Leader identity development (LID) and meaning making are essential and interconnected developmental processes. The current study explored LID and meaning making from childhood to emerging adulthood among college students (N = 26). Utilizing two open-ended interviews and a narrative storytelling approach, we explored participants' LID high, low, and turning points. A process of LID emerged in which leadership development experiences resulted in personal development outcomes following meaning-making opportunities and a sense of personal worthiness.

According to employers, college graduates should possess interpersonal skills including the ability to work in and lead teams. Many instructors incorporate group projects in their courses to encourage student development of teamwork and leadership skills through experience. Research suggests, however, these skills must be taught explicitly. To test this, we explored overt and covert approaches to teaching teamwork in classes implementing experiential learning through team projects. We assessed individual and team-level outcomes at the beginning and end of a 16-week semester across both courses. Students receiving overt instruction reported significant increases across all five measured domains of individual teamwork skills. Students receiving covert instruction reported significant increases in only one domain, project planning. For team level outcomes, only students receiving covert instruction showed a significant increase in psychological safety over the course of the semester. The major implication of this research is if individual teamwork skill development is a course learning objective, instructors should consider explicitly teaching teamwork. Further research is needed to investigate the limited change in student team-level outcomes between overt and covert teamwork teaching approaches.

There is a considerable amount of scholarship from across disciplines that extols the value of effective faculty mentorship in doctoral student development. However, there is much less research on the influence of mentoring dysfunction on doctoral student-faculty relationships. The current mixed methods study used a cross-sectional survey from a cluster sample of graduate departments across a tier one research institution to investigate the influence of one type of mentor dysfunction, faculty unavailability, on doctoral student perceptions of faculty mentor competence, self-evaluations of discipline competence, and likelihood to graduate. Responses from 378 participants showed that faculty availability was significantly associated with student perceptions of effective mentorship, the highest levels of self-assessed discipline competence, and confidence in completing their degree. Based on these results, we present a model of doctoral student mentoring needs that we hope can guide research on dysfunctional mentorship in higher education moving forward.

Abigail H. Cheng Leader identity development (LID) is an essential component of leadership development in meaningmakingprocesses. Previous study ofLID focused on positive leadership experiences. The current study explored stories of leader identity low points (i.e., negative leadership experiences) of26college students at four large institutions across the United States. A multimethod data collection process studied narrative thematic analysis and emotion coding. Results revealed that participants' LID low points occurred during times of transition, rejection, toxic leaders and environments, or selfworth struggles, including low points of sadness, embarrassment, and anxiety. When participants made meaning of low points through support networks and reflection, they experienced coherent positive resolution, reframing the low point as a period of growth. The current study emphasizes the essentiality ofstudying and discussing negative leadership experiences among college students, centering emotions in student leadership development theory and practice, encouraging the development of coherent authors followingLID low points, and arguing for support networks as having a social buffering effect for challenging experiences.

Purpose The 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/approach The paper provides student feedback data on the effectiveness of the technique in improving understanding of leader identity and transforming meaning-making. Originality/value We hope practitioners can utilize this approach to build leadership identity development and meaning-making capacity in college students.

Purpose The 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/approach A review of the extant literature is included, and a conceptual model is suggested for further exploration into this critical and under-researched domain. Findings More research is needed at the intersection of leadership identity development, meaning-making and marginalized social identities. Originality/value As 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.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate data from different implementations of the Mentoring Up curriculum, designed by the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research. The study investigated the relationship between participants' self-reported change in mentoring competence and the behaviors they intended to implement post-training.Methods: The data set included 401 respondents who consented to participate after 59 Mentoring Up training events hosted by 34 institutions between 2015 and 2022. Responses to the Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA) were analyzed to determine which factors were related to self-reported changes in participants' mentoring competencies post-training.Results: Quantitative analysis showed that intent to change, perceived value of training, training modality, and prior mentor training were all significantly associated with the magnitude of change in MCA scores between pre- and post-tests. Further, participants who engaged in face-to-face training found significantly more value in the training than those who participated online. Analysis of open-ended questions demonstrated that participants with larger changes in MCA scores were more likely to address core principles of Mentoring Up curriculum when discussing their behavior change plans post-training.Conclusion: Participants improved their mentoring competence by participating in the Mentoring Up curriculum, and this change was significantly and practically associated with an intent to modify their behavior in their mentoring relationships.

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.

Despite a growing body of scholarship on leader and leadership (i.e., leader[ship]) identity development (LID), there has been surprisingly little systematic attention devoted to the connection between LID and meaning making, which is notable because meaning making has been regarded as foundational to the LID process. Accordingly, the current scoping review explores the scholarship and key characteristics at the intersection of LID and meaning making. Specifically, the year of publication, research method and design, country of participants, and theories central to author justification are analyzed. After sharing the results, contributions, and implications for the constructs of LID and meaning making are outlined, with attention given to theoretical and methodological areas for future research. Finally, an integrated constructivist model of LID is proposed that urges leadership scholars and practitioners to incorporate developmental, identity, learning, and meaning-making theories into their discussions of LID.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The purpose of this study was to assess if the Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA) could be used to capture mentee gains in mentorship skills and how the mentorship competencies may vary structurally for mentees compared to mentors, while the original MCA was shown to be a validated measure to assess mentor skills. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The mentee training survey data were collected nationally from 2015 to 2022. The survey data set included 401 respondents who consented to participate after 59 mentee training events hosted by 34 institutions/organizations who participated in face-to-face and online training as well as completed the Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA) in their surveys. We conducted principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation to investigate the internal structure of the MCA and Hatcher’s criteria were applied. After a team of mentoring experts independently interpreted the PCA results and reached a consensus on the interpretations of the components, factor analysis and internal consistency reliability analysis were applied to assess the construct validity and the reliability. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: There were significant component loadings of the eight components with varimax rotation and 22 of the total 26 items were loaded into components. Four items, (5) pursuing strategies to improve communication, (6) coordinating with other mentors, (11) developing strategies to meet goals, and (23) setting career goals, were excluded from the factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha analysis since these items were not significantly loaded into any components. The eight-component structure was validated (χ2=313.209, p<.001, RMSEA=.083, CFI=.907, TLI=.881, SRMR=.073) and the hypothesized model of the eight components resulted in an acceptable fit to the data with standardized factor loadings ranging from 0.58 to 0.93. The alpha coefficient is from 0.58 to 0.90, suggesting the items have high internal consistency. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Based upon the findings we recommend that the full revised MCA for mentees is used to capture mentees’ mentorship skill gains even if not all of the competency modules are used in the training. The development and validation of measures such as the MCA are important as we move toward the use of common measures across programs such as the CTSAs.

With an explosion of scholarship on the wellbeing of university students over the past decade in both the behavioral and biomedical sciences, research findings point to a growing mental health crisis in doctoral student populations. This chapter seeks to connect the scholarship on mentoring with growing research on student wellbeing, drawing from the literature on mental health, self-efficacy, impostor syndrome, competence, motivation, and psychological capital. Describing and synthesizing the connections in the peer-reviewed literature that make evident the benefits of using effective mentoring for promotion of wellbeing and improvement of outcomes in higher education, this chapter concludes with actionable guidance to facilitate effective mentorship that promotes greater wellbeing in doctoral students.

There has been an explosion of research on the well‐being of university students and faculty across a diverse set of disciplines across higher education. The symposium provides a brief review connecting the scholarship of mentorship with growing research on well‐being in academia. Specifically, the current paper focuses on well‐being outcomes for both mentors and mentees, considering undergraduates, graduates, and faculty, and concludes by discussing various avenues for further research.

Despite an abundance of research in the past 20 years on the importance of teamwork in higher education, little data exists on what factors predict faculty self-evaluations of teamwork competence. This is important for leadership educators because as research on the science of team science has increased there has been a proliferation of different training programs for faculty in academia to improve collaboration, with little regard for what variables predict self-perceived teamwork skill. This study used a cross-sectional survey design to collect faculty self-evaluations of teamwork competence from a national sample of agricultural faculty. Regression analysis was used to determine what factors, identified as potentially important from prior research, predicted positive self-evaluations of teamwork competence. Results showed that discipline self-efficacy, feelings of impostorism, team participation, the presence of prior training, and gender were all significant predictors. The implications of these findings and avenues for future research for teamwork in higher education are discussed.

"Leading from the Middle in Higher Education: Mentoring" is a Journal of Leadership Studies Symposium dededicated to the significance of mentoring in higher education, emphasizing the role of mentoring in leadership development for undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty. To introduce the symposium, the current article provide insights into effective mentoring practices for mentors and mentees. The article delves into the definition of mentoring, both formal and informal, and discusses the benefits of mentoring within higher education. Additionally, it highlights crucial aspects of effective mentors and offers guidance on being an effective mentee.

Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, has taken over university classrooms. A sample of 592 U.S. Generation Z students enrolled in an agricultural leadership course was examined to determine if talent theme trends exist for the target population and how this information could enhance learning environments and agricultural education. The results indicate that the studied population have the signature talent themes of Achiever, Restorative, Empathy, Strategic, and Futuristic. Additionally, one substantial difference is that the Responsibility and Learner talent themes were sixteenth and eighteenth for the population in this study, respectively. At the same time, they were second and third in the Gallup Organization’s 2014 study. This difference may suggest a shift of Generation Z students in college of agriculture classrooms preferring outcomes in their education that can help them make an impact in the future over the learning process. A ranking of talent themes for the sample was determined, along with rankings based on sex. Significance was found that males were more likely to have one-or-more talents in the Influencing domain and two-or-more in the Strategic Thinking domain.

Stress is becoming synonymous with the undergraduate student experience. Stress can be a productive motivator for students, but unhealthy levels can create distress, which can cause students to experience burnout and health issues. In this study, students were enrolled in a course and asked to provide feedback on levels of stress to instructors while undergoing a stressful phenomenon, the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of qualitative student reflections identified themes that contributed to student distress including academic stress, financial/work stress, personal stress, university-related stress, family-related stress, and interpersonal stress. Undergraduate students reported their highest levels of distress related to academic stress. While some students did not believe faculty should be responsible for reducing their stress, others provided tangible strategies for reducing distress. Strategies that faculty can implement to reduce their students’ distress include being more flexible with due dates and assignments, reducing student’s unnecessary workload, and coordinating due dates with other faculty in their programs.

This study explores how different team configurations based on members’ experiential learning styles impacted group level variables including team learning behavior, stages of team development, potency, psychological safety, and satisfaction in an undergraduate class. Groups with homogeneous learning styles experienced higher levels of friendship and lower levels of conflict, which were associated with greater satisfaction and more rapid progress through the stages of group development. Most significantly, satisfaction was more strongly correlated to team learning behavior than psychological safety, suggesting that student groups in higher education settings may rely on other factors to progress through the stages of group development.

Despite an overwhelming amount of research in recent years on the importance of mentoring in higher education, little data exists on what factors predict faculty self-evaluations of mentoring competence in agricultural faculty. This is important because as research on mentoring has increased there has been a proliferation of different training programs for faculty in academia to improve mentoring outcomes, with little regard for what variables predict self-perceived mentoring skill. This study used a cross-sectional survey design to collect faculty self-evaluations of mentoring competence from a national sample of agricultural faculty. Regression analysis was used to determine what factors, identified as potentially important from prior research, predicted positive self-evaluations of mentoring competence. Results showed that discipline self-efficacy, feelings of impostorism, average mentoring frequency, and prior mentor training were all significant predictors, while gender was almost significant. The implications of these findings and avenues for future research for mentoring in higher education are discussed.

Undergraduate agricultural leadership education opportunities are prevalent and growing. However, additional attention should be placed on the quality of educational leadership experiences. The purpose of this study was to explore how the context of a learning experience impacts student application of team leadership skills. The findings and implications of this study are reported in three themes: (a) contextual dimensions of educational experiences, (b) agricultural disconnect, and (c) team leadership skill application. Recommendations for practitioners include providing students with real-life leadership skill application experiences, regulating assignments to have agricultural connections, and integrating opportunities for student reflection. Future research should consider questions such as: (a) what other educational leadership experiences may have considerable learning impacts? and (b) what other pedagogical methodologies are useful in teaching agricultural and team leadership education?

Higher education institutions are currently tackling a growing number of organizational challenges that have forced departments to evolve their business practices. Administrators are faced with the need for more diverse programs which require facilities, faculty, and services, and must decide whether to develop talent internally or recruit new qualified candidates (Kutchner & Kleschick, 2016). Given the great cost of faculty searches, and the perceived diminishing availability of talented applicants, it is imperative that administrators understand the importance and value of mentoring relationships to fill needs with qualified candidates in higher education institutions. However, formal mentoring programs have been slow to develop in higher education institutions. This publication defines mentorship, explains the value of mentorship, and describes how mentoring programs can be established.