Transforming leadership education undergraduate advising: Incorporating growth mindset and design thinking

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.