VTechWorks staff will be away for the Thanksgiving holiday beginning at noon on Wednesday, November 27, through Friday, November 29. We will resume normal operations on Monday, December 2. Thank you for your patience.

Browsing by Author "McElravy, L. J."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Leadership transfer in rural communities: A mixed methods investigation
    Hastings, Lindsay; Sunderman, Hannah M.; Hastings, Matthew; McElravy, L. J.; Lusk, Melissa (Taylor & Francis, 2021-05-27)
    The United States is poised to experience one of the largest transfers of leadership in its history, markedly impacting rural community sustainability efforts. The purpose of this exploratory sequential mixed methods study was to identify themes related to rural leadership transfer using grounded theory and to test the facilitation of effective leadership transfer using structural equation modeling. Adult and youth leaders (N = 19) from three nominated rural communities comprised the qualitative phase and secondary data from a 2015 rural survey (N = 1991) comprised the quantitative phase. Mixed methods results indicated the environment conducive for effective leadership transfer (via broadened civic engagement) was facilitated when community hope became contagious based upon community development efforts achieved by hopeful, persistent community leaders. The presented findings offer greater precision to leadership research in community contexts and enable increased effectiveness in facilitating community leadership transitions, thus enhancing their generative capabilities.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Transforming leadership education undergraduate advising: Incorporating growth mindset and design thinking
    Sellon, Addison; Sunderman, Hannah M.; McElravy, L. J. (2023)
    Academic advisors are an invaluable and steadfast component of leadership students’ higher education experience (Hunter & White, 2004; Mann, 2020; Museus, 2021; Spratley, 2020). Yet, given the myriad student paths and preferences, advising calls for flexibility, commitment, and personalization. Applying growth mindset and design thinking to the academic advising process in leadership education may help advisors meet the diverse needs of their students, integrating theory and practice. Notably, growth mindset and design thinking are linked to overall motivation, confidence, and problem-solving (Dweck, 2015; Hochanadel & Finamore, 2015; Mann, 2020), allowing students to take ownership over and actively engage with their academic advising experience. Therefore, two advising manuals (i.e., a student manual and a faculty manual) were generated to incorporate growth mindset and design thinking-based approaches to the advising experience within leadership education. The manuals were implemented into various advising situations for data collection and feedback. Findings revealed an overall favorable opinion of the manual and guidance for further implementation within the advising process. The two manuals presented in the current paper provide leadership education students, academic advisors, and departments with various tools to enhance and guide their undergraduate student experience.