confirmation, enthusiasm, caring, availability, treating students as equals, and self-disclosure. Individual consideration was seen by students in that the 14 »RANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT. Professor was available, provided individual feedback, had verbal immediacy, provided personalized content, conveyed interest, remembered student history, and promoted their participation. Lastly, intellectual stimulation was shown by using an interactive teaching style, challenging students, encouraging independent thought, promoting participation, and content relevance. These characteristics, which are all traits of transformational leaders, should be noted and utilized by leaders on campus looking to use transformational leadership on campus to help them succeed in helping their students grow as individuals and leaders over the course of the relationship. Bogler, Caspi, and Roceas (2013) also examined the use of transformational leadership traits by instructors, but expanded it to online classes, finding that students were more satisfied with leaders who they perceived as using a transformational leadership style. Bogler et al. believe that this indicates that student satisfaction is more highly tied to the student's perception of the leader than to the actual tangible benefits they receive from the same leader, which suggests that the uti zation of a transformational leadership style can further develop the relationship between the leader and follower, even in online modes of communication A mutually beneficial relationship between the leader and the follower is a key component of the environment of the transformational leadership model. Developing and maintaining these types of relationships between faculty/staff and students is important to the student's growth as a leader in any context. Personality Traits of Transformational Leaders and Followers Transformational leadership, while beneficial to many college student’s development, is|(_,c5 not always the best model for every student. Jacques, Vracheva, and Garger’s (2017) work expanded the outcomes of transformational leadership to not only consider the leaders’ ‘TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT personality traits and behaviors, but to also examine the same attributes for the followers. Literature to date on followers” perceptions of leaders suggested that followers who themselves were extroverted, agreeable, and conscientious were more apt to describe their leader as transformational, The survey of the student participants in the study who were identified as more agreeable and conscientious were more likely to positively perceive their instructors” transformational leadership traits. Guay and Choi (2015) focused on two traits that would suggest that individuals were less likely to be influenced by transformational leaders: neuroticism and introversion. The findings ‘were surprising, particularly in contrast to Jacques et al. (2017), in that individuals who were more neurotic and introverted were found to actually have a stronger relationship with transformational leaders. This suggests that a leaders’ inspirational and developmental nature can balance out a follower’s tendency to worry, lack confidence, and be shy. Combined with Jacques ct als findings, it can be seen that transformational leadership characteristics can have a positive effect on both extroverted and introverted followers. Implications & Recommendations ‘Transformational leadership can be an effective leadership style use to develop college students into future leaders. Research has shown that leaders on campus who utilize transformational leadership skills are able to better engage students in the classroom (Bogler et al., 2012; Bolkan & Goodboy, 2011) and in co-curricular activities (Dugan, 2006; Jacques et al., 2017), Students are also able to learn transformational leadership attributes themselves by observing and developing under a transformational leader (Rosch et al., 2015; Zacharatos et al., 2000). Mentorship programs on campus with student affairs professionals and faculty members in leadership roles are essential to students developing transformational leadership skills 16 ¢RANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT (Campbell et al., 2012; Hastings & Kane, 2018; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Soski & Godshalk, 2000). Campus leaders and student affairs Finixsionals must focus on the wa see g\d environment aspect 6 Astin’s (1993) I-E-O modél to crate situations that enable students to Jearn under a transformational leader. However, transformational leadership should not be used with every student, as the personality traits of students can impact the ability of some students to follow and grow under a transformational leader (Guay & Choi, 2015; Jacques et al., 2017), College students, in general, have made a cognizant decision to attend college and to find mentor to guide them in their learning and development, both as a person and a potential leader. Higher education institutions should make efforts to create an environment that enables students to connect with faculty and staff members, particularly student affairs staff members, ‘who can serve as mentors for students and help them develop into future leaders. Institutions can See opportunities for students, faculty, and staff members to interact both in professional and “non-professional situations in order for these relationships to build and for students to find their 3° mentors. The model works well in this dynamic as both the student and the university’s faculty/staff member should be invested in the building the relationship and developing the student for future success. Many students respond positively to a transformational leader. These students can obtain these skills by spending time and interacting with the transformational leader, Which creates a need for students and their mentor to have opportunities to interact on a consistent basis. Leaders in these relationships must take care as to not transform the relationship into a Paternalistic one, with the leader making all the recommendations as to how best to help the student develop. Transformational leadership requires a shared relationship, with both parties providing input. Leaders must therefore take the time to get to know the student’s goals and 7 TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT desires, With this shared knowledge, the pair should then create a plan of action to enable the student to achieve their goals with the assistance and guidance of the transformational leader. In creating these goals, itis important that the leader not impose their views as the only option. For example, a professor may use their own experience of becoming a tenured faculty member as a direction in which to lead the student and suggest that the student aim to be a professor after they graduate because the leader is a professor and is happy with their life decisions, Leaders must take care as to not levy these types of views on their followers and must instead seek to understand the student and their goals and to do their best to enable the student to reach those goals, whether they match with the leader's experience or not. If the leader feels they are unable to help the student develop in the way the student desires, the leader should encourage the student to find a new leader to create a transformational relationship with. Institutions must also understand that not every student will respond to a transformational leader, depending on their personality type and other characteristics. To provide mentors for all students, institutions should also inform students, faculty and staff about other leadership styles and expose students to multiple leadership styles to enable them to pick which type of eader/mentor they are most inclined to respond to. Exposure to structured leadership development programs can assist students to understand the different theoretical models of leadership and to identify which types best suit their developmental needs. When used effectively, transformational leadership can also be used by students, who have developed these traits by studying under a transformational leader themselves, to enact positive change on campus with their peers. This use of developed skills can enable students to practice their own leadership style in a supported environment on campus before being required to use them in their professional life. Employers in today's workforce are looking for employees 18 RANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT. with leadership skills, which they believe students lack (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2018). Transformational leadership can be used to mentor students and to set them up to be successful leaders that their employers will value in their future careers. TRANSFOMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT References ‘Astin, A. W, (1999). Student Involvement: A Developmental Theory for Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, 40(5), 518-529. ‘Astin, A. W., & Astin, H. S. (2000). Leadership Reconsidered: Engaging Higher Education in Social Change. Battle Creek, MI: W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Bamber, M. D., & Kraenzle Schneider, J. (2016). Mindfulness-based meditation to decrease stress and anxiety in college students: A narrative synthesis of the research, Educational Research Review, 18, 1-32. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2015.12.004 Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyong Expectations. New York, NY: The Free Press. Bass, B. M. (1998). Tranformational Leadership: Industrial, Military, and Educational Impact. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. Bogler, R., Caspi, A., & Roccas, S. (2013). Transformational and Passive Leadership: An Initial Investiagation of University Instructors as Leaders in a Virtual Learning Environment. Educational Management, Administration, & Leadership, 41(3), 372-392. Bolkan, S., & Goodboy, A. K. (2011). Behavioral Indicators of Transformational Leadership in the College Classroom. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, 12(1), 10-18. Bresciani, M. J. (2011). Assessment and Evaluation, In J. H. Schuh, S. R. Jones, 8. R. Harper, & Associates, Student Services: A Handbook for the Profession (pp. 321-334). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Bums, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. 20

You might also like