The Development and Initial Validation of a Self-Assessment for Global Leadership Competencies

Authors

Sabrena A. O'Keefe, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Higher Education

First Advisor's Name

Hilary Landorf

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Haiying Long

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Thomas G. Reio

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Maria Lovett

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

global leadership, competencies, instrument validation, self-assessment

Date of Defense

3-21-2018

Abstract

Global leadership has been a growing area of research as our world becomes interconnected. The National Association for College Employers (NACE) Career Readiness Competencies Work Group even added an eighth competency: global/intercultural fluency. Employers have also expressed a skill crisis regarding students graduating from college without the necessary global leadership skills. However, there are often not enough resources at institutions of higher education to add specific co-curricular programs around global leadership. At the same time many institutions have begun to use the Student Leadership Competencies (Seemiller, 2013) as learning outcomes for their co-curricular programs.

This research study aimed to combine the concepts of global leadership and the Student Leadership Competencies so that students have the opportunity to develop global leadership competencies on their own. The researcher created a global leadership competencies self-assessment instrument mapped within the Student Leadership Competencies, then demonstrated the extent to which the instrument yields evidence that supports valid and reliable inferences about students’ global leadership competencies.

Validity evidence based on content was established through the use of 13 subject matter experts. Validity evidence based on cognitive process was established through cognitive interviews. Validity evidence based on internal structure was established by conducting an exploratory factor analysis. Specifically, a principal axis factor analysis with a varimax rotation was conducted on data gathered from 279 participants. Evidence supported the finding that the instrument yielded reliable inferences about students’ global leadership competencies (30 items; α = .932).

There were six constructs uncovered and measured through the validation process: Interpersonal Impact, Perspective-taking, Adapting, Diversity, Responding to Ambiguity, and Resiliency. The instrument created in this study provides self-awareness of a student’s proficiency in these global leadership competencies, which enables them to seek out development opportunities for those competencies either on their campus or in other out-of-the-classroom activities based on their results. This instrument can now be used to guide a students’ global leadership competency development journey.

Identifier

FIDC006566

Recommended Citation

O'Keefe, Sabrena A., "The Development and Initial Validation of a Self-Assessment for Global Leadership Competencies" (2018). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3694.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3694