Theoretical Foundation and Methodological Considerations

• In Event: Symposium | Testing a Dynamic and Iterative Process of Leadership Identity and Competency Development in Youth

Short Description

This initial symposium presentation will outline the theoretical foundation and methodological considerations for the longitudinal examination of leadership identity and competency development in youth. The theoretically-grounded propositions regarding the relationship between leadership identity and competency developmental processes offer important conceptual understandings of early leadership development as youth are experiencing these processes. Additionally, the methodological considerations presented answer the call for more true longitudinal research via three or more waves of data, outcome tracking over time, and practical time metrics (Day, 2011).

Detailed Abstract

The United States is positioned to experience one of the largest leadership transfers in its history, as evidenced by approximately 55 percent of management occupations held by individuals aged 45 and over (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). As a result, many young adults will likely assume senior leadership roles earlier in their career and will not be afforded the opportunity to amass significant work experience and meaning-making from those experiences prior to assuming such roles. Thus, early leadership development experiences will become increasingly important in preparing a young workforce to shoulder the burden of a sizeable leadership transfer. Youth can potentially demonstrate a stronger impact from intentional development than adults (Reichard & Paik, 2011), and precollege leadership skills and knowledge have emerged as among the strongest predictors of leadership efficacy and capacity in college (Dugan, 2011), suggesting that K – 12 leadership experiences can sizably impact future leadership competence. Youth capacity for experiencing leadership development as well as the need for that development offer meaning to the current paper.

Respected leadership scholars, such as Riggio, Lord, Mumford, and Day call for a greater number of longitudinal studies that offer more comprehensive explanations for why individuals experience various developmental trajectories throughout their life course as leaders (Day, 2011; Day & Sin, 2011; Day et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2020; Lord, 2019; Riggio & Mumford, 2011). The purpose of this first symposium presentation is to outline the theoretical foundation and methodological considerations for the longitudinal examination of leadership identity and competency development in youth.

The leader and leadership development processes from youth to adulthood are dynamic and iterative, thus requiring a life course perspective (Day et al., 2014; Day & Liu, 2019; Murphy & Johnson, 2011; Murphy, 2019). The life course approach offers consideration to the potential spiraling developmental processes of leader identity and leadership competencies (Day & Sin, 2011; DeRue & Ashford, 2010; Reitan & Stenberg, 2019). Previous longitudinal research in youth leadership has examined the impact of childhood factors and experiences on adult leadership potential and emergence (Reichard et al., 2011; Guerin et al., 2011; Li et al., 2011; Zacharatos et al., 2000). However, little research has examined the role of identity development in youth and its impact on other developmental processes such as leadership competency development, despite leader identity’s role as a central feature in lifespan models of leader development (Murphy & Johnson, 2011; Murphy, 2019; Liu et al., 2020). The current research effort presented in this symposium contributes to the field by examining the relationship between leader identity and leadership competency developmental to better understand the holistic leadership development journey of youth.

Answering the call for more true longitudinal research (Day, 2011), we offer the following propositions utilizing positive youth leadership identity (PYLI; [Author] & [Author], 2018, 2019) and student leadership competencies (SLC; [Author], 2018) as variables of interest.

Hypothesis 1: Due to the hypothesized and tested relationships between leader identity and leadership skills (e.g., Day & Sin, 2011; Lord & Hall, 2005; Miscenko et al., 2017), it is expected that holding a stronger positive youth leadership identity will be associated with higher self-ratings of leadership competency.

Hypothesis 2: Paying recognition to the expected curvilinear trajectory of development among youth (Day & Liu, 2019) and the hypothesized spiraling development of leader identity (Day & Sin, 2011), it is expected that developmental trajectories of positive youth leadership identity and leadership competencies will be positively related.

Specifically, we hypothesize that the development of positive youth leadership identity and leadership competency might have a spiraling effect – the development of positive leadership identity predicts leadership competency growth and that competency growth predicts further gains in leadership identity over time. Thus, we offer the following sub-propositions:

Hypothesis 2a: Positive youth leadership identity is positively related to the developmental trajectory of leadership competency.

Hypothesis 2b: Leadership competency is positively related to the developmental trajectory of positive youth leadership identity.

Thus, we expect the level of positive youth leadership identity at T1 will predict the rate of change in leadership competency between T1 and T2. Leadership competency level at T2 will then predict rate of change in positive youth leadership identity between T2 and T3. The aforementioned propositions offer methodological considerations as outlined below.

An initial cross-sectional, correlational study (presented in this symposium) addressed Proposition 1 by evaluating the relationship between PYLI and SLCs prior to latent change score modeling utilizing a planned missingness design among a N = 4,000 representative sample of youth in the U.S. The second phase of the present study (proposed in this symposium) will examine how time-lagged states affect change attainment of SLCs and PYLI. Using a dynamic model (i.e., a latent difference score structural model, McArdle, 2001), the two factors will be represented as a coupled system that represents how the growth processes of each are inter-related over time. This model is able to capture a spiraling effect (Proposition 2) in which the development of positive leadership identity predicts competency growth in leadership and then that competency growth predicts further gains in leadership identity over time.

Participants

• Lindsay Hastings, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  Presenter

• Corey Seemiller, Wright State University
  Presenter

• L.J. McElravy, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  Presenter

• Alex Brodersen, University of Notre Dame
  Co-Author