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Effective professional development strategies to support the advancement of women into senior student affairs officer positions
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Effective professional development strategies to support the advancement of women into senior student affairs officer positions
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Content
EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
TO SUPPORT THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN INTO
SENIOR STUDENT AFFAIRS OFFICER POSITIONS
by
Myhraliza Guerra Aala
__________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
May 2012
Copyright 2012 Myhraliza Guerra Aala
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Work hard. Play hard. This is a mantra that I learned a long time ago from a
mentor and dear friend, Kathy Drucquer Duff, to whom I will always be grateful to,
for instilling in me the value of this mantra. No one but God would have known that
this mantra became my reality in the last three years, particularly this past year of my
program, as I pursued my doctoral degree. So, it goes as no surprise that I first need
to thank God for giving me the stamina, persistence, and grace (well up until the last
few weeks of finalizing my dissertation) to pursue and complete my doctoral degree.
My deepest and profound gratitude goes to Dr. Melora Sundt, my dissertation
chair, mentor, and friend who too, shares a love for fabulous shoes just as much as I
do. I am truly honored and grateful for working alongside you these last three years.
Words cannot express how appreciative I am for your patience, understanding,
guidance, expertise (especially with my lack of proficiency in editing), words of
encouragement & support at varying times when I no longer wanted to do this, and
tolerance (for my moments of emotional breakdowns). Your reputable expertise,
wealth of knowledge, and patience has inspired me to stay focused and to keep my
eye on the prize. I cannot thank you enough for all of the hours you have invested to
ensure my success. I could not have completed this program or my dissertation
without you.
To my committee members, Drs. Dominic Brewer and Larry Picus, I am so
grateful for your wisdom and insight which has strengthened my dissertation and my
intellect as an educator and scholar.
iii
My data could not have come to life without the assistance and guidance of
Dr. Dennis Hocevar. I am humbled and appreciative of the time you invested to
ensure that my data made sense and that I understood what I was doing through the
many phone meetings, e-mails of data syntax and analysis exchanged, and the hours
you made available to me, even on the weekends, despite the number of students
who were already helping!
“Team Melora,” you all set a high standard of excellence and if it weren't for
you all (and my admitted competitiveness to keep up or stray too far behind), I could
have not persisted and succeeded. Especially to Dana, who kept me focused and
helped balance my “play hard” side with her “work hard” side; and to Laure, my
fellow PELPer, who helped keep our promise that as we go in together, we would
continue to encourage each other, and leave together as Doctors in Education.
Special thanks needs to go out to the National Association of Student
Personnel Administrators (NASPA) office staff who were an integral part of my
study. Without their support, in particular, Dr. Kevin Kruger, Dr. Gwendolyn
Dungy, Stephanie Gordon, and Lucy Fort, flexibility, willingness to work with me,
and the opportunity to study the Alice Manicur Symposium, my study would not
have existed. I am especially grateful to the NASPA Office for granting me the
Zenobia Hikes Scholarship that provided me the opportunity to participate as an
actual delegate of the Symposium. I am a great supporter of NASPA through my
membership and participation at various conferences and past committees, and
iv
having NASPA support me through this study, to advance the scholarly work, and in
my pursuit of doctoral degree, I am truly honored and appreciative.
As part of this study, mentorship was found to support the advancement of
women to SSAO positions, as such I cannot go without acknowledging two fabulous
women, colleagues, mentors, and friends in my life: Drs. Lori White and Evette
Castillo-Clarke. Dr. Lori White, you have always been my biggest advocate,
continuously encouraging me, taking me under your wing and always providing
opportunities for me to showcase my talent by including me in your planning
committee for NASPA’s Chicago National Conference, for writing me letters of
recommendation for the Alice Manicur Symposium, and especially in support of my
entrance to this doctoral program at USC. Your confidence in my abilities and
seeing what I sometimes miss seeing in myself speaks volumes to how impactful you
have become in my life.
Dr. Evette Castillo, you are the epitome of an engaged professional and role
model for women, in particular, Filipino women. You are my sister and my friend to
whom I can only hope that I can become as successful as you have become in all
your endeavors.
When I first began this program, I was working at the University of Hawai'i
at Hilo, under Dr. Luoluo Hong, who too has become a mentor and a friend. My
sincerest appreciation to you and the Division of Student Affairs for supporting my
pursuit of my doctoral degree by allowing me the flexibility at work to attend classes
off-island in the first two years of my program. Additionally, your experience and
v
“come to Jesus” talks have helped me stay the course and to see the pursuit of this
doctorate come to fruition.
Dr. Karen Lee, fellow USC alum of the Rossier School of Education program
and PELP mentor, I am so grateful for your words of wisdom, your helpful tips and
insights to get through the readings and assignments of the program, as well as your
mentorship and guidance that has helped me keep sane throughout the program.
Dr. Sonja Daniels, also a fellow USC alum of the Rossier School of
Education program, colleague, and friend, I am grateful to you for the periodic
check-ins to make sure I was writing, staying on track, and progressing forward.
Your experience, feedback, and lessons learned have been invaluable to my success
in obtaining my doctorate.
Friends have always been a big part of my world and so I would like to thank
the following friends who have encouraged me, kept me focused, and played with
me when I needed to: Roni Samra, for your tough love and constant reminder that I
just need to do this and get this done. Your friendship has been invaluable as I
always appreciate your phone calls to check on my status updates (because you
rather talk to me than look on Facebook), to check on my sanity, my health and what
crazy thing I'm up to. Vicki Lim, your unconditional friendship, your perspective
that always keeps my analytical ways in check, and for always opening your home to
me whenever I am in Los Angeles is so appreciated beyond words. Thank you for
never making me feel guilty to ask for a helping hand, for always being supportive,
and comforting me in numerous times of need. Lisette Sandoval, your positivity,
vi
your beauty, and your belief in me always keep me going - despite the distance, now
that you are in Barcelona, you are always close to my heart. Gloria Baraquio, thank
you for sharing the belief in dreaming big, for your genuineness, and the loving
reality check that I sometimes need to get me through the challenges. Maile and
Malia Sing, affectionately known as the Sing sisters, I could not have survived my
classes without your support and your willingness to take me in every other weekend
when I flew in from Hilo for class. Thank you for sharing your home for the last two
years, for your friendship and for including me as part of your family. Amber
Armas, my best and life-long friend, you have always provided unconditional love
and support to me. Anytime that I have needed a pep talk, despite your own busy
life, you have always been there for me. Your unselfishness and your friendship has
always been a blessing in my life.
Lastly, I cannot forget my family. To my father, who is always unselfishly
there when I need him, both emotionally and financially. His unconditional support
and his lessons in life will hopeful manifest in the daughter and woman that I
continually strive to become. While I know I won't be getting the Corvette from you
since I didn't become a medical doctor, you have awarded me many times over in the
last three years as I pursued my doctoral degree. To my mother, who has been my
cheerleader on the side lines and who has provided me the motivation to continually
strive for success despite any challenges that I may face. Lastly, to my sister, Beth
and brother, Mark who never cease to give me their unconditional love and support.
In particular, my sister Beth, who has been a role model for me through her success
vii
in the film industry, as an independent & intelligent woman, but also as a loving wife
and mother. You truly amaze me and it is only my hope that I can infuse the balance
that you have achieved in your life, the financial savviness that has kept your family
stable, and your generous heart, into my own personal life. Mark, your youth and
surprising wit and wisdom that comes from someone so young, keeps things in
perspective. I only hope that I can have the same faith, non-judgmental perspective,
and free spirited attitude that you exude every day of your life.
While this may sound odd to give a shout out to this person, I need to
acknowledge Oprah's mantra, “Live your best life.” Those who know me, will know
how this belief/value has played out into my life and why I am recognizing Oprah in
this manner. I have tried to live my best life in the capacity that I am able to and
know that I am able to live my best life because of the people around me, many of
whom are acknowledge here. Thank you for supporting me and my mantra of
working hard and playing hard, but also living my best life!
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ii
List of Tables ix
List of Figures x
Abstract xi
Chapter One: Introduction 1
Chapter Two: Literature Review 23
Chapter Three: Methodology 95
Chapter Four: Results 111
Chapter Five: Analysis, Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation 170
References 184
Appendices 202
Appendix A: Alice Manicur Symposium Description 202
Appendix B: Alice Manicur Symposium Faculty 204
Appendix C: Alice Manicur Symposium Learning Outcomes & 206
Assignments
Appendix D: Alice Manicur Symposium Pre-Interview Assignment 207
Appendix E: Alice Manicur Symposium Schedule 208
Appendix F: Alice Manicur Symposium Application 210
Appendix G: Alice Manicur Symposium Application (Continued) 212
Appendix H: Alice Manicur Symposium Pre-Symposium Survey 213
Appendix I: Alice Manicur Symposium Post-Symposium Survey 223
ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Degrees Earned by Women Over 40 Years 5
Table 2: Women in Senior Student Affairs Officers in the Last 26 Years 12
Table 3: % of Women in Senior Level Positions in Higher Education 15
Table 4: Survey Variables 106
Table 5: Demographic Summary 113
Table 6: Cronbach's Alpha for Pre Self-Efficacy Scale 123
Table 7: Pre Self-Efficacy T-test 124
Table 8: Cronbach’s Alpha for Skill Set Scale 130
Table 9: Skill Set T-test 131
Table 10: Cronbach's Alpha for Expectation Scale 138
Table 11: Pre-Symposium Survey: Expectation 139
Table 12: Q28 T-test 142
Table 13: Cronbach's Alpha for Balance Scale 145
Table 14: Balance T-test 145
Table 15: Cronbach's Alpha for Self-Efficacy Scale 150
Table 16: Self-Efficacy T-test 151
Table 17: Cronbach's Alpha for Satisfaction Scale 157
Table 18: Post-Symposium Survey: Satisfaction 158
Table 19: Cronbach's Alpha for Symposium Scale 163
Table 20: Post-Symposium Survey: Symposium 164
x
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Women's Career Path to SSAO Positions (Biddix, 2010) 45
Figure 2. The Student Affairs Professional Development Curriculum 74
Figure 3. NASPA/ACPA professional competencies 75
xi
ABSTRACT
The lack of women represented in high level student affairs positions has
been documented in the literature (Ting & Watt, 1999). The literature suggest that
an existing pool of qualified, experienced women is present on university campuses,
but has yet to be tapped to enhance the gender diversity at senior administrative level
positions (King & Gomez, 2007), specifically mid-level managers advancing to
Senior Student Affairs Officer positions (SSAOs). Past research has looked at
barriers that have prevented women from advancing, but what we don’t know is the
degree to which professional development is an effective means of helping women
prepare to seek SSAO positions and manage work life balance which is a prominent
barrier for women in the literature.
This research study adds to the literature by studying the effectiveness of a
key professional development symposium, the National Association of Student
Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Alice Manicur Symposium, and how the
perceived concerns regarding advancement from mid-managerial positions to SSAO
positions are addressed. Specifically, the study was centered around the
Symposium's impact on self-efficacy in skill sets to pursue a SSAO position,
managing work life balance, and overall effectiveness.
Kirkpatrick’s (1994) evaluation model to assess for professional development
effectiveness coupled with Andragogy, adult learning theory, and self-efficacy were
the theoretical frameworks that grounded this study. While the original premise of
the study was to assess for learning, level 2 of Kirkpatrick’s (1994) model,
xii
appropriate measures to assess for learning in pre and post surveys that reflected
factual questions, were not distributed as originally planned. Therefore, a
quantitative research design that utilized surveys that included open ended questions
as well as forced choice questions was implemented instead. This approach resulted
in evaluating for satisfaction, level 1 of Kirkpatrick’s (1994) model, with
considerations for perceptions of learning based on the open-ended and forced
questions. However, the comments provided in the free response sections resulted in
obtaining richer data from the study.
Overall, the women who participated in the Symposium were satisfied with
the program, highlighting that the opportunity to network, to engage and form
mentorship relationships with faculty, and learning about the different pathways to
become a SSAO and the general skill sets needed, increased the self-efficacy of
participants. Self-efficacy did vary by professional level in terms of work life
balance; and educational as well as professional level in terms of existing skill sets
related to pursuing a SSAO position. However, in terms of learning and knowledge
acquisition, the Symposium reflected what is typically seen in professional
development: an opportunity to gather, talk, and meet new people, but little attention
to professional development curriculum.
Participant experience with the Symposium meeting the overall learning
outcomes did not differ across demographic variables. The Alice Manicur
Symposium was generally successful in terms of positive feelings regarding
satisfaction from participants, however the Symposium was lacking in terms of
xiii
curriculum development to meet program goals and learning objectives, based on the
free responses provided by participants. Suggestions to increase effectiveness
include: increased organizational structure of program; follow-through on pre-
Symposium assignments and tracking of participants after the Symposium; inclusion
of breakout sessions that catered to the specific needs of participants' educational and
professional level as well as cultural background; and emphasis on curriculum by
surveying professional needs of participants and aligning these needs with
Symposium learning outcomes.
The findings from this study will help providers of professional development
programs to develop curriculum that is relevant and supportive in providing the skill
sets, management strategies of work life balance, and confidence for women to
advance to a SSAO position. Ultimately, it is recommended that program providers
pay special attention to detail regarding program curriculum to meet learning
objectives for learning to take place and for professional development modalities to
be effective.
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The university’s organizational mission and structure focuses on student
learning. The three professional domains that support student learning include
academic (faculty), student affairs (student development or student life) and
administrative affairs (business side of the university) (Crookston, 1975, 1973). The
role of preparing students for mastering knowledge (Bok, 2006) and creating
learning experiences is the primary responsibility of the faculty. The contemporary
perspective of Bowen, Kurzweil and Tobin (2005) believes that the “central purpose
of higher education, in every setting, is to prepare talented young people to assume
productive roles in their societies” (p. 2).
Student affairs also plays a role in preparing this talented young people
alongside the faculty within the academy. Within a University, the role of student
affairs professionals is to oversee student life, the domain of informal learning
outside the classroom that research suggest is as important as classroom learning to
developing young adults (Fried, 2002). Student affairs professionals are one of the
largest groups employed on university campuses because of their role with creating
student development programs and support services to enhance student success
(Sagaria & Johnsrud, 1988). As such, having the experience and skill sets for
student affairs professionals to appropriately serve and support student needs can be
impactful to the development and success of students (Montgomery & Lewis, 1996;
Sagaria & Johnsrud, 1988).
2
The foundation of modern student affairs administration rests upon
developing the “whole student,” whereby professionals affirm the value of the
academic experience, but also asserting the value of supporting psychological and
humanistic development (Renn & Hughes, 2004; Nidiffer & Bashaw, 2001). These
elements of student affairs work are often characterized as "nurturing" and therefore
stereotypically cast as “female,” and, perhaps not coincidentally, women are over-
represented in student affairs graduate preparation programs, as well as in the
majority of student affairs roles (Nidiffer & Bashaw, 2001). Like many other
professions, however, at the more senior levels of student affairs positions, women
are under-represented; women are still not advancing to senior level administrative
roles despite their high presence in preparation programs and in the student affairs
profession (Nidiffer & Bashaw, 2001).
Professional development modalities may be one possibility to support the
advancement of women in SSAO positions. In a study that surveyed SSAOs (Scott,
2000), participants suggested professional development delivery modules for staff
and each administrative level. The modes most frequently cited by SSAOs to
acquire high level training included enrolling in programs that focused on executive
development, participating in leadership opportunities within professional
associations, and contributing to scholarly journal articles. However, “no one career
area or career path served as a ‘stepping stone’ to the senior student affairs officer”
(Kuh, Evans, and Duke, 1983, p. 46).
3
Biddix (2011) concurs that the path for women to pursue a senior student
affairs position is not exact, but in fact is diverse. Obtaining insights from women
who have already made it to the top is one clear way for women who are aspiring to
become a SSAO to understand the variety of pathways used to achieve the same
success. Biddix (2011) found that one of the factors contributing to attaining a
SSAO position was participation in professional development opportunities such as
conferences. The women in the study shared that they gained new knowledge from
networking, listening to a key presentation, presenting at conferences and obtaining a
mentor. Professional development efforts that support women to gain new
knowledge and skill sets to improve their ability to advance into a new and more
challenging role is a factor that has been found to affect career advancement for
women (Rosser, 2004).
This study addressed the effectiveness of one professional development
program in supporting women to advance from mid-level student affairs positions to
SSAO positions. In order to have a better understanding of the advancement of
women in student affairs, a review of women in the workforce and women in
leadership will frame the discussion. The discussion will move to the organizational
culture for women in Higher Education, to include the challenges women face, the
areas of progress, the incremental advancement of women in student affairs and the
importance of having women in leadership roles in higher education to provide
context for the student affairs profession.
4
Background
Women in the Workforce
Clarke and Reed (2007) contend that there are:
...social and economic policy issues of national significance as these women
are sources of underutilized intellectual capital during a time when demand is
high for knowledge workers. The composition of the workforce has
drastically changed over the past forty years, and with women earning over
half of college degrees, their participation should increase at all levels. (pp. 6-
7)
However the data reflects that while 47% of the workforce were women in 2010, a
disproportionate number of these women were under-represented in upper
management (U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, 2010).
Educational attainment is correlated with the likelihood of being part of the
labor force. Those who have earned degrees increase their capacity to secure
employment (U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, 2010). Women have
increased their enrollment in graduate programs by 106% since 1976, as compared to
men who have only increased their enrollment in the same programs by 23%
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2006). This trend continues, where women
are becoming more educated than ever, increasingly earning degrees at all levels of
attainment between 1990 and 2004 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2006).
In fact, women earned the majority of associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
2004. Catalyst (2011) published the latest data reflecting the increase of degrees
earned by women from 1970 to 2009 (See Table 1). With an increasing number of
women becoming educated each year, one would assume that women would also
5
increase their positioning in leadership roles in various career settings. However, the
research is not reflecting this correlation.
Table 1
Degrees Earned by Women Over 40 Years
Degree Earned
1969-1970
%
2008-09
%
2019-20
Projection
Bachelor’s Degree 43.1 57.2 58.0
Master’s Degree 39.7 60.4 61.0
Doctoral Degrees 13.3 52.3 55.7
Women in Leadership
While women’s participation in the labor force has increased throughout the
years, their representation on the executive level has been much slower (Clarke &
Reed, 2007).
We have fallen into what I call the 16 percent ghetto, which is that if you
look at any sector, be it aerospace engineering, Hollywood films, higher
education, or Fortune 500 leading positions, women max out at roughly 16
percent...That is a crime, and it is a waste of incredible talent. (Debora Spar,
President of Barnard College, as cited in Bennetts, 2012, p. 2.)
President Spar's statement depicts the realities regarding the under-
representation of women in senior leadership positions in every sector on a national
level. With the United States Senate having only 17% of the seats and 16.8% of the
House of Representatives occupied by women, it is no wonder that at a
6
Congressional committee hearing held in February 2012 to discuss female
contraception to an all male panel, that Representative Carolyn Maloney asked,
“Where are the women?” (Bennetts, 2012).
Though the United States prides itself on being a land of “equal opportunity”
and one that embraces progressive thinking and values, the U.S. is 71st, behind
Bangladesh, Sudan and United Arab Emirates, in female legislative representation
(Bennetts, 2012). Out of the nine Supreme Court Justices, three are women and of
the 50 State governors, only 6 are women (12%). Further, 23.6% of the elected
representatives in the State Legislature are female, and of the 100 largest cities in the
United States, only 9% of mayors are female (Bennetts, 2012).
Among the Fortune 500 companies, women held 11.9% of the corporate
positions, (Nelson & Burke, 2000) which has increased 8.2% since 1995. Among
these women, only 10.8% held positions such as “chief executive officer, president,
chief operating officer, senior executive vice president, and executive vice
president,” (Nelson & Burke, 2000, p. 107), increasing to only 14.4% by 2010
(Soares, Combopiano, Regis, Shur, & Wong, 2010). In the 2000 report for chief
executive officers, Carleton Fiorino of Hewlett-Packard, was one of three women in
chief executive positions listed in the Fortune 500 and was the “first female CEO of
one of America's 20 largest corporations” (Nelson & Burke, 2000, p.107).
Comparatively speaking, in Canada, women represent 12% of corporate officer
positions amongst 560 of Canada’s largest companies, of which twelve are lead by
women (Nelson & Burke, 2000).
7
In 2006 (Wilson) only 2.6% of the Fortune 500 companies, were led by
female CEOs, despite the fact that women represent the fastest growth for
entrepreneurship, “with a woman starting a business every sixty seconds” (Wilson,
2006, p. 3). Corporate boards are also increasing their representation of women and
amongst the Fortune 500 Boards, there was at least one sitting woman director
(Nelson & Burke, 2000). This number has increased “from 345 in 1993 to 419 in
1999, a gain of 21 percent” (Nelson & Burke, 2000, p. 108). Yet, in 2006, only
14.7% of all Fortune 500 board seats were represented by women, this number only
increasing to 15.7% in 2010 (Soares et al., 2010). Of these, one in nine of the
Fortune 500 companies in 2006 did not have any women represented on its Board of
Directors (Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors of the Fortune 500, 2006) and
no more than 10% in 2010 did not have women serving on their boards, respectively
(Soares et al., 2010). As these statistics reflect, positioning women in senior
leadership roles continues to be a challenge, particularly in many fields often
occupied by men. The challenge that women face to “advance into positions that
were previously assumed by men,” (Marshall, 2009, p. 189), is complex, with the
under-representation persisting within the historically male dominated domain of
higher education.
Women in Higher Education
Higher education is not immune from disparity of women in senior leadership
roles. The organizational culture for women on university campuses has depicted a
climate that is not conducive for success because the practices, structure and policies
8
often work against women (Iverson, 2009). In Dominici, Fried, and Zeger's study
(2009) in higher education, women reported their male counterparts being recruited
to administrative leadership positions more often than women. The leadership path
for women is thereby not geared towards higher level administrative roles, but rather,
mid-level positions that include overseeing academic programs, committees, or
directing research centers or institutes. The leadership structure in higher education,
though perceived to be progressive in equality with the incremental increase of
women in leadership roles, remains to be male driven.
Leboy (2007, as cited in Steiger, 2007) indicated that a challenge for women
is that the nature of higher education is biased against women, especially to those
who have childcare responsibilities. For example, more women are found in lower-
level positions that are perceived as “the more nurturing staff positions of student
activities, student development, and hall director” (Jones & Komives, 2004, p. x).
Further bias against women in higher education, in terms of seeking higher level
administration positions, may be indicative of “explicit or implicit messages about
the feasibility and desirability of combining work and family” (Marshall, 2004, p.
91).
Levtov (2001) states, “socialized professional standards” (p. 1) may lead
women to believe that “the realities of combining a family and a career may be
incompatible with the current values of the profession” (p. 1). Dale (2007) is in
agreement, stating that the framework of higher education is structured under the
premise of male norms and values. For example, the issue of balancing parenting
9
and career is more prominent for women, since women have traditionally held the
caretaking role of children (Marshall, 2004; Hochschild, 1989; Perna, 2001). This is
particularly true for women who are building their careers as this time of progressive
advancement also tends to be the prime time for child bearing (Hewlett, 2002).
Therefore women have the additional consideration of biology and age when it
comes to family, due to the limited window of opportunity to have children that men
often do not have to consider. For example, when Hewlett (2002) surveyed high-
powered men regarding career and fatherhood, of the 79% of men that wanted
children, 75% of these men had them. Comparatively speaking, 49% of women who
were also in leading roles who expressed wanting children in the same survey, only
19% of the women actually had children.
In addition to work life balance issues, differences in “leadership styles,
management, communication, and accessibility exist in higher education as well
between male and females” (Dale, 2007, p. 18). Women have a higher affinity than
males for employing leadership qualities such as collaboration, coordinated efforts
and shared governance of power and knowledge (Follett, 2001). In a study of
student affairs practitioners, (Clement & Rickard, 1992), women were found to
exhibit more nurturing, collaborative, forgiving and less hierarchical practices than
their male counterparts. With differing leadership styles, women are faced with the
challenge of assimilating to the dominant culture in order to fit within the constructs
of the masculine organizational structures which, some researchers suggest, affects
their ability to advance to a higher level leadership role (Dominici et al., 2009).
10
Though we have seen women in the last 10 to 15 years appointed to
presidencies of institutions, it has been a long time coming. Dr. Judith Rodin, in
1994, became the first woman to lead an Ivy League institution when she was
appointed president of University of Pennsylvania (Alderman, 2007). In 1998, while
women represented 48.3% of all employees in higher education, only 19.3% of these
women were college and university presidents. Dr. Rose Tseng represented a
portion of the 19.3% when she was named the Chancellor for the University of
Hawai’i at Hilo in 1998 and has been the only female Asian-American to head a
university, having retired in 2010 (University of Hawai’i at Hilo, 2008). Dr. France
Cordova was named the first female Hispanic President in Purdue history in 2007
after serving five years as the first Hispanic female to lead a University of California
system campus at the University of California Riverside (Medina, 2007). Dr. Drew
Gilpin Faust was the first female to be named President of Harvard University after
371 years of Harvard history (Rimer & Finder, 2007). With Faust leading Harvard,
Harvard became the fourth of eight Ivy League schools to be led by a woman. In
only the last two decades have we seen women appointed to university presidencies.
The appearance of female presidents is positive as it relates to increasing women in
senior higher education leadership roles. However, only 23% of chief academic
officer positions are women and fewer than 10% are minorities (ASHE Higher
Education Report, 2009). Interestingly the research reflects that women who serve
in a presidency role often remain single or childless compared to their male
counterparts (Marshall, 2009).
11
A similar scenario of under-represented women in senior leadership positions
is reflected within the profession of student affairs as well. With the consistent trend
of women increasingly earning advanced degrees more than men (Clarke & Reed,
2007; Nidiffer & Bashaw, 2001), “the representation of women in the leadership
pipeline would appear to be high” (Nidiffer & Bashaw, 2001, p. 236). However this
has not been in the case. Instead, women are found to be overrepresented at the
lower levels of student affairs organizations in positions such as Director, Associate,
or Assistant Director that often require the most student contact (Tinsley, 1985;
McEwen, Engstrom, & Williams, 1990; Twale, 1995). Advancing women in student
affairs is part of a larger “succession” problem facing higher education because
women are not moving into SSAO positions at a rate proportional to their numbers in
the field. Indeed, Marshall (2009) notes that preparing the next generation of senior
leaders is one of the most challenging issues that higher education faces today.
While women have made progress into SSAO positions, the advancement has been
incremental with 17% of women serving in such positions in 1980-81 to 25% in
1991 (CUPA, 1981, 1991). With the addition of the Dean of Students, a person who
reports directly to the SSAO, introduced in 1990-91, more opportunities for senior
leadership roles emerged for women (Nidiffer & Bashaw, 2001). Since then, women
were in 33% of SSAO positions by 1995-96 and 45% by 2006 (See Table 2).
12
Table 2
Women in Senior Student Affairs Officers in the Last 26 Years
Year 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91 1995-96 *2006
Responding
Institutions
N=1,557 N=1,612 N=1,402 N=1,384
# women
(%)
# women
(%)
# women
(%)
# women
(%)
%
SSAO 224 (17) 297 (22) 258 (25) 306 (33) 45
College and University Personnel Association (CUPA, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996)
*Jaschik, 2008
As Table 2 reflects, women have made steady progress in advancing into
SSAO positions, but the data still do not reflect the demographic makeup of women
who are earning advance degrees to fill SSAO positions. As women continually earn
the advanced the degrees and do not see progression in their careers, but instead are
halted at the mid-level roles, it is apparent there is still much work to be done.
The under-representation of female leaders in higher education may become
problematic as institutions strive to develop students who are global citizens (ASHE
Higher Education Report, 2009) and who represent the next generation to follow in
leadership positions. Colleges and universities are a reflection of the global world
around us, becoming increasingly diverse and multi-cultural (ASHE Higher
Education Report, 2009). As such, “institutions of higher education need more than
ever to draw on the talents, knowledge, and abilities of diverse faculty and staff to
13
compete in an economy in which the currency of knowledge is value” (p. 10). This
includes increasing female representation in senior higher education leadership roles.
The importance of women in senior higher education leadership roles can
impact the development of female students at the institution. Research has shown
that interactions within a diverse educational environment, to include women in
leadership roles, positively impact student development (ASHE Report of Higher
Education, 2009). One way to ensure the campus environment is strengthened by
such diversity is through the demographic make-up of the college’s faculty, staff and
administration. As institutions continue to strive for “educational excellence and an
innovative capacity for change in higher learning,” (Hong, 2009, p. 1) mirroring the
diversity in our students through our faculty, staff, and administration calls for
further exploration. By having women represented in senior higher education roles,
the value of women and their influence in decision-making, policy-making and
organizational change processes can be acknowledged, heard and even modeled to
the students to which they serve (Dale, 2007; Hong, 2009). The value of women and
the importance of their role in higher education promote diversity, equity, and access
(Hurtado, 2003; El-Khawas, 2003). Yet, women still remain the minority group
represented in higher education administration, deans of student and vice presidents,
and at the top of the policy levels of most institutions (Dale, 2007). Given the lack
of women in senior higher education leadership positions, identifying strategies to
support the advancement of women on university campuses becomes important.
14
Statement of the Problem
The lack of women represented in high level student affairs positions has
been documented in the literature (Ting & Watt, 1999). In 1892 at the University of
Chicago, Alice Freeman Palmer, was appointed the first dean of women (Townsend
& Twombly, 2008). Installing the position of dean of women provided a pathway to
leadership positions at college campuses for women. Since Congress passed Title IX
of the Civil Rights act 35 years ago, “making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of
sex in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding” (Steiger,
2007, p. 1), the fight for equality for underrepresented women still persist (See Table
3).
While these statistics reflect some advancement for women, women are still
not proportionately represented in senior administrative positions (Dale, 2007). Yet,
the literature suggest that an existing pool of qualified, experienced women are
present on university campuses, but have yet to be tapped to enhance the gender
diversity at senior administrative level positions (King & Gomez, 2007). At the
same time, the leading Student Affairs professional associations have taken up the
responsibility for offering coaching to women seeking to advance by providing
professional development programs. What we don’t know is the degree to which
professional development is an effective means of helping women prepare to seek
senior student affairs positions. Research may help better understand the role of
professional development strategies to support female mid-level managers to pursue
and advance to senior student affairs level positions.
15
Table 3
% of Women in Senior Level Positions in Higher Education
2009: % of Women in Senior Level Positions in Higher Education
38% Senior Academic Officer
36% Dean
43% Vice President for Administration
49% Vice President for External Affairs
45% Vice President for Student Affairs/Enrollment Management
50% Central Academic Affairs
55% Chief of Staff
56% Diversity Officer
Marshall (2009, p. 189)
Purpose of this Study
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent to which a key professional
development symposium addresses the perceived concerns regarding advancement
from mid-managerial positions to SSAO positions. Traditionally professional
development opportunities have focused on job specific skills, but not on the
effectiveness of professional development modalities that support the career
advancement of mid-level women to SSAO positions while addressing a prominent
challenge for women: work life balance. Specifically, this research proposal
evaluated the National Association of Student Administration’s Alice Manicur
16
Symposium. The Alice Manicur Symposium is geared towards women in the
profession who are contemplating advancing to a SSAO position.
Research Questions
The study asked the following questions:
1. Prior to attending the Symposium, how confident were the participants in
their leadership abilities related to serving as a SSAO?
2. Prior to attending the Symposium, how confident were the participants in
their existing skills related to pursing a SSAO position?
3. Prior to attending the Symposium, what did participants expect from the
Symposium with respect to its potential for enhancing their knowledge
and their skills related to seeking and then successfully serving as SSAO?
4. After the Symposium, to what extent, if at all, did participants' confidence
in their ability to manage work life balance change?
5. After the Symposium, how confident were the participants in their
abilities to advance their career and pursue a SSAO position?
6. Upon completion, how effective did participants find the Symposium?
7. After the Symposium, to what extent did participants believe that the
overall outcomes of the Symposium were met?
Importance/Benefits of the Study
Through this study, the hope was to provide insights to determine effective
professional development strategies by evaluating a key symposium that is geared
towards developing and advancing women in the student affairs. Further, the
17
Symposium will also be evaluated for how effectively it addressed work/life balance
issues, a prominent challenge found for women and an issue that the Symposium
specifically addressed as a learning outcome. This study focused on the
effectiveness of the Symposium to support the career advancement of mid-level
women to SSAO positions. Specifically, how the Symposium impacted levels of
self-efficacy in skill sets to pursue a SSAO position, managing work life balance,
and overall effectiveness. In this way, women in mid-level positions may be better
prepared to make an informed decision as they contemplate advancing to a Senior
Student Affairs Officer position.
Limitations and Delimitations
This study focused on a key professional development program, NASPA's
Alice Manicur Symposium, to address the effectiveness of this professional
development in preparing and supporting the advancement of women from a mid-
level position to a SSAO position. Additionally, this study looked at how effectively
the Symposium addressed the management of work/life balance issues. This study
was limited by the research design to obtain data from women who voluntarily
enrolled to participate in the Symposium. NASPA's Alice Manicur Symposium is
geared specifically towards women and only enrolls 60-70 women as a result of an
application process. The Symposium may not be representative or generalizeable for
all women in the student affairs profession. However, the findings may provide
some guidance for future professional development practices that may support the
advancement of women in mid-level managers into SSAO positions.
18
One important limitation of this study is that the original premise to evaluate
the professional development program was through the assessment of participants'
learning. The utilization of pre and post surveys that asked participants to respond to
their level of knowledge regarding a particular skill set with factual questions and in
the same manner , is an integral component to assess for learning. However, upon
development of the surveys, though similar questions were reflected in both the pre
and post surveys, the researcher did not utilize factual questions in each of the
surveys distributed that would demonstrate participant proficiency as a result of the
professional development. Therefore, learning could not be assessed by comparing
response changes between pre and post surveys. Based on the existing surveys, the
focus of evaluation turned to participants’ satisfaction with the Symposium.
However, keeping in mind Kirkpatrick's four levels of assessment, where learning
considers change in participants' attitude, knowledge, and skill set, the post survey of
this study included free response and forced questions that expressed areas of
learning. Therefore one limitation for this study, in terms of learning, depended
primarily on the data/responses from the free response and forced questions.
An additional delimitation is that the researcher did not consider other
professional development opportunities provided by NASPA or another student
affairs professional association that may have contributed in the analysis of this
study. As such, the NASPA’s delegation may not be representative or generalizeable
for all women in the student affairs profession who are contemplating advancement
to a SSAO position.
19
One last delimitation is that the researcher controlled for the bias inherent in
the relationship of the researcher to the research site. Analysis and examination were
conducted with the understanding that the researcher would be a participant at the
research site. While the researcher’s presence may or may not have affected the
participation and response of people surveyed, the researcher’s participation did
affect the design of the post survey as described in Chapter Three.
Definition of Terms
Barriers. Anything that prevents an individuals' opportunity to advance to
the next level of leadership.
New Professional. Term utilized to define new professionals within the field
of student affairs, who are first-time, full-time student affairs staff with five years or
less experience; they are often in positions such as coordinators, administrative
assistants, advisors.
Mid-Level Managers. Professionals within student affairs who have 6-10
years experience, often recognized as Directors or Assistant Deans.
NASPA. National Association of Student Personnel Administrators - one of
the major professional associations for student affairs professionals.
Professional Development. Training to enhance the professional skills and
knowledge of educators to improve student learning (Guskey, 2000).
Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs). Student affairs leaders with 10 or
more years, holding Vice President, Dean of Students and President positions.
20
Student Affairs. Division of professionals within an institution of higher
education whose focus is developing the whole student.
Student Life. Co-curricular activities that occur outside the classroom, aiding
in the personal development of students, of which student affairs professionals are
responsible (Fried, 2002).
Whole Student. Term used when incorporating the emotional and humanistic
characteristics of a student, in addition to one's academic development in higher
education.
Work-Life Balance. The sense that one is able to manage the competing time
demands of career, family and personal needs effectively.
Organization of the Study
The structure of this study will be divided into five chapters. The first chapter
introduced and established the background of the problem. Chapter Two reviews the
research literature related to the key variables of this study:
• Level of confidence in leadership abilities related to serving as an SSAO
prior to the Symposium (PRESELFEFFICACY)
• Level of confidence in existing skill set to pursue an SSAO position prior
to the Symposium (SKILLSET)
• Expectation level of participants with respect to the Symposium's
potential for enhancing participant knowledge and skill set related to
seeking and then successfully serving as a SSAO
(PROFESSIONALDEV)
21
• Level of confidence in participants abilities to advance their career and
pursue an SSAO position (SELFEFFICACY)
• Extent to which participants felt/believed that the Symposium met their
professional needs (BALANCE)
• Upon completion, how effective did participants find the symposium?
(SATISFACTION)
• Upon completion, level of confidence that the Symposium met the overall
outcomes. (SYMPOSIUM)
The chapter provides an overview of the Division of Student Affairs, to
include the role of student affairs and a professional's career path in student affairs.
A focus on mid-levels advancing to SSAO positions and the capacity for
professional development modalities to support the advancement of women in senior
administrative roles will be discussed. The purpose and effectiveness of evaluation
will be discussed in the context of professional development. Adult learning theory,
Andragogy, is utilized to frame professional development in student affairs.
Relevant components of Andragogy as they relate to professional development are
discussed. Self-efficacy is discussed as a mechanism to determine the effectiveness
of professional development. Chapter Three discusses the quantitative approach used
to collect and analyze data. The methodology, research design, sampling procedure,
and instrumentation are also included in this chapter. The manner in which the
variables were validated is described in that chapter as well. Chapter Four presents
the results of the study, identifying any challenges that may have affected the results.
22
Chapter Five discusses the results, a summary of the study and recommendations for
future research.
23
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Overview
While women have increased their presence in higher education as student
affairs professionals, women appear to be over-represented in mid-level positions
and are rarely seen in senior level positions, serving in such roles as coordinators,
directors and managers (Marshall, 2009; Chamberlain, 1988; Kaplan & Tinsley,
1989; Rosser, 2000; Sagaria & Johnsrud, 1985; Touchton & Davis, 1991; Twale,
1995). Mid-level managers who have contemplated advancing in their career to a
higher level position encounter frustrations that impact their overall level of self-
confidence to pursue such roles (Johnsrud, 1996). Such frustrations include, but are
not limited to: professional and institutional work-life issues, such as unclear
expectations of their role; lack of acknowledgment for their skill set and
contributions; and the limited career growth and advancement opportunities
(Johnsrud, 1996). In addition to challenges women face at the professional level,
work-life factors such as, “partnering or marrying, having and raising children, and,
in an increasing number of cases, caring for aging parents - a task that falls
disproportionately on female children,” impact career advancement as well (Renn &
Hughes, 2004, p. xx).
While the literature has identified barriers for women from advancing to
senior level positions, not much research has been conducted to evaluate how
professional development supports the decision making process of moving from a
24
mid-managerial position to a SSAO. Further, limited research has been conducted
on the management of work life balance and on confidence level changes that mid-
level managers may experience, as a result of participating in a professional
development opportunity.
This chapter begins with a discussion on the Division of Student Affairs, to
include the role of student affairs and a professional's career path in student affairs as
well as a discussion regarding advancement challenges, such as work life balance.
The focus will then be directed to advancement strategies, challenges and specific
models for the advancement of women in student affairs. Professional development
will be defined as a mechanism to advance women to senior level positions and the
components necessary for effective professional development to occur will be
described. Components that have been found to increase women's confidence in
their abilities to seek executive positions across careers will aid in the discussion. In
turn, identifying components to support the advancement of women into a SSAO
position are discussed as well. An overview of adult learning, Andragogy, will be
explored as a way to frame professional development. Lastly, self-efficacy will be
discussed as a way to measure the impact of professional development on the
decision making process of mid-level managers who are considering advancing to a
SSAO position.
Division of Student Affairs
As noted earlier, there are two career pathways that directly impact student
learning: academic affairs (faculty) and student affairs (student life professionals)
25
(Crookston, 1975, 1973). While the academy faces similar challenges with regard to
low percentages of women represented among tenured faculty, with the female
faculty population looking “very much the same as it did in 1975,” (Mason &
Goulden, 2002, p. 2), the focus of this study is in student affairs.
The area of student affairs did not exist when institutions of higher education
were originally created, as higher education was aimed at developing the “gentleman
scholar” (Thelin, 2003, p. 7). Between the 1850s and early 1900s women's colleges
began to establish themselves as a result of the Civil War because women were much
needed for labor since many of the men became casualties of war (Hurtado, 2003).
The changing role for women included the need for women to become financially
self-sufficient in order to rebuild their own community and to expand the educational
landscape. Women's colleges were most prevalent in areas that resisted coeducation,
such as in the east, where private education for men existed (Rudolph, 1965).
Nevertheless, a positive change to promote equity and access for women resulted in
the development of women's colleges and co-education (Thelin, 2003; Hurtado,
2003). Since then, university campuses began to grow and evolve into more
complex entities as the student population grew to become more multifaceted
(Crookston, 1975, 1973).
With an increased and more diversified student population, the demand for an
extra-curriculum emerged in the middle of the nineteenth century (Nuss, 2003). The
development of extracurricular activities was student driven, as students desired a
much broader form of development that would complement their traditional
26
academic coursework. The desire focused on, “the development of the whole student
- mind, personality, and body” (Nuss, 2003, p. 66). As a result, an increased demand
for personnel to handle student life and development arose. American higher
education, originally designed for the “intellectual and moral development of
students,” (Nuss, 2003, p. 67) was transforming into developing a student who
thrived both in the classroom, but outside of the classroom as well, through
leadership opportunities, civic engagement and community service. Fostering such
activities is a responsibility that could not rest solely on the faculty. Thus, student
personnel functions, known as student affairs positions today, began to develop as
distinct entities by 1925, which included health services, counseling services, and
personal development guidance (Nuss, 2003).
The Student Affairs Profession
While student affairs was originally created to support the academic mission
of universities (Nuss, 2003), the student affairs profession began to establish itself as
a legitimized profession in the 1970s and 1980s (Crookston, 1975, 1973). Having
only established itself as a profession in the ‘70s - ‘80s demonstrates how young the
profession is and therefore understanding the professional needs of those working in
this field may still be in the exploratory stages and why little is found in the
literature. It was not until the 1980s that Student Affairs was considered an
“emerging profession” (Carpenter, Miller, & Winston, 1980, p. 21). As a result,
identifying career pathways and appropriate professional preparation has been a
challenge since:
27
Not everyone attends college and some institutions de-emphasize student
affairs...and the autonomy of practice in student affairs is proscribed by
considerations of institutional mission and by the fact that students must
choose to take advantage of student affairs services and programs. (Carpenter
& Stimpson, 2007, pp. 268-269)
The student affairs profession is “vast and varied and the needs of one
professional may not be the needs of another” (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007, p. 276).
The appropriate training and preparation to meet the developmental needs of the
student affairs professional, as well as the students they serve, does not occur on a
straight continuum. Instead, professional development is a “career-long process of
professional improvement” (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007, p. 275) that changes as
institutions and the students who enroll change. A discussion on the role of student
affairs professionals can help understand the challenges of a growing profession and
how this growth may impact the advancement of women in the profession.
The student affairs role originated to support the developmental needs of
students through co-curricular activities in the residence hall, student union campus
life, career planning and athletic teams (Manning & Coleman-Boatwritght, 1991).
Today, the student affairs profession has expanded and now is typically responsible
for and expected to impact “the formation of a multicultural environment, build an
inclusive campus environment, and transform institutional structures” (Manning &
Boatwright, 1991, p. 367).
The manner in which individuals enter the field of student affairs has often
been accidental and as a result, is often referred to as the “hidden profession”
(Brown, 1987; Richmond & Sherman, 1991). Currently in the undergraduate
28
curriculum, a major does not exist that leads to graduate study in student affairs and
very few individuals are aware that a career possibility exist in this field (Brown,
1987; Komives & Kuh, 1988; Young, 1985). “People enter student affairs careers by
accident or by quirk, rather than by design” (Brown, 1983, p. 5).
Individuals often find their way into a career in student affairs through an
undergraduate employment experience in student affairs or the mentorship and
encouragement by a student affairs professional (Richmond & Sherman, 1991). One
study that looked at master's degree students identified four factors that prompted the
students’ decision to pursue a career in student affairs: encouragement by other
student affairs professionals, undergraduate student employment in a student affairs
area, shared values, and a passion to enhance campus life, (Hunter, 1992).
Student affairs professionals are categorized by level of experience: new
professionals (first-time, full-time student affairs staff with five years or less
experience); mid-level professionals (6-10 years of student affairs experience);
senior student affairs officers (student affairs leaders with 10 or more years of
student affairs experience); and Chief/Senior Student Affairs Officer (SSAO) who
have 10 years or more and report directly to the President (Cilente, Henning, Skinner
Jackson, Kennedy, & Sloane, 2006; Rosser & Javinar, 2003). The student affairs
profession has created a culture that often demands long hours (Levtov, 2001) and
has traditionally involved roles that are relatively consistent across campuses. The
roles typically include admissions, registrars, financial aid and counseling (Dungy,
2003). Differences may be interjected, for example, at a tribal college where one of
29
the main focuses is to preserve the culture and language of the tribal heritage and as
a result, a Native American Center may be part of the student affairs division
(Dungy, 2003).
The role of student affairs professionals is consistently evolving as they are
called upon to diversify the multicultural experience of students, to incorporate the
values of inclusivity and to reframe organizational structures to provide access and
equality (Manning & Coleman-Boatwright, 1991). The responsibility of student
affairs professionals may alter in response to the diversification of students and their
needs (Dungy, 2003). External forces such as, “technology, globalization, online
learning, students as consumers, and other demands of a new generation of students,”
(Dungy, 2003, p. 354) are among the variety of factors that will impact the role of
student affairs professionals in the future. Thus the role of student affairs
professionals can be a significant contributor to the development of students and also
to the transformation of college campuses. (Manning & Coleman-Boatwright, 1991).
Ensuring that student affairs professionals are well equipped to meet the needs of the
student, institution, and community therefore becomes important.
Mid-level Women in Student Affairs
The mid-level student affairs professional has recently gained attention, in
terms of career planning (Rosser & Javinar, 2003; Johnsrud, 1996). In particular, the
advancement of these women to senior level positions (Renn & Hughes, 2004), as
research has shown, has led to a mid-level high turn-over rate (Rosser, 2004). Mid-
levels are the professionals who often go unnoticed in the academy, yet they exhibit
30
a high level of commitment, training, performance standards and excellence in the
area of their expertise (Rosser, 2000). Those in mid-career are not only defined by
middle management position (Renn & Hughes, 2004), but also by contemplating the
progression of mid-life needs that include, “shifting career identity that emphasizes
both achievement needs and a strong desire to remain true to personal definition of
success” (Carter, 2002, p. 1). However, as much as mid-level professional positions
have grown, the succession rate to SSAO positions has not improved (Blum, 1989;
Mooney, 1993; Ward, 1995).
Mid-level leaders are one of the largest areas on college and university
campuses and as a result have developed into a significant force in higher education
(Grassmuck, 1990, 1991; Montgomery & Lewis, 1995; NEA, 1997; Sagaria &
Johnsrud, 1992). The National Center for Education Statistics (2002) found that in
student affairs, there are more women than men at mid-career and research has
shown that there is a “direct correlation between the presence of female students and
the number of women in the faculty or administration” (Nidiffer & Bashaw, 2001).
Despite the high presence of women in mid-level positions, serving in such
roles as directors and managers (Tinsley, 1985, McEwen, Engstrom, & Williams,
1990; Twale, 1995; Marshall, 2009), the succession rate to SSAO positions is
disproportionately under-represented (Chamberlain, 1988; Kaplan & Tinsley, 1989;
Rosser, 2000; Sagaria & Johnsrud, 1985; Touchton & Davis, 1991; Twale, 1995).
Understanding the role of mid-level professionals and perceived challenges may
provide strategies to support the future advancement of these women.
31
While mid-level student affairs leaders have demonstrated profound
commitment to their students and in the area of their expertise (Rosser, 2000), they
have also experienced challenges that have prevented women from advancing.
Three sources of frustration were identified by mid-level administrators: nature of
their role as a mid-level practitioner, lack of acknowledgement for their
contributions, and limited opportunities for career development and advancement
(Johnsrud, 1996). Other sources of frustration include: having the knowledge base
to enhance administrative practice, such as management skills and professional
development needs (Fey & Carpenter, 1996; Gordon, Strode, & Mann, 1993; Kane,
1982; LeMoine, 1985; Walter, Fey, Cortese, & Borg, 1991); addressing and
understanding role issues regarding authority, uncertainty, power, supervision of
staff; department and institutional planning; and ethics and integrity (Belch &
Strange, 1990; Benke & Disque, 1990; Penn, 1990; Sagaria & Johnsrud, 1988;
White, Webb, & Young, 1990). The lack of self-efficacy in the above described skill
sets has challenged women in mid-manger positions from advancing to SSAO
positions (Johnsrud, 1996; Sagaria & Johnsrud, 1988).
Professional and institutional work life issues of mid-level administrators
were found to affect the overall level of morale and job satisfaction, often leading
mid-level professionals to decide whether or not to continue or leave a position or
institution (Johnsrud, Heck, & Rosser, 2000; Johnsrud & Edwards, 2001). The lack
of self-efficacy and skill sets as well as potential job dissatisfaction appear to be
32
problematic for women in mid-level student affairs positions who are seeking to
advance their career as a SSAO.
The decision between career and family may also be a factor impacting the
advancement of women to pursue a SSAO position. One study found that while
women perceived that having children negatively affected their opportunity for
career advancement (Marshall & Jones, 1990), upon further investigation, no
correlations were found. Yet, in another study, the perception that having to choose
between a family or feeling the sense of restricted access due to family obligations as
opposed to career advancement, is real (Marshall, 2009; Ting, 1997; Belch &
Strange, 1990). Factors such as choosing between family and career, that may not be
a prominent consideration experienced by men, in terms of career advancement, can
be complex (Marshall, 2009). In Marshall's (2009) study, women shared openly the
professional sacrifices they had to make in their career as a result of having children:
“accepting only positions that were conducive for their families, foregoing
education, limiting their involvement in professional organizations, and making less
money” (pp. 197-198).
As already noted, the work culture in student affairs often demands long
hours that include evening and weekend events (Levtov, 2001). New professionals
and those early in their mid-level career, often are obligated to oversee programs or
represent the department at evening weekend engagements, to put the job first, or
reorganize their schedules so that balancing family into such a demanding schedule
could be challenging (Nobbe & Manning, 1997). Thus the “values held by higher
33
education and the realities in the field may contribute to tough decisions for women
administrators who have or are contemplating having children,” while also
contemplating advancement in their career (Marshall, 2009, p. 191).
Coupled with the complexities of choosing between family and career
advancement and self-efficacy in skill set of mid-level women, is the continuous
increase of women in graduate programs, as discussed earlier, that exist today and
will continue to do so in the future (Catalyst, 2003; National Center for Education
Statistics, 2006). Given the perception that a pool of qualified individuals exist in
the college and university leadership pipeline, despite the relatively low number of
women in senior positions (Marshall, 2009), there is hope that the presence of
women in senior positions will eventually catch up to the number of women with
these degrees. However, in order to help align the number of women in the
leadership pipeline with an increased presence of women in senior positions,
identifying strategies to support career advancement while also:
...understanding how they successfully manage work and family are key to
the advancement of women in student affairs. Learning from women who
have assumed senior-level administrative positions while raising children
may provide insights into how others can achieve the same personal and
professional success. (Marshall, 2009, p. 189)
While the literature has identified barriers for women, not much research has
been conducted to evaluate the professional development mechanisms to manage
work life balance and to support the decision making process for mid-level women to
advance to SSAO positions. Much of the research regarding women in higher
education has focused on five broad topics to include: 1) characteristics women need
34
to advance into high level administrator positions; 2) attrition - why women leave the
profession before advancing; 3) overall job satisfaction; 4) barriers that women
overcome to achieve professional success; and 5) the role of mentoring relationships
to support the advancement of women into senior level administrator roles (Marshall,
2009). Few, if any, explore strategies that relate to professional development
modalities that support career advancement or the impact of professional/personal
balance. In addition to understanding the issues that may prevent women from
advancing to senior roles, identifying the type of support needed to address these
issues, may provide more career advancement opportunities for women.
Advancement of Women
Advancement Challenges
While women are becoming more educated than ever, women’s career
decision-making processes are complex (Clarke & Reed, 2007). The decision
making process for women is different than men’s and can be based on a number of
factors that can include, but are not limited to, “…generation to ethnicity, marital,
family and financial status, and job satisfaction. Often, a life event (such as
childbirth, illness, or events such as September 11th) tips the scales and leads them
to action” (Clarke & Reed, 2007, p. 3).
In a study of female CEOS and levels of vice president in Canada, women
indicated challenges similar to those faced by their female constituents in the United
States, notably balancing their careers and personal lives. Additional challenges
were identified such as “male stereotyping, pre-conceptions of women's roles and
35
abilities, and exclusion from informal networks more often than did male CEOs”
(Nelson & Burke, 2007, p. 108). Interestingly, more senior women than CEOs
believed that commitment to family responsibilities and having children hindered
women's advancement.
Work-life/family balance is a major concern in studies regarding women and
careers (Allen, Herst, Bruck, & Sutton, 2000; Byron, 2005). McGrath, Driscoll, and
Gross (2005) surveyed a group of professional women who earned MBAs and
believed that they would secure positions at executive levels easily. However, these
women shared that they were rarely considered candidates for such positions. In this
same pool of professional women, women reported that after taking maternity leave,
61% changed their career paths, 54% had to move into different career roles and
59% accepted positions with smaller companies (McGrath et al., 2005).
This issue of balance does not emerge to the same degree in research on men
seeking to advance in senior leadership roles. Perhaps the discrepancy when
comparing the number of women to the number of men in executive positions may
be due to the fact that, “male CEOs and women executives do not agree on the
stumbling blocks women face...,” and this disagreement, “may exacerbate the
challenges facing managerial women who want to move up in organizations”
(Nelson & Burke, 2000, p. 108).
Nelson and Burke’s (2007) study found that the perceptions regarding the
severity of particular barriers to women’s advancement differed between male CEOs
and senior women. Male CEOs perceived barriers for women to be the: “…lack of
36
general management or line experience (82%), not being in the pipeline long enough
(64%), male stereotyping and preconceptions (25%), an inhospitable corporate
culture (18%), and exclusion from informal networks (15%)” (Nelson & Burke,
2007, p. 108). For senior women, the barriers for advancement included: “…male
stereotypes and preconceptions (52%), exclusion from informal networks (49%),
lack of general management or line experience (47%), an inhospitable corporate
culture (35%) and women not in the pipeline long enough (29%)” (Nelson & Burke,
2007). These findings demonstrate how differing perspectives between males and
females (males viewing lack of experience as one of the major problems as opposed
to women viewing male stereotyping as the problem) regarding the barriers that
appear to exist for women as they consider advancing their careers may heighten the
challenges for women as they pursue senior leadership roles within the organization.
Strategies for Success
In an effort to understand the career strategies of women who have
successfully advanced to high level positions, several studies surveyed high-profile
executive women to include CEOs or Vice Presidents of Fortune 500 companies
(Mainiero, 1994; Ragins, Townsend, & Mattis, 1998; Nelson & Burke, 2000;
Burgess & Tharenou, 2002) to gain insights to their successes. Four strategies were
commonly identified as key to their successes: exceeding performance expectations;
developing a style with which male managers are comfortable; seeking out and being
assigned highly visible projects; and having influential mentors and networks.
37
While performance may be an assumed expectation for all executives,
performance may be especially important for women. Successful female executives’
top ranking strategy was to consistently exceed performance expectations (Mainiero,
1994; Ragins et al., 1998; Nelson & Burke, 2000; Burgess & Tharenou, 2002).
Women reported that in order to be viewed as a credible professional and dismiss
negative assumptions in the business world that is predominantly male, they needed
to “over-perform and prove their ability constantly” (Ragins et al., 1998, p. 30).
Examples of how female executives demonstrated high level performance involved
working harder than their colleagues and developing “unique skills and expertise”
that deemed themselves as a valuable asset, rather than an individual who could be
indispensible by simply staying the course and under the radar (Ragins et al., 1998,
p. 30).
The second key factor, “developing a professional style which male managers
are comfortable,” (Ragins et al., 1998, p. 30) to engage with their female colleagues
promotes the successful career advancement of women in the field. This involved
adapting to the male dominated culture by embracing masculine characteristics in
their managerial and leadership style. A way in which female executives had to
adapt was learning how to have a voice - offering opinions in a manner that would be
heard. At the same time, while women need to be able to share their voice, they
must do so in a way that makes their male colleagues feel comfortable with the
leadership style of their female counterparts. This may involve building a rapport
through a common interest, so male colleagues can relate to women through that
38
common interest, rather than simply viewing their female colleagues by gender. As
one woman stated, “...that's not because they don't like me, or they don't like the fact
that a woman’s there. It's that there's always that certain guard that what they might
say in a roomful of men will be taken wrong when a woman is there” (Ragins et al.,
1998, p. 31).
Women therefore need not only excel in performance, but do so in a way that
does not threaten their male colleagues or make them feel uncomfortable. What may
also cause male colleagues to feel uncomfortable is long standing cultural norms that
unfortunately have not included women filling roles in executive board rooms in the
past. Such cultural expectations may not be intentional, but causes a new set of
challenges for women seeking leadership roles. Women reported feeling as though
they were walking a fine line of contradictions in terms of managing behavior in
order to find ways to work with men that were mutually beneficial and comfortable
for both parties involved, “take risks but be successful, be tough but easy to get along
with, be ambitious but do not expect equal treatment” (Nelson & Burke, 2000, p. 31).
Seeking visible projects that are challenging was the third factor that
contributed to the advancement of women into executive positions (Mainiero, 1994;
Ragins et al., 1998; Nelson & Burke, 2000; Burgess & Tharenou, 2002). Taking on
challenging assignments is important to professional development as they provide
“...professional growth and learning challenges. Second, they serve as grooming
exercises for career tracks leading to executive positions. Finally, highly visible
39
assignments provide critical access to key decision makers and influential mentors in
the company” (Ragins et al., 1998, p. 31).
While taking responsibility for such assignments is integral to launching
career visibility, women face gender based barriers in achieving such goals. Several
women in the study reported having to explicitly express their willingness to take on
challenging assignments; otherwise they would have been overlooked by managers
who may assume that they or any other woman may not be interested (Ragins et al.,
1998, p. 31). Men on the other hand, do not face such challenges, as they are often
approached by senior management without having to convince their managers that
they are motivated and willing to be assigned key projects. As a result, the burden of
seeking and securing challenging assignments is left to the initiative of women.
Women who have successfully obtained executive positions were actively seeking
opportunities that would enhance their skill sets, experiences, and visibility that
ultimately resulted in advancing their careers (Ragins et al., 1998).
The last factor cited by women who have successfully advanced into
executive positions was having influential mentors (Mainiero, 1994; Ragins et al.,
1998; Nelson & Burke, 2000; Burgess & Tharenou, 2002). Mentorship as a way to
support the advancement of women to senior leadership positions has been
documented in other studies (Ragins et al., 1998; Cheung & Halpern, 2010). Female
respondents shared that they had a mentor guiding them at one point during their
career development (Mainiero, 1994; Ragins et al., 1998; Nelson & Burke, 2000;
40
Burgess & Tharenou, 2002). One respondent stated in terms of the importance of
mentorship:
I think it’s the single most critical piece to women advancing career-wise. In
my experience you need somebody to help guide you and ... go to bat for you.
And I'm not saying someone to take care of you because you're a woman. I'm
saying, because you are a woman, you need somebody to fight some of your
battles in the male environment. (Ragins et al., 1998, p. 32)
In the Ragins et al. study (1998), women reported having both male and
female mentors who were equally supportive. Often times there are not enough
female leaders in management positions to serve as mentors and thus female
protégés seek out male mentors. Those that benefitted from having both male and
female mentors indicated strengths in each relationship. Male mentors were “more
influential in organizations and can provide greater access to inner power circles,
female mentors were better able to identify and empathize with the barriers faced by
women in organizations” (Ragins et al, 1998, p. 32).
Mentor relationships were found to support the advancement of women by
building the confidence in their protégé’s skill sets and professional identities
(Nelson & Burke, 2000). Mentors or sponsors who served in similar capacities of a
mentor, offer widespread support, provide exposure to upper management, make
recommendations for a particular job or position, and provide career guidance to
their protégé. The mentorship role has been integral in supporting women as several
women reported that the “lack of support and isolation depleted their self-esteem and
self-confidence” (Ragins et al., 1998, p. 32).
41
As noted previously, the number of women serving in leadership roles is
scarce and as result, developing relationships with mentors in high level positions is
limited. However, women that have been impacted by the guidance of their own
mentors have felt a responsibility to serve in the same capacity for others, especially
women (Ragins et al., 1998), and as a result, feel the need to give back and serve as a
mentor as well. Efforts to promote mentoring and networking programs within an
organization can foster “a diverse talent pool of future executives,” as well as
increase more women in the field (Nelson & Burke, 2000, p. 116).
In addition to the above strategies, training and professional development
opportunities to enhance skill sets that may be lacking in an individual's resume can
also support the advancement of women to senior positions (Burgess & Tharenou,
2002; Biddix, 2010; Clarke, 2010). Professional development is one mechanism to
advance knowledge regarding the profession, from that of a novice to an expert
(Knox, 1993). There are a variety of professional development modalities for
advancement and can involve a systematic approach that includes both “formal (i.e.,
educational institutions) and non-formal (i.e., professional associations) educational
experiences,” (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007, p. 275) to support the advancement of
women to senior positions.
Advancing in Higher Education
Despite the patriarchal structure of higher education, there are women who
have been successful in obtaining senior higher education leadership positions.
However, the research indicates that the path for women leading into senior
42
leadership positions comes with a price. In Gerdes’ (2003) study, women provided
personal advice on how they were able to achieve dean, vice president, provost,
chancellor and presidential positions. Participants in Gerdes’ (2003) study advised
the following to women: chose academe if one is willing to be dedicated and to make
sacrifices; select institutions that reflect the same values that a woman has in terms
of policy and educational landscape; become part of institutions that advocate for
women; and consider the trade-offs of being married or select a partner who can
share responsibilities, such as cooking and who is willing to make the same
sacrifices.
Similar to corporate executives, those seeking to advance to higher level
administrative positions in higher education require “motivation, skills, ability, and
experiences - all of which can be conceived of as individual attributes”
(VanDerLinden, 2006). Individuals whose goal is to pursue a high level
administrative position should actively develop a career plan with goals and
objectives (LeBlanc, 1993). Professional development opportunities that are
purposeful, relevant and provide an opportunity for growth and learning can be
additional ways in which individuals seek out senior leadership positions (McDade,
1997).
For student affairs professionals, paths leading to student affairs officer
positions are diverse (Biddix, 2010). Yet a suggested framework has been offered to
guide women who are contemplating the pursuit of an SSAO position. An
illustration of Biddix’s (2010) findings is provided in Figure 1.
43
Professional development may be one mechanism to support the career
advancement of women to a SSAO position. In order to stay abreast of the current
trends and to implement educational reforms, professional development
opportunities are common vehicles for educators to utilize (Guskey, 2000) as a
means to fine-tune skill sets and to navigate the educational landscape. Professional
development in higher education can be defined as the acquisition of “a body of
knowledge and skills to improve the quality of teaching for learners and, ultimately,
to enhance learning outcomes” (Kutner, Sherman, Tibbets, & Condelli, 1997, p. 6).
Professional development can be significant to successfully meet the demands of
structural changes within an organization, understanding and implementing new
policies and procedures, and changing the way educators perform and redesign the
educational environment in which they work (Guskey, 2000).
While all of the identifiable strategies for successful advancement of women
to senior positions are regarded as important, the focus of this study will be on
professional development. In the literature provided thus far, professional
development has been identified as a means to support the advancement of women.
However, evidence for effective professional development has not been
demonstrated in the literature. Therefore, the use of Kirkpatrick’s (1976; 1994)
evaluation framework for training in organizations will be discussed and utilized as
framework for this study.
44
Professional Development
What is it?
Wilensky (1964) described professionalization of a job or career as the
process where a group of people: employ themselves into full-time work, participate
in professional associations, enroll in a formal, academic discipline to prepare for the
profession, navigate political savviness, and adhere to a code of ethics where
individuals are held accountable. Similarly, Carpenter (1991) contends that a
profession is designated as such when members of the profession exist with shared
goals, training and/or required preparation, support from an accessible professional
community, and the socialization of new professionals in the pipeline. Traditionally,
professional development focuses on “acquiring a particular set of skills (or new
knowledge) that can then be applied in practice...” (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007).
While a variety of definitions exist for professional development, the basic tenet for
participating in professional development modalities is to advance knowledge and
update skill sets to serve a client. In the case of student affairs, the client is the
student. How do student affairs professionals enhance their skill sets to meet the
needs of the student whom they serve?
45
Figure 1. Women's Career Path to SSAO Positions (Biddix, 2010)
Effective Professional Development
Strategies to enhance self-efficacy in order to achieve senior level leadership
roles may be achieved through professional development opportunities. As such,
understanding the components for effective professional development can be
important. Birman, Desimone, Porter and Garet (2000) found through survey data
and analyzing the literature, three structural features that frame the effectiveness of
professional development. They are:
Form. How was the activity structured? Was it a reform initiative (working
in groups, networking, mentoring relationship, serving on a committee or task force,
for example) or a traditional workshop or conference?
46
Duration. How much time was invested by the participants and over what
period of time did the activity occur?
Participation. Who was involved? Were the participants a collective group
from the same organization or were the participant’s individuals from different
organizations?
In addition to the structural components, Birman et al. (2000) designated
three core elements that describe the processes that take place during professional
development opportunities:
Content focus. To what extent did the experience focus on enhancing the
individuals' knowledge base?
Active learning. What opportunities are available for individuals to actively
participate in a deeper understanding of learning and practice?
Coherence. Did the activity foster opportunities for continued discussion
among colleagues and integration of experiences that align with personal and
organizational goals?
Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman and Yoon (2001) found similar structural
and core features for effective professional development:
Type of activity. Workshops, institutes, courses, and conferences are
traditional forms that have been criticized as being ineffective. Instead, reform types
of activities, “such as study groups or mentoring and coaching,” (p. 920) have been
found to increase confidence levels.
47
Duration. Almost all the recent literature calls for professional development
activities to be constant over time. Longer activities have been found “to provide an
opportunity for in-depth discussion of content, student conceptions and
misconceptions, and pedagogical strategies” (p. 921).
Collective participation. An increased amount of interest has been found in
professional development opportunities created for professionals within the same
organization, department or area.
Focusing on content. While the literature on professional development is
vast, limited focus has been on what professionals actually learn during professional
development opportunities. Specifically, “little research has been conducted on the
relative efficacy of professional development activities that focus on different types
of knowledge, skills” (p. 923).
Promoting active learning. Does the professional development activity
provide opportunities for active and meaningful ways to discuss, plan, and practice?
Fostering coherence. This feature of professional development involves how
professional development opportunities are perceived to be part of a larger set of
activities that enhances learning and development.
Ideally, effective professional development activities would include a balance
of the aforementioned structural and core features. Unfortunately the reality of
professional development activities consists of a blend of “high and low - quality
structural or core features” (Birman et al., 2000, p. 31). Few professional
development activities have the desirable features, as described here, because
48
“providing activities with multiple high-quality features is challenging and requires a
substantial amount of lead time and planning” (Birman et al., 2000, p. 32), which
organizations often do not have the time to coordinate.
Professional Development for Student Affairs
While it has been argued that continuous professional development is a
necessity for student affairs practitioners, (Smutz, Crowe, & Lindsay, 1986; Janosik,
Carpenter, & Creamer, 2006), there is no organized road map that guides student
affairs professionals from graduate preparation programs to their next steps of
professional development. There are plenty of professional development activities,
as Carpenter (1998) reports, “sessions are offered, speakers are hired, themes are
played out, workshops are conducted” (p. 166). Yet with these provisions of
available professional development opportunities, the continuity and relevance of
content vary from year to year. As a result, the process of identifying effective
professional development strategies for student affairs professionals can be a
difficult task. Perhaps one of the challenges in creating a clear pathway for women
to advance to a SSAO position, is the unclear evaluative system of professional
education (Creamer, Winston, Schuh, Gehring, McEwen, Forney, Carpenter et al.,
1992), especially if content relevancy changes yearly. Since programs vary widely
and learning outcomes of professional development opportunities is rarely evaluated,
the importance of determining effective professional development strategies to
support the advancement of women can become important.
49
The importance of professional development in student affairs began to
appear in the literature in the 1960s (Semersheim & Keim, 2005). Truitt’s (1969)
seminal work outlined a set of recommendations for staff development programs that
include enhancing orientation modalities for new staff, instilling a sense of collective
responsibility to increase work place morale, advocating for creative innovations and
solutions, providing leadership opportunities with on-going programs, and raising the
level of aspirations. Miller (1975) surveyed 500 members of the American College
Personnel Association regarding staff activities. Members ranked their preferred
mode of delivery in the following way: 1) off-campus workshops 2) consultation of
outside experts 3) presenting self-initiated programs 4) participating in professional
conferences and 5) enrolling in graduate courses. While professional development
can be delivered in a variety of ways, identifying ways to bridge these modalities can
be key to improving the practice and growth within the profession (Lovell & Kosten,
2000; Kruger, 2000). In order to provide context to the challenges in identifying
effective professional development strategies for student affairs practitioners, a brief
look at graduate preparation programs will be discussed.
Formal training, in the form of graduate programs, is found to be one of the
modes of professional development that student affairs professionals prefer (Miller,
1975). Graduate programs for aspiring student affairs professionals are often
grounded in student development theory, approaches in student service and support,
as well as the student administration model (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007). Through
such programs, the skill sets required for new professionals to possess are often
50
identified. Yet according to Malaney (2002), the profession of student affairs does
not spend enough time evaluating what is taught in the classroom to aspiring new
professionals in graduate programs as an area of scholarship and in turn, application
of scholarship as practitioners in the field is not often tied to the realities of what
students actually experience. In other words, student affairs theory being taught in
the classroom may not be sufficient tools for new professionals for the field of
practice as student needs continue to become diverse. Thus initial preparation
programs, if flawed, may not provide the practical knowledge base for new
professionals as they begin to build and advance their careers in the profession. For
example, despite the assumed mobility from graduate programs to engaging in
continuous professional development as the next stage of training, Woodard and
Komives (1990) discovered that a lack of qualified student affairs professionals exist
to fill vacant positions. Citing research on graduate preparation enrollment trends,
Woodard and Komives (1990) stated that only half of those individuals employed in
entry level student affairs positions have been properly trained.
In fact, Lovell and Kosten (2000) found in their study that focused on
research regarding the skills student affairs administrators expected new
professionals to have, a disconnect between what was taught in the classroom and
the actual application of knowledge/skills by new professionals exist upon hiring.
Coupled with this discovery, the New England Resource Center in Higher Education
(2000) found that SSAOs were also not satisfied with the preparation of new
professionals. A disconnect such as this may be one reason that professional
51
development is difficult to evaluate for effectiveness because the initial preparation
is not producing professionals who can serve in entry level student affairs positions
as expected.
Further, Malaney (2002) contends that as a student affairs community,
practitioners need to go beyond the existing breadth of knowledge of scholarship and
scholarly techniques in order to ensure that professionals are meeting the needs of
the students. For example, perhaps graduate programs need to become
interdisciplinary in order for graduate students to infuse their knowledge of student
development theory with “political science, economics, and sociology [which] can
provide our graduate student with different lenses through which to view society,
higher education, and concerns that their undergraduates will face” (Malaney, 2002,
p. 135).
While it is important for student affairs professionals to be knowledgeable in
graduate curriculum, such as student development theory, acquiring additional
knowledge in the form of professional development such as workshops, institutes or
conferences that focus on specialized educational domains, can be significant
contributors to both the performance of an individual and the organization as well
(Lovell & Kosten, 2000; Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007).
Knox (2000) argues that lack of theoretical focus may be the piece of the
puzzle that is dividing preparation programs and professional development. In other
words, existing graduate preparation programs for student affairs professionals are
grounded in theory and often can be obsolete once they enter the profession.
52
Professional development then can fill in the gaps that graduate programs may not
have covered and add material as content or circumstances change once one leaves
graduate school. Particularly since institutions and the students to which they serve
are constantly changing, becoming more diverse in background, and require different
needs (ASHE Higher Education Report, 2009; Dungy, 2003). Therefore,
professionals are encouraged to apply what is learned in the classroom as a
foundation and utilize professional development as an extension of their knowledge
base to adequately serve their students (Knox, 2000; Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007).
Since student affairs professionals have multiple roles requiring different
experiences, one professional development experience, while meeting one
professional’s needs, may not meet the needs of another (Carpenter & Stimpson,
2007). As a result, professional development in student affairs can be defined in a
variety of ways based on contexts and a diverse number of authors (Carpenter &
Stimpson, 2007). Carpenter (2003) contends that professional development “begins
with initial preparation, which leads to a career-long learning process” (p. 579). For
Woodard and Komives (1990) professional development is the process of continuous
learning that builds upon staff competence. The continuum of professional
development should thus focus on “goals, learning activities, providers, resources,
context, and negotiation” (Knox, 2000, p. 17). Still, according to Winston and
Creamer (1998), professional development can be defined as “an event or activity
performed outside or beyond daily work duties and activities” (p. 29).
53
The varied definitions for professional development for student affairs
practitioners are not a reflection of inconsistency, but perhaps a reflection of the
continuously changing student population to which practitioners serve. Earlier, the
roles of student affairs professionals was described as multi-faceted and often may
change in response to the diverse student populations and their needs (Dungy, 2003).
Additionally, the literature also depict student affairs roles as evolving based on
experience and institution, resulting in individual professionals having varied skill
sets. For example, a housing director, in the profession for 10 years, may be
experienced in auxiliary contracts, judicial issues, and facilities management.
However, another individual, who also has 10 years of experience in student affairs,
but in new student programs, has a different set of experienced skill sets, such as
student development application, student programming, and transition strategies, that
a housing director may not have. Thus, as a student affairs practitioner pursues a
SSAO position and seeks out professional development opportunities to supplement
the areas to which they may be lacking in experience, their needs and the type of
professional development that each professional prefers will be different.
Therefore, it is no surprise that the manner by which continuous professional
development occurs varies (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2000) within the student affairs
profession. Such activities may include, but are not limited to: “individual, group
or program, departmental, divisional, and professional associations” (Schwartz &
Bryan, 1998, p. 8). In addition to these modalities, other forms of professional
development may also include mentoring, self-reflection, and even synergistic
54
supervision, identifiable as one of the most comprehensive model for organization-
based professional development (Winston & Creamer, 1997).
Focusing on professional associations, Carpenter (1980) surveyed student
affairs professionals who were affiliated with the American College Personnel
Association (ACPA), National Association of Student Personnel Administrators
(NASPA), and National Association of Women Deans, Administrators and
Counselors (NAWDAC) to identify factors contributing to the importance of career
development. In this study, the findings reflected:
a) job functions and responsibilities affected developmental stages and
factors, b) no one professional association provided a better development
opportunity than others, c) those 40 years of age or older placed more
importance on development, d) single women were further along on their
development than were single men, and e) married men were more developed
than married women. (p. 37)
As the student affairs profession continue to strive for an agreed upon path
for advancement as it relates to professional development, Miller and Carpenter
(1980) suggest that professional development adhere to human development
principles, thus developing the following five propositions (p. 579):
1. Professional development is continuous and cumulative in nature, moves
from simpler to more complex behavior, and can be described via levels
or stages held in common.
2. Optimal professional development is a direct result of the interaction
between the total person striving for professional growth and the
environment.
3. Optimal professional preparation combines mastery of a body of
knowledge and a cluster of skills and competencies within the context of
personal development.
55
4. Professional credibility and excellence of practice are directly dependent
upon the quality of professional preparation.
5. Professional preparation is a lifelong learning process.
While the professional development standards and/or principals, such as
those outlined above, have been identified for future training, evaluating practice that
reflect successful results has not been defined. In particular, the assessment piece for
professional development as a means to support the advancement of women in mid-
level positions to SSAOs has been limited. However, the five propositions above
align with concepts of adult learning theory. As a result, Andragogy can serve as a
theory that grounds professional development as a conceptual framework.
Professional development modalities then can move from assessing for satisfaction
to assessing effectiveness in terms of learning and transfer.
Effectiveness in Student Affairs
Professional development in student affairs should be a life-long process of
educational practices that exists on a continuum of training and learning (Knox,
2000). “High quality” professional development practices often include: content
focused on how students learn; comprehensive, engaging learning opportunities;
connections to high expectations, leadership opportunities for leadership
development; constant duration of the professional development practice; and the
collective involvement of groups belonging to the same organization or unit
(Desimone, Porter, Garet, Yoon, & Birman, 2002). The opportunity to participate in
56
professional development has been noted as a factor influencing career advancement
(Biddix, 2011).
Professional development provides an opportunity to improve an individuals'
skill set that allow for the transition into new and challenging areas within the field.
Lovell and Kosten (2000) surveyed SSAOs and identified core competencies that
were necessary to become a successful student affairs professional. Identifying these
core competencies allows professional development providers to frame their
programs based on relevancy. Further, core competencies can guide providers to
best determine the type of professional development modality for a particular
audience. These competencies include eight skills, of which six are related to
knowledge areas and two are related to personal characteristics. The following is a
list of these core competencies:
1. Management issues. As administrators, student affairs professionals are
overseeing staff, students and programs (Lovell & Kosten, 2000). This
includes human facilitation. Skills like counseling and interpersonal
skills were found to be important attributes to have as student affairs
professional. This also included research, evaluation and assessment.
Assessment for the purposes of accountability, retention and graduation
has been found to be especially important (Lovell & Kosten, 2000;
Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007).
2. Enrollment management. Recruitment, retention and graduation (Lovell
& Kosten, 2000).
57
3. Knowledge of federal policies and regulations for compliance and
accountability purposes (Lovell & Kosten, 2000; Carpenter & Stimpson,
2007).
4. Knowledge of student development theory. Understanding theory that
encompasses diversity, cultural competency, student success best
practices (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007).
5. Knowledge of specific functional areas (i.e., residence life, advising,
counseling services, etc.) (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007).
6. Understanding organizational behavior in terms of collaboration and
navigating political astuteness (Lovell & Kosten, 2000).
The list of skill sets demonstrate the “how to serve” as a student affairs professional.
Much of the research in student affairs focus on skill sets and competencies to
become a successful student affairs professional (Darby, 2005), with limited
attention to affective skill sets such as managing emotional stressors and/or career
and life balance. While the above list may reflect “standard” skill sets needed to
serve as a successful student affairs officer, these skills may differ depending on
relevancy to a particular individual. Professional development programs that address
the varied competencies and skill sets can be determined by keeping in mind
Guskey’s (2000) factors for effective professional development activities.
Roberts (2007) found that the most preferred and relevant method for
professional development among all levels of student affairs professionals was
engagement with colleagues, mentors, and professional conference programs.
58
Conferences or institutes that occur over a period of a few days are more effective
than workshops that are offered during a half-day or one day period (Guskey, 2000).
Conferences or institutes that have clear outcomes that are relatable to the participant
are more effective than programs that are “required” for professionals. If the topic is
not relevant to the participant, the effectiveness of the professional development
program decreases.
Components Increasing Confidence
Components of professional development programs that have been found to
be effective include mentoring, networking, and time for self-reflection (Nottingham,
1998; Laden, 1996; VanDerLinden, 2006; Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007). Since
student affairs is a profession embedded in service, “mentoring is a natural way of
accomplishing professional development for the student affairs profession”
(Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007, p. 278).
Informal mentoring and social networks are effective because such
relationships increase the confidence levels of the individual's own perception of
skill sets and capabilities, which can impact the advancement of women to SSAO
positions (VanDerLinden, 2006; Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007). Mentoring has been
viewed as a positive form of professional development (Cooper & Miller, 1998), as
mentors are able to provide guidance on career development and advancement.
Mentors can also serve as role models in addition to advocating and supporting their
mentees.
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Social networks or professional associations provide administrators “the
opportunity to enhance interpersonal and technical competencies, develop strategies
for career advancement, and keep up with the emerging issues that affect the
educational enterprise” (Laden, 1996, p. 47). Professional associations provide
support to those aspiring to pursue senior leadership roles by bringing awareness to
the formal and informal areas of educational leadership. Formal areas of support can
be found through seminars, workshops, and institutes provided by the association.
Additionally, an emphasis on scholarship, where the practitioner advances the
profession through research, is another formal area for professional development.
Professional associations are especially beneficial to women as associations,
such as the National Association of Student Affairs Personal (NASPA), an
organization that originally included only male and Caucasian members, but is today
known to be one of the leading associations for student affairs professionals. As
college campuses diversified in population by race, economic background, and
gender, so did the student affairs profession. In doing so, professional associations
evolved, responding to the needs of the associations’ constituents, thereby serving as
advocates for underrepresented populations (Laden, 1996). Therefore professional
associations provide professional development opportunities to “improve the status
of women in the middle and executive levels of higher education” (Laden, 1996, p.
53).
Self-reflection (Nottingham, 1998), as an additional mode for effective
professional development, provide an opportunity for individuals to understand how
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they acquire knowledge, how to apply that knowledge to enhance existing skill sets,
and how to identify and expand the knowledge base to support career advancement.
Both mentoring and self-reflection modalities have been found to support mid-level
manager's decision making process to pursue a SSAO position as well as enhancing
self-efficacy (Renn & Hughes, 2004).
Evaluation
Purpose of Evaluation
According to Guskey (2000), there are four reasons to conduct evaluation.
First, professional development has evolved from being viewed as a one-shot
training opportunity to a more dynamic process. Professional development is being
looked upon by more and more people as a process that should be embedded within
the occupational context that takes place over a period of time (Sparks & Hirsh,
2000). Providing an opportunity for educators to reflect, converse, implement and
assess new practices within an environment that is conducive for supportive learning
allows the process to center on the evaluation of professional development (Guskey,
2000). Evaluation is central to validating efforts as educators allocate more time
towards the implementation of new practices.
The second reason for conducting an evaluation for effective professional
development is to foster change. Any change needs to be intentional and involve a
systematic process to create improvement, versus creating change to simply make a
change (Guskey, 2000). In order to implement changes or improvements, obtaining,
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assessing and sharing relevant data that reflect the specific measures that are being
implemented is important.
Evaluation can provide an opportunity for stakeholders within an
organization to make informed decisions about future investments in professional
development based on the data that are obtained. Data driven decision making is the
third reason to evaluate professional development processes (Guskey, 2000). For
example, data from the evaluation may be obtained that reflect skill sets of
individuals that were otherwise not known and as a result of the information; these
individuals are utilized in a different capacity that increases their productivity. When
the time arises to send additional staff to the same professional development
opportunity, results from the previous experience will enable the organization to
make an informed decision as to whether or not they should invest in the same
professional development opportunity. In this example, the data reflected the
professional development effectiveness on participants and as a result guided how to
maximize the skill sets of personnel, which lead to changing components of the
organization. With accurate and detailed data, the ability to make informed
decisions regarding where, how, and when money will be invested can best be
achieved through the evaluation process.
Lastly, evaluation promotes a sense of accountability at all levels in
education. Professional development imposes an inherent responsibility amongst
multiple stakeholders to successfully deliver and fulfill the professional development
objectives where the focus is on enhancing an individual’s learning and achievement
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(Guskey, 2000; Borko, 2004; Graczewski, Knudson, & Hotzman, 2009). Ideally
when members of an organization participate in professional development
opportunities, they are expected - they are held accountable - to take what they
learned and implement the new knowledge within their organization or with the
students to which they serve. For example, if an educator attends a conference
focusing on the first year experience of new students, that educator most likely will
be expected to seek out models to increase retention and graduation in order to align
with the institution's new strategic plan and to improve the organization. This
educator may be asked and will be held accountable for obtaining potential best
practices in retention initiatives that can be implemented at their own institution. Yet
if the educator did not learn anything new at this conference and expresses this in the
evaluation process, the organization providing the professional development
opportunity will receive feedback regarding their reasons for not participating the
next time the opportunity is offered. As a result, the organization hosting the
conference is held accountable to ensure that professional needs are met for
participants. Therefore, all stakeholders, from participants to the organization, each
individual involved is held accountable.
Effectiveness of Evaluation
While professional development is utilized as a vehicle to stay abreast of
current trends and implement educational reforms, there is growing pressure for
providers of professional development to demonstrate evidence that delivery
mechanisms are effective approaches to improve performance (Armour-Thomas,
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2008). Professional development as a whole has lacked effective evaluation of
programs that can demonstrate enhanced learning to improve performance (Hill,
2009).
The ineffectiveness of professional development stems from a variety of
misperceptions (Guskey, 2000). Many participants of professional development
activities feel as though involvement is obligatory as a result of top down
organizational structures, instead of really considering member needs. Professional
development introduced in a top-down manner is contradictory to the research that
indicates that professional development needs should be determined by
staff/employees, not by administrators (Sawchuk & Keller, 2010; Easton 2008).
Guskey (2000) identified three common challenges with current practices of
professional development activities and/or programs: expense, lack of follow-up,
and irrelevance. Many professional development programs available to educators
are expensive. Almost every university provides professional development in the
form of continuing education programs either through the various professional
schools (i.e., medicine, social work, engineering, etc.) or through the university-wide
continuing education unit (Cervero, 2002). One of the major providers for
continuing education is professional associations. “More than five thousand
American and Canadian associations and many more state, provincial, and local
associations are either organized independently or affiliated with the national body”
(Cervero, 2002, p. 6).
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Maurer and Sheets (1998) found that of the 5,500 national associations, 90%
of the associations provide continuing education for members and the public. $8.5
million is spent to provide courses related to technical, scientific and business
practices. Comparatively speaking, business, hospital, social service agencies and
government employers provide a significant amount of education to their employees
(Cervero, 2002). $60 billion was invested on providing formal professional
education to 59 million people in the United States, with the majority having a
middle or upper management position (A statistical picture of employer sponsored
training in the United States, 1997). Corporations spent an average of 1.5 percent of
payroll on employee training and 1% of gross revenues. Employee education or
professional development would be approximately $210 billion if indirect costs
(wages while studying, and fixed costs, i.e., building costs) were included (Cervero,
2002). Given the amount of money invested in professional development,
determining the effectiveness of such programs would seem to be important as well.
Further, there are a number of corporations, particularly those that employ
many professionals that are education intensive (Davis & Botkin, 1994). To
illustrate, $300 million was spent on educational training by Arthur Anderson, a $5
billion dollar account and consulting firm, in 1992 (Cervero, 2002). The cost to
provide educational training to Arthur Anderson’s employees was approximately 6.5
percent of the yearly revenue. To contrast, the $300 million spent on educational
training is the same as the “University of Virginia's budget and larger than the
budgets of Purdue and Syracuse Universities” (Cervero, 2002, p. 5).
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Another example for comparison purposes is if General Electric, AT&T, or
IBM were converted into public universities, their educational budget “would exceed
the budgets of either Ohio State University or the University of Michigan” (Cervero,
2002, p. 5). Despite the large amounts of money being spent on professional
development, little is known about the effectiveness of such continuing education or
professional development programs.
An additional challenge with professional development is that often the
delivery mechanism of programs is designed as one-time workshops. Follow-up
rarely occurs once a workshop is completed and limited support, if any, is provided
to ensure that the professional development is learned and can be implemented
effectively back into the work place (Kerka, 2003; Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman,
& Yoon, 2001; Quick, Hotzman, & Chaney, 2009; Spillane, Halverson, & Diamond,
2001). As a result, the transfer of skills from training back to the work site often
fails or is non-existent.
Lastly, irrelevance is the third challenge of professional development that
Guskey (2000) identified. Borko (2004) is in agreement, finding that professional
development can lack the relevant content to implement in practice, resulting in an
inefficient use of time spent on professional development. To be clear, not all
professional development programs can be labeled as a waste of time. Guskey
(2000) contends that, “notable improvements in education almost never take place in
the absence of professional development” (p. 4). Thus, professional development
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can be a double edged sword, facing many challenges for ineffectiveness, but also
needed in order to enhance educational practice.
In addition to the challenges that professional development poses in and of
itself, there are a number of challenges in determining whether or not professional
development is effective. To begin, an agreed upon list of criteria for effective
professional development does not exist across the board (Guskey, 2003) and as a
result, what is recognized as “effective” is not clear (Guskey, 2000). Additionally,
educators have failed to responsibly document positive outcomes of programs
deemed successful (Guskey, 2000). Unfortunately, when positive outcomes are
documented, much of the evidence that does support effective professional
development is anecdotal (Birman, Desimone, Porter, & Garet, 2000). Further,
while research has looked at participant reactions to professional development
strategies, much of it is satisfaction oriented and does not evaluate whether or not the
transfer of skills and knowledge has taken place. Research has rarely included
“rigorous investigations of relationships between the noted characteristics and
improvements in instructional practices...” (Guskey, 2003, p. 749). Most research
typically includes surveys of opinion from researchers and educators, therefore
resulting in limited evidence for effectiveness.
Still other studies look at participant attitudes or commitment to broadening
their training and education, but not actual skill set development. Most look at
student learning as the only determinant for effective professional development
(Guskey, 2000) rather than skill set that transforms an individual or organization.
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While attempts to study professional development have been made, a cohesive
mechanism exists to examine, across programs, whether or not professional
development is effective for expanding participant knowledge and skill sets that can
be utilize to enhance organizations (Guskey, 2000).
Evaluating professional development for effectiveness is further challenged
because of the emphasis of the overall effect (Guskey, 2000). Most researchers
approach (Hedges & Olkin, 1985) evaluation by best determining similar variables
and outcomes by taking averages of variables that appear to measure similar
outcomes (Guskey, 2000). While this appears to be a reasonable and efficient
approach for measuring effectiveness, the measurement may not always be valid. In
other words, variables that appear to be similar, may actually be measuring different
things, and therefore averaging outcomes may actually be meaningless.
Additionally, variables and outcomes for standardization can vary from study to
study, even though the intent behind the study is to ensure replication. Variables can
vary based on participant perception of value, content, environmental context,
delivery mechanism of professional development, and relative distinctiveness of the
professional development opportunity. Measuring professional development based
on the general effect dismisses the nuances of the variables being studied that can
impact measurements of effectiveness (Guskey, 2000).
One last challenge when evaluating effective professional development is the
emphasis on quantity versus quality (Guskey, 2000). Most researchers will opt for
quantity to infer generalizations about a population because evaluation in this
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manner is much simpler to conduct and less time consuming. Research emphasizing
quality can often be time consuming and tend to be intangible or lacks quantifiable
data that can be measured with a numeric value. Often quality involves words,
careful observation that utilize inferences and interpretations, that are quantified in
terms of themes and recurrences, and often are much richer in nature. Obtaining
rich, quality data would in this manner, require a very skilled and experienced
researcher because of the tedious nature of the work (Guskey, 2000). As a result,
organizations choose quantity over quality because the feedback is received in a
shorter time frame and can be easily evaluated. To circumvent this challenge,
Guskey (2000) suggest focusing on both qualitative and quantitative indicators,
which can lead to much richer data when collected and analyzed simultaneously in
order to determine effective professional development components.
The complexity of conducting a comprehensive evaluation process for
professional development that calls for the investment of resources; the time to
conduct follow-up support to ensure learning for transfer & implementation from
participant to organization has taken place; and ensuring relevant content is provided
to participants is much more informative and can lead to actual changes, if necessary
(Guskey, 2000). Yet, most evaluation is often is limited to one time usage and
assessment of attitudes in terms of satisfaction, rather than skill set development.
While the ideal is to have an evaluative process that can be replicated each time the
same professional development occurs, a comprehensive process that focuses on
quality measures may not present the same results since the professional
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development may not be delivered in the same way, by the same people, or in the
same circumstance or context. Yet with the amount of money being spent on
professional development, evaluation is a means to determine whether or not the
money being invested results in effective professional development that can be
utilized and implemented to improve learning as well as to promote change for the
better (Guskey, 2000; Kerka, 2003). Therefore, investing the time and the resources
for a comprehensive evaluation process as described here, can provide meaning and
justification for the large financial investment in professional development
opportunities.
In higher education, the importance of evaluating professional development
is to ensure that the goal of, “excellence [in] teaching, training, and research - are
respected and realized” (Barnes, Berendt, Csirik, Hares, Haar, Jone, Kashoki,
Kearney, Maamouri, McDonald, Ratanachai, Silvio, Van Der Donckt, van Rinsum,
& Vessuri, 1994, p. 16). One way to meet these goals is to provide effective
professional development that will enable higher education personnel to obtain the
skills of confidence, competency and initiative in three necessary areas: knowledge
base, pedagogy, and management (Barnes et al., 1994). By providing an emphasis
on professional development, capacity-building, which is broadening “educational
skills with highly specialized training to foster human and social development both
in individual and in societies,” (Barnes et al., 1994, p. 16), can support the goal of
educating students to achieve higher learning from a global perspective. This
dissertation will specifically look at the effectiveness of a professional association
70
symposium that is geared towards preparing and supporting the advancement of mid-
level women into SSAO positions. Kirkpatrick's evaluation framework will be
utilized to determine the effectiveness of the symposium being studied.
Kirkpatrick's Framework
The most widely used evaluation framework for organizational training is
Kirkpatrick’s (1976, 1994) framework that utilizes four levels of criteria (Bates,
2004; Guskey, 2000). The four levels are designed to build upon each other to
reflect a richer assessment of professional development opportunities as the
evaluation process progresses at each level (Bates, 2004).
Originally Kirkpatrick’s (1959) model evaluated reactions based on how well
participants liked a program (Bates, 2004). Since then, the measures have evolved,
commonly focusing on, “assessing trainees’ affective responses to the quality (e.g.,
satisfaction with instructor) or the relevance (e.g. work-related utility) of the
training” (Bates, 2004, p. 1).
This first level, reaction or satisfaction, is the most common form of
evaluation and lays the foundation of Kirkpatrick’s (1994) model. Participants’
reactions to the professional development, or their satisfaction with it, are an
important indicator in that a lack of enthusiasm or interest in the professional
development mechanism may impact the ability of the participant to learn the skills
being taught (Kirkpatrick, 1994). However, satisfaction is not a measure of learning,
and as a result, evaluations that rely only on this first stage can often be regarded as
superficial (Kirkpatrick, 1994).
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The second level involves the assessment of actual learning. At this level, the
evaluation process takes into account quantifiable measures of learning through the
extent to which changes occur in participant attitude about a topic, knowledge, and
skill sets as a result of the professional development mechanism (Kirkpatrick, 1994).
In order to measure learning, pre and post tests that incorporate factual questions are
essential to establish changes in participant knowledge base. Learning can also be
assessed by self-reports that are prompted by questions related to the level of
confidence they feel in acquiring new knowledge. According to Kirkpatrick (1994),
learning outcomes can be validated through the measurement of learning that takes
place as a result of a professional development opportunity.
Once learning has been established, the next level of evaluation looks at the
application of what was learned through changes in performance or behavior
(Kirkpatrick, 1994). The most reliable way to measure change at this stage is
formally through an exam or informally through observation. However self-reports,
a less reliable measure, is often used because of the amount of time and resources
involved in conducting observations. Checking for how learning is applied in the
work place is an important aspect of evaluation because at this level, the amount of
learning that is transferred from a professional development mechanism to the work
environment can support and lead into transformations in the educational landscape
(Kirkpatrick, 1994).
The fourth level measures change in organizational goals (Bates, 2004). For
example, if a staff member attended a workshop designed to strengthen their
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advising skills, level one would measure the staff member’s satisfaction with the
workshop. Level two would assess what the staff member learned. Level three
would look for indications that the staff member was applying what was learned to
their practice, and level four would look for improved advisee outcomes (are there
fewer errors, are the advisees doing better as a result, etc.). This final level of
evaluation can inform stakeholders, such as a supervisor, the organization, and the
client to which the individual serves, about the return of investment as a result of
participating in the professional development mechanism (Kirkpatrick, 1994).
Often, measuring this level is much more challenging than measuring transfer and as
a result, is rarely explored. But when conducted, this level of evaluation provides the
most useful analysis regarding what an organization needs to improve in the
decision-making process.
Kirkpatrick’s (1994) model will guide this study. Specifically, this
framework will help determine the level of evaluation in terms of satisfaction and the
perception of learning as a result of the individual's participation in a professional
development symposium.
Adult Learning
Professional development is a common vehicle for training to stay abreast of
the current trends and to implement educational reforms (Guskey, 2000).
Professional development in higher education can be defined as the acquisition of “a
body of knowledge and skills to improve the quality of teaching for learners and,
ultimately, to enhance learning outcomes” (Kutner, Sherman, Tibbetess, & Condelli,
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1997, p. 6). In student affairs, professional development means having the
“knowledge of appropriate theories, current research, and proven best practices,”
(Carter, 2001, p. 311) to help serve the clients, the students. Roberts (2005) adds
that professional development in student affairs has traditionally been utilized for
administrators to gain competencies, to generate new ideas, and to find new
mechanisms to address the needs of students. Competencies in a particular skill set
“implies a level of understanding and confidence that must be reached before one
can hope to perform at a satisfactory level” (Carpenter, 2003, p. 573).
The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS,
2003), introduced a preliminary set of professional development standards for
student affairs professionals. As the student affairs profession progressed in terms of
establishing itself as a profession, the National Association of Student Personnel
Administration (NASPA), utilized Janosik's (2002) curriculum matrix to guide their
professional development activities in order to focus on a curriculum driven
approach (Janosik, Carpenter, & Creamer, 2006). These standards have been
adopted by NASPA only within the last 10 years (Carpenter, 2003). The Student
Affairs Professional Development Curriculum can be found in Figure 2.
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Figure 2. The Student Affairs Professional Development Curriculum
In an effort to streamline the student affairs professional development
curriculum, NASPA joined the American College Personnel Association (ACPA),
another major professional association for student affairs professionals, in 2010, to
develop the Professional Competencies of Student Affairs Practitioners. These
competencies were “...intended to define the broad knowledge, skills, and in some
cases, attitudes expected of student affairs professionals” (p. 3). Further, the
competencies are also “...intended to inform the design of professional development
opportunities for student affairs professionals by providing outcomes that can be
incorporated into the design of specific curriculum and training opportunities”
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(NASPA & ACPA, 2010, p. 3). The professional competencies include those shown
in Figure 3.
Advising and Helping
Human and Organizational
Resources
Assessment, Evaluation, and
Research
Law, Policy, and Governance
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Leadership
Ethical Professional Practice
Personal Foundations
History, Philosophy, and Values
Student Learning and
Development
Figure 3. NASPA/ACPA professional competencies
These professional competencies drive the curriculum for both NASPA and
ACPA’s conferences, institutes, workshops, or any professional development
opportunity provided by these associations. “All student affairs professionals should
be able to demonstrate their ability to meet the basic list of outcomes under each
competency area regardless of how they entered the profession” (NASPA, 2012).
However demonstrating proficiency in these competencies usually involves a self-
assessment based on the descriptions outlined in the category levels labeled as
“Basic,” “Intermediate,” or “Advanced” (NASPA & ACPA, 2010). Evaluation of
these competencies at professional development opportunities are often moderated
by the individual participating in the conference, institute, or workshop; or the
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program determines whether or not a participant has met the professional
development objectives through surveying satisfaction levels. As a result,
determining the effectiveness of professional development opportunities and quality
preparation programs, in terms of learning, has not been evaluated (Carpenter, 2003).
What may be lacking in the evaluation of professional development strategies
in student affairs is the conceptual framework. One way to theorize professional
development in student affairs is to look at how adults learn. The effectiveness of
professional development can be measured by the acquisition of new knowledge,
skill sets, or strategies. As a result, adult learning theory may provide a foundation
to better understand how to design effective professional development opportunities
for student affairs professionals. While there are many theorists whose expertise lies
in adult learning, this chapter will discuss Kegan and Knowles. Knowles however,
will be the main focus for grounding professional development in adult learning
theory.
To frame the scholarship of student affairs, Fried (2002) suggests applying
learning principles to organizational development. As such, professionals within the
organizational structure, “learn continually, systems also evolve and improve in their
ability to achieve their goals” (Fried, 2002, p. 5).
The complexities of the student affairs practice, because of the diverse roles
and students to which they serve, typically involve addressing student issues that
often drive professionals to act quickly because most institutions incorporate in their
mission the value of quality education, serving the needs of students, and/or
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preparing students to be global citizens (Fried, 2002). At the core of most
institutional missions, is student success, for which student affairs professionals are
often relied upon to foster and as such, any challenges or situations that hinder
student success often requires immediate attention. Student affairs professionals are
often faced with challenges and time pressures that encourage them to move from
discovery, directly to application, without taking the time to integrate or connect how
might the new knowledge can be best utilized within the context of their own
organization (Fried, 2002). Often when student affairs professionals participate in
professional development opportunities, from which they may obtain new
knowledge/new programming that was applied at a different institution successfully,
implementation of this new knowledge is immediate without assessment. Therefore,
what is lacking in the student affairs profession is the culture of learning and
assessment (Fried, 2002). Fried (2002) argues that in order for :
...people to learn about things that matter to them, to create meaning in their
own lives using the data they acquire through their studies, we must find
ways to integrate the learning processes throughout our institutions and move
beyond our historical notions of learning as a phenomenon that occurs
primarily in classrooms. (p. 126)
Understanding the foundations of learning may provide a conceptual
framework that will enable student affairs practitioners to begin assessing the
effectiveness of professional development modalities. Adult learning theory,
Andragogy, is the process by which adults learn continuously through inquiry and
the discovery of “new knowledge through intuition and the analysis of experience”
(Knowles, 1978, p. 10). Andragogy is rooted in the work of developmental theorists
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such as Piaget, Bandura, Erickson, and Maslow. Jean Piaget, a child psychologist,
identified four stages of cognitive development that framed an individual's ability to
comprehend and adapt to new information (Springhouse Corporation, 1990). Albert
Bandura, whose work is based on cognitive theory, where many of the learning
theories are rooted, believed that people learn through observation or modeling,
known as observational learning (Cherry, 2011). Piaget’s and Bandura’s theories
focus on the cognitive aspects of learning that can be demonstrated through self-
efficacy as well. This will be discussed further later in the chapter.
Eric Erikson and Abraham Maslow, also developmental theorists, focus their
work on the psychosocial developmental aspects of motivation. Erikson’s model of
psychosocial development contend that experiencing life lessons and challenges
contribute to the growth of individuals (Chapman, 2011). Abraham Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs model posits that all individuals are motivated by needs, where
the most basic needs are inborn (Chapman, 2004). Understanding the earlier works
of developmental theorists help shape our understanding of Andragogy which can be
used as a foundation to frame professional development. Important to note is that
much of the development theorists’ works, specifically Maslow’s, on human
motivation can been seen in management training and personal development,
(Chapman, 2004). For example, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model can be
demonstrated in the workplace. An expectation by an employee may be the
employee's need for their employer to be responsible for providing opportunities in
the organizational environment that will maximize the potential of employees, or in
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Maslow’s terms, self-actualization. With an overview of key developmental
theorists, we can begin to explore adult learning theorists that may provide the
conceptual framework for professional development.
Kegan
Robert Kegan’s work (1982, 1994) on adult learning is based on Piaget’s
stage theories and is cognitively based. Kegan (1982) first introduced his stage
theory as stages of development that describe how adults socially mature and learn.
In 1994, these stages evolved into orders of consciousness that focused on the
theory’s key concept of subject-object consciousness, where the subject at one level,
becomes the object at the next level. Subject consciousness refers to self-concepts
that we are identified with and as a result cannot take an objective perspective.
Object consciousnesses are elements of self that an individual can reflect upon,
manage and take action (Kegan, 1982). Having been subject consciousness at an
earlier stage, an individual can separate themselves and can have an objective
perspective at that part of self.
Adults learn by creating meaning through experiences, where meaning
making begins at birth (Kegan, 1982). As a result, learning is a life-long process that
focuses on organizing an individual's thinking, feeling, and social relating, versus
focusing on content. Based on Kegan’s theory (1994), learning is summative,
building upon experience at each level of consciousness. There are five levels of
consciousness (stages of development) that frame Kegan’s (1982) theory, all of
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which are used to develop how an individual thinks, feels and relates to society as an
evolution of experience. The five levels of consciousness are:
• Stage 0: Incorporative Balance - Sense of self is not developed, but there
is no distinction between self and other. Sensory and reflex experiences
are primary in this stage with no other awareness.
• Stage 1: Impulsive Balance - Recognizing one's own impulses. Social
appreciation and awareness of ability to take action to fulfill a need. But
existence of others is not clear.
• Stage 2: Imperial Balance - Awareness of both an individual's own
experience as well as someone else's. Thinking becomes more logical
and organized, begin to develop sense of self and what the self wants.
• Stage 3: Interpersonal Balance - Mutual relationships become possible
because other people exist alongside self that need to be considered.
Appreciation of others and expanding perspectives occur at this stage.
Consciousness is established.
• Stage 4: Institutional Balance - Understanding systems, greater
autonomy. Individuals have capacity to be responsible and take
ownership for self. Establish own set of values and ideologies.
Relationships are part of one’s world.
• Stage 5: Interindividual Balance - Individuals see beyond themselves.
Recognition that people can be directors and creators of systems.
Understand how systems fit together in a meaningful way. The
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recognition of their “commonalties and interdependence with others”
(Kegan, 1982, p. 239) is found at this stage. Nurturance and affiliation is
a key characteristic here.
Having identified the Kegan's (1994) five levels of consciousness, Kegan later
identified five assumptions regarding adult learning (Duys & Hobson, 2004):
Development is a lifelong process. People learn by organizing meaning out
of experiences, where meaning making begins at birth. As such, progress to the new
stage incorporates and transforms the individual into different experiences. This
assumption of learning aligns with student affairs practitioners who participate in a
“cycle of professional development - learning, doing, and contributing - clearly
repeated throughout the career in a myriad of ways and with a variety of tasks”
(Carpenter, 2003, p. 582).
Learning is not centered on content. Learning is based on the summation of
experiences instead of focusing on the explicit content. Meaning is derived from the
experience that results from the organization of one’s thinking, feeling, and social
relating. This assumption is particularly relevant to the work of student affairs
practitioners as the profession is centered at collaboration (Carpenter, 2003). When
an issue arises that is unfamiliar to an individual, more often than not, colleagues
will be consulted for assistance. Within this assumption, collaboration can take on
many forms within the student affairs profession, such as mentoring and peer review.
Different subject-object relationship at each order or level of consciousness.
Subject refers to elements of our knowing or organizing what we are identified with,
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tied to, or embedded in (Kegan, 1992). Object refers to those elements that we can
reflect upon, handle, look at, be responsible for, relate to, internalize, and act upon.
The subject-object relationship focuses on each level of consciousness, where at one
level the focus may be the subject and then becomes object in the next (Kegan,
1982). An example of this in the student affairs profession is the navigation of
political savviness. There is an underlying assumption, an “invisible” line that
student affairs professionals should not cross when developmental programs require
the involvement or “blessing” of the faculty. For example, New Student
Convocation at some institutions has been spearheaded by student affairs
professionals, yet the program is an academic ceremony. Often the ceremony is an
extension of programming within an area called New Student Programs, First Year
Experience, or New Student Orientation. New Student Convocation requires
participation of faculty but the coordination of the program is often led by a mid-
level professional. Thus, the invitation to participate is often sent by the Dean of
Students or Vice President of Student Affairs, a representative that has equal stature
to that of the faculty. Navigating the politics of hierarchy is the subject in this case
and recognizing this hierarchy to allow a superior to create “buy-in” from the faculty
is the object.
Each order builds upon each other. As a person moves higher and advances
through each level of consciousness or stages of awareness, which is also known as
Kegan's (1982) developmental stages of maturity, people can then develop the ability
to reflect upon something they were once subject to, which in turn will help them
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learn more about themselves and the world around them. This is the ability to self-
assess (Kegan, 1982). In student affairs, this assumption is reflected through
Carpenter and Miller’s (1981) three stages of professional development where at
each level, progression and advancement occur. These levels are: formative,
application, and additive stages. The formative stage is where new professionals
begin their training and is oriented into the student affairs profession, such as
entering in a graduate program. The next stage, application, is where the new
professional secures a position within the field. An example of this stage would be
serving as a coordinator of a program. At the final, additive stage, “sufficient
expertise and experience have been gained to permit contributions to professional
practice at an ever-increasing level” (Carpenter, 2003, p. 581). These are the
professionals that are developing policy, who serve in supervisory and mentorship
roles.
Subject and object are not fixed. Learning is a progression of reflections
where the subject and object can interchange in terms of focus depending on level of
consciousness (Kegan, 1982). The student affairs profession is built upon the
premise of “good initial preparation and then engage in career-long learning”
(Carpenter, 2003, p. 582). In other words, there is an intentionality of practice where
student affairs professionals engage with students and colleagues with an overall
understanding of the organizational mission and objectives. At the same time, the
student affairs practice “changes and grows and becomes more refined with
discussion, experience, assessment, and research” (Carpenter, 2003, p. 582).
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Understanding Kegan's theory of adult learning may be one way to provide a
conceptual framework for professional development for student affairs practitioners.
As discussed in Chapter One, entering the field of student affairs at times can be by
“accident” and in doing so, leveraging the knowledge gained from a new
professional experience can parallel Kegan's levels of consciousness. As new
professionals gain experience over a period of time, their knowledge base begins to
expand and accumulate, and as a result, these professionals pursue advancement to
the next level in their career. At each career level in the student affairs profession
(new professional, mid-level, senior and SSAO), advancement occurs as the
summation of experiences that align with the “upward ladder” (Daloz, 1986) of
Kegan's theory on adult learning. Based on Kegan's (1994) theory, as adults
develop, learning occurs as a relational process, in a manner by which we see
ourselves in relation to others. In other words, an individual's self-perception can be
based on the feedback from our colleagues, which is a constant part of the efficacy
process (Fried, 2002).
Knowles
One of the leading theorists of adult learning is Malcolm Knowles (Robles,
1998; Tough, 1985). Knowles’ theory of adult learning is based on the
developmental theories of Rogers, Maslow, Erikson and Havighurst (Knowles,
1978). As discussed earlier, in particular with the introduction of Maslow and
Erikson, understanding the importance of the developmental theorist’s contributions
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to adult learning – specifically the use of developmental stages and an understanding
of motivation – provide a foundation for understanding how adults learn.
Adult learning or Andragogy (adult education) assumes that adults learn
differently than children, with adults having different interests and capacities for
learning (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1998). Andragogy is the process of mental
inquiry whereas the manner in which children are traditionally thought to learn is
passive as a result of receiving transmitted content (Knowles, Holton & Swanson,
2005).
Through decades of research, Knowles’ (1978) originally postulated four
assumptions, and later added two additional assumptions, describing Andragogy:
The need to know. Adults feel the need to know why they should learn
(Knowles, 1984). For student affairs practitioners, there is an inherent obligation to
students to do the best job in serving the needs of a diverse student population in an
informed and principled manner (Carpenter, 2003). As such student affairs
professionals know that they need to be accountable to institutional missions and to
the students that they serve. Accountability then, is the motivation for practitioners
to pursue professional development opportunities that will support their professional
learning and understanding of student needs.
The learner’s self-concept. As people mature, they develop a self-concept of
taking ownership of their decisions and lives. Once self-concept is established, there
is a need to be recognized by others and treated by others as an individual who is
self-directed (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007).
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The role of the learner’s experiences. Adults enter education with a lifetime
of experience and a greater capacity for knowledge (Knowles, et al., 1998, p. 66).
The quality of experience differs from youth in that adults may appreciate education
more because they are aware of the value that it brings. Whereas, youth may not
appreciate education as much because their worldview of experiences is much
smaller and therefore they may not see the “big picture” or the benefits of education.
Readiness to learn. For an adult to learn, the learning experience must align
with his/her developmental tasks thus far (Knowles et al., 1998, p. 67). In other
words, adults come ready to learn what they need to know in order to manage a real-
life situation. This might be a non-traditional student or an adult learner going back
to college because they never completed their Bachelor's degree. They return,
committed to learning and completing their degree.
Orientation to learning. Adults are motivated to learn new material if
applicable to their real-life situations- adults are life centered (Knowles et al., 1998,
p. 67). In other words, adults learn best from life experiences, in particular relatable
life experiences.
Motivation. Adults’ primary motivators to learn come from internal desires
rather than external rewards (Knowles, 1984). Examples of internal desires may
include, but are not limited to, “the desire for increased job satisfaction, self-esteem,
quality of life...” (Knowles, 1990, p. 57).
In practice, the 6 core assumptions outlined above are linked to two
additional dimensions: 1) outcomes: goals and purposes for learning and 2)
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variables: accounting for individual scenarios (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson 2005).
In other words, the model for adult learning is based on the six core assumptions that
vary by the individual and situational differences. In this manner, adult learning
focuses on learning transactions based on individual scenarios of how the learning is
received, versus the overall goal of the program or training that is being offered
(Knowles, Holton, & Swanson 2005). Used as a learning framework, Andragogy
can focus on individual learning to advance the individual, institution/organization,
or societal growth. With a better understanding of how adults learn, a conceptual
framework for professional development can be designed as it relates to effective
strategies and delivery mechanisms.
Self-Efficacy
The ability to ascertain one's individual capabilities to organize and perform a
process of actions in order to achieve descriptive organizational duties is what
Bandura (1986) calls self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a concept that is attributed to a
larger area of study known as social learning theory, today known as social cognitive
theory, developed by Albert Bandura (1986; Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988).
Bandura (1977), in developing social learning theory, found that an important
component was missing from the theory, the idea of self-beliefs, stating, “...of all the
beliefs, self-efficacy, people's judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute
courses of action required to attain designated types of performances is the most
influential” (p. 29).
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While there are a number of theories for self-efficacy, social learning theory
is the most relevant theory to women and women's career development (Spear,
1978). Social learning theory is based on the operant conditioning principles of
stimulus, response, and reinforcement (Bandura, 1971). Individuals with low self-
efficacy to perform a specific task may circumvent the situation and those with high
self-efficacy are individuals who believe in their capabilities to perform a specific
task (Bandura, 1977). When individuals are not confident in their own skill sets or
knowledge base, performance may result in less effort and persistence when facing
challenges as opposed to those who feel confident about their chances of success
(Bandura, 1977).
Additional emphasis of the theory posits that a person is able to learn through
observation versus performing the task by him/her (Bandura & Walters, 1964).
Social learning theory further suggest that people are more likely to mimic a model
they perceive to be more similar to them than a model that was different. Self-
efficacy can play a significant role in determining how people make choices, how
much effort will be expended, how one handles challenges, and the level of anxiety
or confidence one will bring to the task at hand (Bandura, 1977). An individuals'
belief about one's capabilities is better predictors for what one can do and how one
behaves, instead of what an individual is actually capable of achieving (Bandura,
1977).
Hackett and Betz (1981) first proposed the relationship between self-efficacy
theory to the field of career development and since then many more studies have
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looked at self-efficacy for specific occupations (Lopez & Lent, 1992; Lopez, Lent,
Brown, & Gore, 1997; Betz & Hackkett, 1981; Turner & Papan, 2002), career
decision self-efficacy (Luzzo, 1993; Taylor & Popma, 1990), and career search
efficacy (Solberg, Good, Fischer, Brown, & Nord, 1995). Hackett and Betz (1981)
found that efficacy beliefs predict occupational considerations when controlling for
variations in ability, previous level of academic achievement, and career interests.
Individuals who believe in their abilities to arrive at good decisions are more likely
to invest a higher level of effort in exploring career choices and subsequent benefits
(Bluestein, 1989).
Women have been found to refrain from considering occupations that they
believe are beyond their abilities. On the other hand, when a woman's leadership
self-efficacy is high, the likelihood of pursuing a leadership position and the interest
in that position is higher. Increased leadership self-efficacy has been found to be
related to both how women envision their professional lives as a leader and how
determined they are to achieve what they envision (Bluestein, 1989).
Current Study
Based on the literature review, women in mid-level managerial positions are
not advancing to SSAO positions at the rate that they are represented in the
profession.
Additionally, research has shown that women perceive career advancement
as a choice between career and family. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the
extent to which a key professional development symposium addresses the perceived
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concerns regarding advancement from mid-managerial positions to SSAO positions.
Traditionally professional development opportunities have focused on job specific
skills, but not on the effectiveness of professional development modalities that
support the career advancement of mid-level women to SSAO positions while
addressing a prominent challenge for women: work life balance. Specifically, this
research proposal evaluated the National Association of Student Administrations'
Alice Manicur Symposium. The Alice Manicur Symposium is geared towards
women in the profession who are contemplating advancing to a SSAO position
(NASPA, 2010).
This study may be important because student affairs is simply not recruiting
and retaining enough women from mid-level positions and advancing them to SSAO
positions. This study will attempt to capture the benefit, if any, that women saw in
this professional development opportunity as they consider moving from a mid-level
position to a senior student affairs position. Using the framework of adult learning,
Andragogy, and self-efficacy as a lens for examining any benefit they found could
help future professional development programs improve their usefulness.
Variables of the Study
Based on the previous review of the literature, this study will explore the
following variables:
Level of confidence in their leadership abilities to pursue a SSAO position:
Bandura (1977) defined self-efficacy as, “...people's judgments of their capabilities
to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of
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performances...” (p. 29). Self-efficacy can play a significant role in determining how
people make choices regarding career advancement (Bandura, 1977). High self-
efficacy in skill set and knowledge base has been found to support the advancement
of women to SSAO positions (Bandura, 1977; Hackett & Betz, 1981).
Individuals who believe in their skill sets to advance to senior level positions
are more likely to explore career planning strategies and advancement (Bluestein,
1989). Women who demonstrate low self-efficacy in their abilities and skill sets
have been found to refrain from considering career advancement. Increased
leadership self-efficacy has been found to be related to both how women envision
their professional lives as a leader and how determined they are to achieve what they
envision (Bluestein, 1989).
Level of confidence in their current and future abilities (pre and post): Self-
reflection (Nottingham, 1998), has been found to be an effective mode of
professional development where an individual has the opportunity to consider and
understand how they acquire knowledge, how to apply that knowledge to enhance
existing skill sets, and how to identify and expand the knowledge base to support
career advancement. Self-reflection coupled with mentoring have been found to
support mid-level manager's decision making process to pursue a senior level student
affairs position as well as enhancing self-efficacy (Renn & Hughes, 2004).
Expectations of the Symposium. Instituting high expectations have been
linked to providing “high quality” professional development practices that often
include: content focused on how students learn; comprehensive, engaging learning
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opportunities; leadership opportunities for leadership development; constant duration
of the professional development practice; and the collective involvement of groups
belonging to the same organization or unit (Desimone, Porter, Garet, Yoon, &
Birman, 2002).
Level of confidence in work-life balance: Research has shown that at the
core of the decision making process for women to advance to senior level positions
is balancing their careers and their personal lives, such as family (Nelson & Burke).
In such studies, 20% of these respondents chose not to have children and
approximately 25% delayed plans to have children (Nelson & Burke, 2000). Work
life balance is prominent challenge that has been found to hinder the advancement of
women to senior roles (Allen, Herst, Bruck, & Sutton, 2000; Byron, 2005).
Overall effectiveness of the Symposium: Kirkpatrick’s (1994) four levels of
evaluation framework, reaction, learning, transfer, and results would typically
measure the variables outlined here and would measure overall effectiveness on the
basis of learning.
Level 1 - Reaction: While the researcher would have preferred to evaluate
the variables at all four levels, due to time constraints and an error in constructing the
surveys, the researcher chose to take the participants' perspectives and assess the
degree to which they thought the Symposium was useful. How satisfied were
participants is indicative of this level. The evaluation for all the variables remained
at a level 1 because the study only utilized surveys that were quantitative in nature
that simply measured satisfaction.
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Level 2 - Learning: Participant responses in the free response sections as
well as in the forced question sections will provide considerations to the perception
of learning that took place. To assess for learning, using Kirkpatrick’s (1994) model,
quantitative variables would typically be measured by utilizing a pre and post test
that ask factual questions, questions that provide a “right” or “wrong” answer in pre
and post. In this study, the surveys only asked quantitative questions regarding
satisfaction and not questions of change in knowledge acquisition. The free response
and forced questions sections will provide richer data that can consider perceptions
of learning by participants.
Level 3 - Application/Transfer: This level measures how acquired knowledge
was applied or transferred to the work place. In order to obtain this data, the
researcher would need to follow-up and ask to provide examples of transfer and
application. However, this could not be done due to time constraints.
Level 4 - Impact on Organization: This level measures how the overall
effectiveness of the professional development impacted the organization. For the
purposes of this study, the researcher would have to follow-up with the individual
participants to inquire about promotions received as a result of participating in the
Symposium. Again, due to time constraints, this was not done.
To determine overall effectiveness of the Symposium, an evaluation that
included each of the four levels outlined above would have been implemented.
Though the intent of the original study was to conduct level 1 and 2 analysis, the
flawed design of the survey left the researcher with only level 1 data. Therefore the
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study's results focus on level 1, satisfaction. However, it is important to note that
assessing for satisfaction will be coupled by self-reports that speak to expectation
and confidence, which level 1 does not typically include. Therefore analysis of the
data beyond satisfaction will be extended with these variables.
Level of confidence that overall outcomes were met: One of the three
challenges identified by Guskey (2000) and Borko (2004) regarding professional
development is irrelevance. Therefore, setting the tone by identifying the learning
outcomes of a professional development program is important to ensure that
participants are embarking on a relevant journey/experience. Once learning
outcomes are set, follow-through to ensure that components of the professional
development program addresses or provides information regarding the identified
learning outcomes is integral to the success of the professional development
(Guskey, 2000). Since demographic data, race/ethnicity, educational level,
professional level, marital status and family were asked of the participants, the
researcher thought it may be important to conduct an analysis to compare for
differences in order to determine if such factors impact the manner in which
professional development was received. However, the demographic data is not the
focus of this study.
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CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which a key
professional development symposium addresses the perceived concerns regarding
advancement from mid-managerial positions to SSAO positions. Traditionally
professional development opportunities have focused on job specific skills, but not
on the effectiveness of professional development modalities that support the career
advancement of mid-level women to SSAO positions while addressing a prominent
challenge for women: work life balance. Specifically, this research proposal
evaluated the National Association of Student Administration’s Alice Manicur
Symposium. The Alice Manicur Symposium is geared towards women in the
profession who are contemplating advancing to a SSAO position (NASPA, 2010).
The research questions that framed this study were:
1. Prior to attending the Symposium, how confident were the participants in
their leadership abilities related to serving as a SSAO?
2. Prior to attending the Symposium, how confident were the participants in
their existing skills related to pursing a SSAO position?
3. Prior to attending the Symposium, what did participants expect from the
Symposium with respect to meeting participant professional development
needs?
4. After the Symposium, to what extent, if at all, did participants’
confidence in their ability to manage work life balance get addressed?
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5. After the Symposium, how confident were the participants in their
abilities to advance their career and pursue a SSAO position?
6. Upon completion, how effective did participants find the Symposium?
7. After the Symposium, to what extend to participants believe that the
overall outcomes of the Symposium were met.
Research Method and Design
This study used a quantitative research design, using surveys that included
open-ended questions as well as forced choice questions. Quantitative analysis is
defined by Patton (2002) as the “use of standardized measures so that the varying
perspectives and experiences of people can be fit into a limited number of
predetermined response categories to which numbers are assigned” (p. 14).
The quantitative method of data collection and analysis provided an
opportunity to measure a greater number of people with a limited number of
questions that facilitated a generalized comparison and statistical aggregation of the
data. The use of quantitative research sought to determine the design and
functionality of a program (Cresswell, 2009). Quantitative research focused on
isolating variables in order to ascertain causal relationships (Cresswell, 1998).
Validity and reliability in quantitative research depended on random assignment, the
careful construction of research instruments, and standardization of procedures that
determined cause and effect relationships that can be generalized across different
contexts. Validity and reliability ensured that the study can be replicated.
Quantitative research is often referred to as the scientific method (Cresswell, 2003)
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and is based on the philosophical assumption of “post-positivism,” which can be
referred to as the thought processes that challenge traditional perspectives of truth
and knowledge (Phillips & Burbules, 2000).
Strengths for utilizing the quantitative approach included: precise, numerical
data; less time consuming with the use of statistical software available; and was
beneficial for studying large groups of people. Quantitative research tends to be
more credible since the results of the research study was independent of the research.
But with strengths, there are weaknesses to quantitative approaches. The data
obtained does not provide rich information since much of the data can be generalized
and cannot be directly applied to specific scenarios, environments, or individuals.
The researcher may also be challenged with confirmation bias. Confirmation bias
occurs as a result of the researchers' unintentional oversight of phenomena due to
focusing on theory.
Site Selection
The site for this study was NASPA's Alice Manicur Symposium. Participant
highlights included: (a) participants were all female participants; (b) participants
were women who are currently in the field in a mid-level position; (c) participants
are professionals who were considering advancing to a Senior Student Affairs
Officer position; and (d) the Symposium provided an environment that supported the
reflective analysis of an individual’s personal and professional aspirations. The
learning outcomes identified by the Symposium, included the following (NASPA,
2010):
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• Participants will be able to understand multiple factors to be considered in
a decision to pursue a SSAO position.
• Participants will establish mentoring and peer relationships that will
extend beyond the symposium.
• Participants will develop strategies for next career steps.
The Symposium also described on the website the focus of the program sessions:
Symposium sessions focus on such topics as strategic thinking; leading
change; planning for career advancement and continual development; and
personal and professional life balance.
The Symposium materials proposed to utilize a variety of approaches to
deliver an impactful professional development experience. These include but may
not be limited to: engaged and reflective process where attendees would participate
in a variety of professional development modalities, such as large-group sessions,
small, faculty-led mentor groups, and individualized meetings with faculty as well as
personal reflection through journaling and personal discussions with other
participants (See Appendix A for full program description).
The Symposium provided professional development strategies for women in
mid-level managerial positions who were contemplating a move to a SSAO position
in the near future. A community of female student affairs professionals, who came
from a range of institutions, to include community colleges, two-year and four-year
public and private colleges and universities, convened to engage in discussions “led
by innovative and knowledgeable faculty members with diverse backgrounds”
(NASPA, 2010, p. 1) (See Appendix B for list of faculty). Prior to arrival,
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participants were asked to complete pre-symposium assignments that included
interviews, StrengthsQuest assessment, and a reading list that was mailed to
participants (See Appendix C & D for the complete list of assignments). The
schedule ran from a Sunday afternoon and ended on a Wednesday afternoon,
covering topics such as, “Insights into the Real Life of an SSAO,” “Contemporary
Issues in Higher Education,” “Dessert & Fireside Chat on Working with the
President,” and “Balance - You and the SSAO Position,” to name a few (See
Appendix E for the complete schedule).
The Symposium is held every other year and was formerly known as the
Symposium for Women Aspiring to be Senior Student Affairs Officers. It was later
named the Alice Manicur Symposium in 1996 (S. Gordon, personal communication,
November 2, 2011). Alice Manicur was an Italian immigrant who was first exposed
to higher education in the 1950s (NASPA, 2011) and became the first Dean of
Students at Frostberg State University in 1960. She was the first woman to become
president of NASPA in 1976, having served as a member of the NASPA Board of
Directors and the NASPA Foundation Board of Directors (NASPA, 2011).
In the off-year of the Symposium, a similar program is offered to those being
groomed to become Senior Student Affairs Officers, but is inclusive of both men and
women. The Symposium was focused on women empowerment, issues such as
family and bearing children as well as other issues that may not be experienced by
the male counterpart were addressed (S. Gordon, personal communication,
November 2, 2011). The Symposium was created to address the lack of women in
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the SSAO role with the hope that by focusing on this specific demographic,
participants would feel supported and confident, thus increasing women to pursue
advancement into SSAO positions.
Conference materials suggested that participants in the Symposium are those
in mid-level positions, such as Assistant Director positions, and should have
completed a master’s degree. In the past, many participants have been working on a
doctorate or have recently completed one and as a result some participants may fall
into this category. Participants in the Symposium would have at least had some
oversight of one or more functional areas, were experienced in the selection and
supervision of staff, fiscal management, and/or program development and
implementation (NASPA, 2011).
Attendance at the Symposium is voluntary, but those interested in
participating submitted an application and be accepted (See Appendices F & G for
application). The Symposium was geared toward mid-level managers who report
directly to a SSAO or academic officer of the institution. Promotional mailings
about the Symposium were sent specifically to interested female membership of
NASPA, as well as voting delegates who have titles such as, “Assistant Vice
President” or “Assistant Dean” level positions. Females in “coordinator” or
“assistant director” positions, were not sent the program information and/or
application. Information and the application was also sent to current Vice Presidents
asking them to nominate people or pass on materials to individuals who were
deserving or ready to take the next step in their careers (S. Gordon, personal
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communication, November 2, 2011). Potential participants were also found through
a “purchased” list of women who have expressed interest in the past in women's
center issues or in female leadership development.
Mid-mangers interested in attending the Symposium applied through an
application process that included a resume and a letter of recommendation written by
a female currently presiding in a SSAO position and who could speak to the
participants' strengths, talents, and interest in becoming an SSAO (NASPA, 2011).
On average, 80-90 people apply, with only 60-75 women being accepted. This year,
89 applications were submitted and 75 women were accepted. However as the
conference date arrived, only 64 participants were in attendance. The number of
participants selected was designed to ensure small group experiences for participants
at the Symposium. Six faculty from various institutions across the country
volunteered to serve as mentors to assigned groups of women at the Symposium, as
well as facilitators, and presenters. The six faculty each lead a group of eight to ten
delegates in one group. Small groups were designed to foster intimate and in-depth
personal connections among group members (S. Gordon, personal communication,
November 2, 2011).
The selection committee who reviewed the applications included the Director
of the Symposium, a position that changes each year, a committee of faculty who
lead the Symposium, and NASPA staff. The selection committee looked at
applicants who were contemplating their next step to either become a Dean of
Students or Vice President of Student Affairs at their current institution or at another
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institution, whether it be at a small college, community college, or large institution,
(S. Gordon, personal communication, November 2, 2011). Since every institution is
different, the selection process could not rely on titles as a proxy for position level.
Instead, committee members looked at years of experience, the number of years in
the profession, the size of the institution and the level of responsibility expected over
each candidate’s last few positions. For example, in the 2012 cohort, there was a
Dean of Students, which is a senior student affairs position, not a mid-level, who
attended the Symposium. However, she is a Dean for a large institution, which is
different than being the Vice President at a large institution (S. Gordon, personal
communication, November 2, 2011). Selection committee members looked for
participants that were well rounded and who were really looking at the next step in
their career, specifically, a SSAO position.
Instrumentation
A modified version of NASPA's 2010 Symposium evaluation was utilized for
this study in pre and post settings (NASPA, 2011). The 2010 version consisted of 61
satisfaction questions that solicited feedback from every aspect of the Symposium,
ranging from the location, to the cost, and to each session. Examples of questions
included:
Please indicate your level of satisfaction with the following aspects of the
program...
How well did this program meet your expectations?
Please indicate to what extent you found the following to be valuable: - (a
specific session is named here)
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Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements: The
Manicur Symposium helped me to - (strategic planning; reflecting on
professional & personal life balance, etc.)
The researcher modified the questions by selecting only the questions
relevant to this study. The selected questions were reframed by asking participants
to consider their present position to determine their confidence level in their abilities
and as a future SSAO (pre Symposium). New questions were also added that
focused on the pursuit of becoming a SSAO as well as work life balance questions.
Some examples of the modified and newly added questions in the pre Symposium
included (See Appendix H for the full pre Symposium survey):
To what extent do you feel confident that you can lead to create change?
I am confident in my strategic thinking and planning abilities, which can be
utilized to become a successful senior/chief student affairs officer.
I am attending this Symposium to gain strategies to balance my personal and
professional life.
Example questions from the post Symposium survey included (See Appendix I for
full post Symposium survey):
Faculty provided knowledge and tools for me to pursue a senior student
affairs officer position with confidence.
The session regarding strategies for life/work balance will aid my
development as a mid-level professional as I prepare to become an SSAO.
I feel confident in my abilities to pursue an SSAO position and manage
work/life balance successfully.
The survey was originally designed to assess for learning. However the
appropriate measures to assess for learning, pre and post surveys that reflected the
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same exact questions, were not distributed as originally planned. Further, asking
factual questions, a component to assess for learning, was also not included in the
surveys. While an attempt to add questions for learning was made, the modified
version of NASPA's survey actually included questions of satisfaction and self-
efficacy, with effectiveness and considerations for learning obtained through the self-
report/open-ended questions.
The plan for the original research design was to utilize a quantitative
approach only. However, upon survey development for the post survey of the
Symposium, open response questions were included as a result of informal
conversations the researcher had with participants who expressed areas of
improvement for the Symposium that might not have been identified in the existing
post survey questions. Therefore, the researcher included open-ended/free response
questions with the hope to capture additional feedback from the participants.
However, the researcher did not realize modifying the questions in the post survey
would prevent the study from conducting a true assessment for learning. While the
development and assessment of the surveys did not go as planned, the open-ended
questions yielded a high response rate from the participants. As a result, the post
surveys included data that were richer in context than one would expect from a
quantitative survey. The open-ended questions provided an opportunity for
individual participants to describe their experiences in terms of highlights, reasons
for participating in the Symposium, areas of improvement for the future, and how the
Symposium differed from other professional development opportunities.
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To ensure the validity of the measure, a pilot survey was distributed at
NASPA's Western Regional Conference Mid-Level Institute, held annually in one of
the Western States, which includes Arizona, California and Hawai`i. The 2011
Western Regional Conference was held at the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel in San Diego,
California (NASPA Western Regional Conference, 2011). The pilot was conducted
in order to determine how respondents answered the questions and to correct for any
questions that may have been confusing or hard to understand.
The Variables
While professional development is the main focus of the evaluation, the level
of self-efficacy emerged in the literature as a characteristic to pursue a high level
administrative leadership position. In addition to self-efficacy, work life balance
emerged in the literature as a challenge that prevented women from career
advancement. This was also a variable that the Symposium indicated would be
addressed during the program. Table 4 outlines the variables, the survey questions
attached to these variables, statistical analysis for the variable, as well as the
constructs and the evaluation level.
A demographic section was included, which requested the following
information from each participant: race/ethnicity, highest earned academic degree,
professional level, marital status, and number of children. However this portion of
the data was utilized only to determine if differences in any of the mentioned
demographics, varied among the variables.
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Table 4
Survey Variables
Research Question Survey
Statistical
Analysis Construct
Kirkpatrick
Framework
Q1: Prior to attending
the Symposium, how
confident were the
participants in their
leadership abilities
related to serving as a
SSAO?
Pre – items
1-9
Cronbach’s Alpha
T-test
(demographics)
Qualitative
Analysis: self-
reports
Self-efficacy
(Bandura, 1977;
1986; Hackett &
Baetz, 1981)
Level 1-
Reaction
Q2: Prior to attending
the Symposium, how
confident were the
participants in their
existing skills related to
pursuing a SSAO
position?
Pre – items
10-20
Cronbach’s Alpha
T-test
(demographics)
Qualitative
Analysis: self-
reports
Self-efficacy
(Bandura, 1977;
1986)
Self-reflection
(Nottingham,
1998)
Mentorship and
Self-efficacy (Renn
& Hughs, 2004)
Level 1-
Reaction
Q3: Prior to attending
the Symposium, what
did participants expect
from the Symposium
with respect to its
potential for enhancing
their knowledge and
their skills related to
seeking and then
successfully serving as a
SSAO?
Pre- items
22-28, 30-32
Cronbach’s Alpha
T-test
(demographics)
Analysis of the
means
Qualitative
Analysis: self-
reports
Effective
professional
development
(Desimone, Porter,
Garet, Yoon, &
Birman, 2002)
Level 1-
Reaction
Q4: After the
Symposium, to what
extent, if at all, did
participants’ confidence
in their ability to manage
work life balance
change?
Post – items
5, 7, 10, 14
Factor Analysis
Cronbach’s Alpha
T-test
(demographics)
Qualitative
Analysis: self-
reports
Work life balance
(Nelson & Burke,
2007; Hewlett &
Luce, 2005; Allen,
Herst, Bruck, &
Sutton, 2000;
Byron, 2005)
Level 1-
Reaction
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Table 4, continued
Research Question Survey
Statistical
Analysis Construct
Kirkpatrick
Framework
Q5: After the
Symposium, to what
extent, if at all, did
participants’ confidence
in their ability to
manage work life
balance change?
Post – items
1, 6, 12, 13,
15
Factor Analysis
Cronbach’s Alpha
T-test
(demographics)
Qualitative
Analysis: self-
reports
Self-efficacy
(Bandura, 1977;
1986)
Level 1-
Reaction
Q6: Upon completion,
how effective did
participants find the
Symposium?
Post- items
8, 11, 16
Factor Analysis
Cronbach’s Alpha
T-test
(demographics)
Analysis of the
means
Qualitative
Analysis: self-
reports
Professional
Development
(Guskey, 2000)
Level 1-
Reaction
Level 2 -
Learning
Q7: After the
Symposium, to what
extent did participants
believe that the overall
outcomes of the
Symposium were met?
Post:
Overall
learning
outcomes
met by the
Symposium?
Cronbach’s alpha
T-test
(demographics)
Qualitative
Analysis: self-
reports
Effective
Professional
Development –
outline of
outcomes (Guskey,
2000)
Level 1-
Reaction
Level 2 -
Learning
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Data Collection
Data was obtained via online surveys utilizing the modified version of
NASPA's satisfaction survey for the Symposium (NASPA, 2011). A pre and post
test was implemented. Participation in the study was solicited on a voluntary basis
via e-mail requesting participants to complete the survey through survey-monkey.
Participant e-mail addresses were obtained from the Symposium registration list filed
at the NASPA Office. The hope was to obtain 50% of the surveys returned for both
pre and post survey distribution.
The pilot survey for the pre test was sent out the week before November 17,
2011 for the Mid-Level Institute and the first week of December, exactly one month
prior to the Symposium, which was held the first week of January. Based on the
number of participants, with most Institutes having the maximum capacity of 35
participants, the number of surveys distributed matched the number of registered
participants as of the week prior to the conference, held on November 17, 2011.
Likewise, with most Symposiums enrolling an average participant rate of 60-70
participants, the number of surveys distributed matched the number of registered
participants as of the first week of December. Participants received the surveys
electronically via e-mail directing them to a survey-monkey link. Each participant
was provided with an overview of the purpose of the survey and was asked to
participant in the pre-treatment survey by following a link attached to their
registration materials. Participants had the opportunity to decline participation
without affecting their registration. All survey data was collected anonymously.
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A post symposium evaluation was typically conducted by the planner on the
last day of the Symposium and the participants were given a week deadline to
respond to the evaluation. The post survey for the study was created by the
researcher and the planners' evaluation was included at the end of the post-test
survey for the Symposium.
Data Analysis
To assess the relationship of a) self-efficacy to pursue a senior student affairs
position, b) the self-efficacy of skill sets and c) expectations of the Symposium, data
from questions related to each of the three variables were taken to form composites
of a new scale in order to obtain an average of the scale. In doing so, the items in
the initial analysis for all of the variables mentioned above were aggregated to
determine whether or not the items loaded in the manner posited by the researcher.
Thus, the measurement of the variables may be modified based on the viable and
useful measures for each section of the questionnaire in both the pre and post
surveys. Refer back to Table 4 for a summary of variables and questions related to
those variables. To determine scale reliability of the new variables, a reliability
analysis was performed to determine whether or not the items clustered actually
represented the new variable. Obtaining a Cronbach’s alpha of >.70 confirms a
reliable scale. Eliminating any item of the cluster for each variable that reduced the
reliability of the scale, was the process to which the best reliability was achieved.
The items that contributed to reliable measures were retained to create a composite
of the sum of the clusters and thus produced the new variable. The new variables
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that were created represent the viable scales from the original measures for self-
efficacy, skill set and expectations of a mid-level manager's willingness to pursue a
senior student affairs position in the pre-symposium survey.
In the factor analyses for the post-symposium survey, a scree plot of each
original variable for the post-symposium provided an estimated number of
dimensions related to the variable being measured. A factor was considered viable if
it contained at least two items with high primary loadings but without high secondary
loadings. Based on the number of dimensions, extractions were made to create
variables that clustered together compared to the other variables within each measure
of a Varimax rotated component matrix. For the variables that clustered, an alpha
reliability test of each measure was conducted until the best Cronbach’s alpha
reliability was achieved. Obtaining a Cronbach’s alpha of >.70 confirms a reliable
scale. Eliminating any item of the cluster for each variable that reduced the
reliability of the scale, was the process to which the best reliability was achieved.
The items that contributed to reliable measures were retained to create a composite
of the sum of the clusters and produce the new variable. The new variables that were
created represented the viable variables from the original measures for satisfaction,
balance, and self-efficacy of a mid-level manager's willingness to pursue a senior
student affairs position in the post-symposium survey.
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CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which a key
professional development symposium addressed the perceived concerns regarding
advancement from mid-managerial positions to SSAO positions. Traditionally
professional development opportunities have focused on job specific skills, but not
on the effectiveness of professional development modalities that support the career
advancement of mid-level women to SSAO positions while addressing a prominent
challenge for women: work life balance. Specifically, this research proposal
evaluated the National Association of Student Administrations' Alice Manicur
Symposium. The Alice Manicur Symposium is geared towards women in the
profession who are contemplating advancing to a SSAO position.
This chapter represents the results of the analysis of the data. Participant
characteristics, including race/ethnicity, educational level, professional level, marital
status, and family (whether or not participants had children), are presented in the first
section of this chapter. The next section presents the results of the data analysis as it
relates to each of the nine research questions. Discussion of these results is
presented in Chapter Five.
As noted in Chapter Three (methodology), this study incorporated a modified
version of NASPA's satisfaction survey, utilized in pre and post settings to provide a
descriptive analysis for the Alice Manicur Symposium. Upon survey development
for the post survey of the Symposium, open response questions were included as a
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result of informal conversations the researcher had with participants who expressed
areas of improvement for the Symposium that might not have been identified in the
existing post survey questions. Therefore, the researcher included open-ended/free
response questions with the hope to capture additional feedback from the
participants. However, the researcher did not realize modifying the questions in the
post survey would prevent the study from conducting a true assessment for learning.
While the development and assessment of the surveys did not go as planned, the
open-ended questions yielded a high response rate from the participants. As a result,
the post surveys included data that were richer in context than one would expect
from a quantitative survey.
Participant Demographics
Pre and post surveys were distributed to the original 73 women accepted to
the Symposium. However, upon the start of the program, only 64 participants
actually arrived at the Symposium. Of the 64 participants, fifty-one women returned
the pre-test and fifty-four women returned the post test for a response rate of 80%
and 84% respectively. A summary of the participant demographics that reflect
majority populations compared in T-test analysis can be found in Table 5.
A possible reason for the slight increase in respondents completing the post
Symposium survey may be due to the inclusion of NASPA’s program evaluation
questions. Instead of distributing two separate surveys, given that NASPA had their
own questions for program evaluation, the researcher agreed to work with the
NASPA office and include their program evaluation questions at the end of the post
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Symposium survey of this study. Thus, the slight increase in the post surveys may
have been due to more people feeling inclined to provide feedback regarding their
experience, knowing that the information would go directly back to the NASPA
office.
Table 5
Demographic Summary
N = 64 % Pre % Post
Race/Ethnicity
Caucasian 65.4 61.5
African American 23.1 23.1
Education Level
Master’s 40.4 36.5
Doctorate 51.9 59.6
Professional Level
Mid-Level (5+ years) 40.4 55.8
Senior Level (10+years) 55.8 42.3
Marital Status
Single 21.2 24.9
Married 59.6 61.5
Family/Children
Yes 55.8 63.5
No 42.3 36.5
If No, Do you want children?
Yes/No 72.2/27.8
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Race/Ethnicity
As evidenced in Table 5, a majority of participants in both the pre- and post -
tests were Caucasian (Pre= 65.4%; Post=61.5%). The next highest represented
group was African Americans (Pre= 23.1%; Post=23.1%). Those who selected
“other” or who wanted to clarify their identity, had the opportunity to comment and
as a result, the following ethnicities were self-identified for the pre-symposium
group:
• “Identity is Caucasian but with Spanish cultural upbringing (Spain/not
Latin America). It is not clear if this is Hispanic or not”;
• “Native American and Caucasian”;
• “Hawaiian”;
• “Afro-Latina”.
In the post-symposium, those who selected “other” or who wanted to clarify their
identity, had the opportunity to comment and as a result, the following ethnicities
were self-identified:
• “Afro-Latina (Black Hispanic)”;
• “I identify as Caucasian and Hispanic”;
• “Native Hawaiian”.
While the opportunity to apply and participate in the Symposium was made
available to any female, mid-level professional, contemplating their next steps in
their career planning, in the United States, it is interesting to note that there were no
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Asians or Pacific Islanders and only one person who identified as part Native
American represented at the Symposium.
Given the assumed diversity represented throughout the United States and at
University campuses, one might expect an equally diverse ethnic representation
amongst the participants. However, the race/ethnicity demographic for the
Symposium participants did not meet this expected assumption. The Symposium
site, Coconut Grove/Miami, is recognized as a place of diversity, with a high
population of Puerto Ricans and Latinos/as. Yet this population was either not
represented or was marginal in representation.
The majority population of Caucasian females represented at the Symposium
may be a reflection of NASPA's membership and even the profession. When
NASPA was originally created, the membership solely consisted of white males. As
educational systems evolved to include women, so did NASPA in their membership.
However as these statistics reflect, more work can be done to diversify the
demographics, especially increasing the representation of ethnic women beyond
African American women, who were the second majority of respondents at the
Symposium.
The high number of African American women, as compared to other ethnic
backgrounds, may be a reflection of the nomination process. Perhaps, there are more
African American women who are in leadership roles or in the profession that
actively seek out opportunities to develop African American women protégés. This
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may be especially true in mentorship roles, which has been found to increase the
number of women in senior student affairs positions (Renn & Hughes, 2004).
Since the majority of women were either Caucasian or African American,
these two ethnic backgrounds were used during the T-tests conducted with the
various composite variables and scales associated with the research questions that
frame this study. While there were women that did identify as Hispanic or “other”,
these populations were too small to make significant, generalizeable comparisons.
Therefore, as this chapter describes the results of this study with respect to
race/ethnicity, the women who identified as Caucasians and African Americans will
be the populations utilized when conducting data analysis.
Education Level
The women participating in the Symposium were highly educated, indicating
that they had either a master’s or doctoral degree, with a slight majority of women in
pre (26.5 women) and post (32 women) having a doctorate degree. Those who
selected “other” or who wanted to clarify their educational level in the pre-
symposium, had the opportunity to comment and as a result, the following comments
were shared by these respondents:
• “J. D.”;
• “Completed coursework for doctorate”;
• “All but dissertation for doctorate in higher education”;
• “ABD on doctoral work”;
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• “MFA”;
• “ABD”.
In the post-symposium sample, those who selected “other” or who wanted to clarify
their educational level, had the opportunity to comment and as a result, the following
comments were shared:
• “J. D.”;
• “All but dissertation for doctorate”;
• “MFA”;
• “Working on doctorate”.
Those in the “other” category in both the pre and post surveys still represented
women who were highly educated.
The education level of women represented at the Symposium aligns with
what the literature has documented: more and more women are becoming educated
each year and will earn over the majority of all advanced degrees in the U. S.
(Catalyst, 2003). However, the high level of educational attainment still does not
correlate to increased positioning in leadership roles.
Professional Level
The Alice Manicur Symposium advertised itself as a professional
development opportunity that was geared towards mid-level professionals. Yet it
was interesting to see that over half of the participants in the pre and almost half in
the post surveys, self-identified as already being in a Senior Level position, defined
as having 10 or more years of student affairs experience (Cilente et al, 2006; Rosser
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& Javinar, 2003), and that there was at least one participant who was already in a
Senior/Chief Student Affairs Officer position, defined as having 10 years or more but
who reports directly to the President or Provost (Cilente et al, 2006; Rosser &
Javinar, 2003).
Marital Status
While marital status was asked in both pre and post symposium surveys, the
researcher wanted to broaden the scope of “single” status to gain a better
understanding of the marital demographics in the Student Affairs profession. By
expanding the scope of how “single” is defined in the post-symposium survey,
findings may provide a better understanding of how work life balance impact the
decision making process of becoming a SSAO. The majority of women who
participated in the Symposium were married (Pre=59.6%; Post=61.5%), followed by
those that indicated that they were single (Pre=21.2%; Post=24.9%). The other
descriptors for marital status are reflected below for both pre and post populations,
unless otherwise noted:
a) Single = Single;
b) Single/Marriage = Single and wants to get married or be in a committed
relationship (post only);
c) Single/No Mar. = Single and do not want to get married or be in a
committed relationship (post only);
d) Committed Rel. = Committed Relationship (Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Partner)
and live in same home;
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e) Committed Rel./Same = Committed Relationship
(Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Partner) and live in same home;
f) Committed Rel./Sep. = Committed Relationship (Boyfriend/Girlfriend/
Partner) and live in separate homes long distance;
g) Married/Same = Married and live in same home;
h) Married/Sep. = Married and live in separate homes, long distance;
i) Sep/Married = Separated but still married.
In the pre-symposium group, 1.9% selected other and commented with the
following:
• “I am single but the jury is out if I ever want to get married or be in a
relationship!”
• “Divorced and want to get married or be in a committed relationship.”
In the post-symposium group, 1.9% selected other and commented with the
following:
• “I am single but the jury is out if I ever want to get married or be in a
relationship!”
• “Divorced and want to get married or be in a committed relationship.”
Interesting to note regarding the marital status of the respondents at the
Symposium that the literature indicated that one of the challenges for women as it
relates to the decision making process of advancing one’s career is work life balance,
often including considerations for marriage. Yet slightly half of the respondents
were married and only less than a quarter of the respondents were single. If
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combining the responses of those that identified as “married” (regardless of living in
same home or living separately), with those that are in a committed relationship, the
percentages of women in committed relationships as compared to women who
identified as single, increases, with 71.1% (pre) and 73% (post).
Family/Children
As Table 4 reflect, 55.8% of the participants who responded had children in
the pre and 63.5% of the respondents had children in the post. For those that didn't
have children, they were not too far behind statistical wise as 42.3% in the pre had
children and only 36.5% had children in the post. Interestingly, those that did not
have children currently and responded to the follow-up question, 61.1% wanted
children biologically and 11.1% wanted children either in vitro or adoption.
The decision to modify the post-Symposium survey was a result of informal
discussions the researcher had with conference participants, who expressed that work
life balance issues are much more complex or nuanced than they appear to be. Often
it may not just be a simple decision of whether or not to have children, but also
considering choice, biology, and health. There may be some women who choose not
have children because they don’t want them; some women may choose to have
children, but they may not be biological because they either prefer to adopt or they
simply can’t; or even some women may not have the choice to have children due to
health reasons. Societal norms have traditionally held women to the caretaking role
of children (Marshall, 2004; Hochschild, 1989; Perna, 2001) and thus an assumption
exist that every woman has the desire to have children or has the capacity to have
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children. One person in the post did fill in the comment section and indicated that
they were “ambivalent” about having children.
To test the assumption that all women want children, participants who
answered “no” to having children, had the opportunity to answer a follow-up
question by checking one of the following when asked, “If you answered no, do you
want children?”:
1. Yes/Biological = I want to have biological children with my future
husband/partner.
2. Yes/PlanBio = Yes, I plan to have biological children with my current
husband/boyfriend/partner.
3. Yes/In Vitro = Yes, I plan to have children through In Vitro Fertilization
or adoption.
4. No/Don't Want= No I do not plan to have children because I do not want
to have children.
5. No/Can't= I do not plan to have children because of medical reasons.
The decision to have children and how it might relate to career advancement
is complex. However, the data did not ask whether or not the choice for not having
children was a result of their career and therefore, this study cannot determine
whether or not the women who did not have children was a result of focusing on
their career for future career advancement; nor can this study assert whether or not
the women who do have children, sacrificed career advancement.
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Results
As already mentioned, this research proposal evaluated the National
Association of Student Personnel Administrators Alice Manicur Symposium.
Specifically, this study sought to determine the effectiveness of professional
development, such as the Symposium that support the career advancement of mid-
level women to SSAO positions while addressing a prominent challenge for women:
work life balance. Analysis of the research questions that guided this study will be
conducted individually.
Findings Related to Research Question One
(Pre) Self-Efficacy in Leadership Abilities
As previously noted, self-efficacy has been found to support the advancement
of women to senior roles. As such, to answer Research Question 1, “Prior to
attending the Symposium, how confident were the participants in their leadership
abilities related to serving as a SSAO,” an analysis was performed using the results
of the self-efficacy questions as the independent variables. The pre-self efficacy
questions (questions #1 to #9), were scored using a 1-5 Likert scale, with 1 = as Not
Sure, 2 = Not Confident At All, 3 = Somewhat Confident, 4 = Confident and 5 =
Extremely Confident. Responses to the nine scales were aggregated to create the
new composite variable, (pre) self-efficacy. A Cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis
was conducted to make sure that the responses to the items were consistent. Results
appear in Table 6. Each of the items were highly correlated, with the exception of
question 1 (“To what extent do you feel confident that you can get a job as a
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senior/chief student affairs officer today?”) and question 2 (“To what extent do you
feel confident that you can lead to create change?”). Therefore questions 1 and 2
were omitted, yielding a final Cronbach’s alpha of .839.
Table 6
Cronbach's Alpha for Pre Self-Efficacy Scale
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.839 7
Cronbach's Alpha
if item Deleted
PRE3 (Extent of how confident that you were able to plan
own personal career advancement and continual
development)
.827
PRE4 (Extent of how confident that you were able to balance
professional & personal life)
.811
PRE5 (Extent of how confident you have skill sets to be a
SSAO)
.836
PRE6 (Extent of how confident in your abilities as leader in
current position)
.816
PRE7 (Extent of how confident can manage career and
personal relationship/marriage/family successfully
.803
PRE8 (Extent of how confident in having personal life while
serving as a SSAO)
.788
PRE9 (Extent of how confident you are ready to pursue a
SSAO position)
.807
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T-tests were performed on the composite variable, pre- and post-symposium,
by demographic characteristics. The variables did not differ significantly by four of
the five various independent demographic participant characteristics – race,
professional level, marital status and family. But there was a significant difference
in overall confidence in their leadership abilities to serve in an SSAO position by
education level (t = 2.41, p < .02). Women with doctoral degrees reported
statistically significantly higher confidence levels in their leadership abilities to serve
in an SSAO position going into the Symposium than women with master's degree.
No difference was found in confidence levels in leadership abilities to serve in an
SSAO position by professional level, race, marital status, or children. Table 7
reflects the t-test results for Pre Self-Efficacy and how this variable varied between
educational levels.
Table 7
Pre Self-Efficacy T-test
N Mean S.D. Difference T value Obs. Prob.
EducLevel
(Master’s)
20 2.45 .50
EducLevel
(Doctorate)
26 2.84 .60 -.39 2.41 .020
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It is not surprising that women with doctoral degrees demonstrated higher
self-efficacy in their leadership abilities to pursue as SSAO position than those who
were in mid-level positions, since doctoral degrees typically are reflective of an
increased knowledge base and additional years of experience.
Qualitative Assessment for Pre Self-Efficacy
Each section on the pre-Symposium survey provided an opportunity for
participants to comment on that particular section of the survey. While only 7 of the
51 participants who completed the pre-Symposium survey, provided feedback in this
section, the comments were telling. One respondent affirmed that educational level
does increase confidence level by stating, “Once I finalize my PhD, my confidence
in my employability as a SSAO will go up.”
Perhaps one of the reasons that increased confidence is related to educational
level is that most Senior Student Affairs Officer positions require a doctoral degree.
Anecdotally speaking, many women mentioned that they had been encouraged by
their mentors to pursue their doctoral degree, even if they were unsure whether or not
they wanted an SSAO position. Mentors often encourage this practice because they
tell their protégés that they don't ever want to be overlooked for a position because
they didn't have the “right” credentials, regardless of years of experience in the field.
In addition to free responses for each variable, a section of questions
provided an opportunity for participants to comment freely to the following: 1)
Reasons for recommending or not recommending the Symposium to another
colleague; 2) Reasons for applying and accepting the invitation to participate in the
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Symposium; 3) Highlights of Symposium as it related to meeting professional
development needs; 4) Suggestions for improvement; and 5) Difference between
Symposium and other professional development experiences, if any. Remarkably,
50 participants responded to all of the five fill-in questions mentioned above. The
high level of responses reflected participants' engagement in the Symposium and
their willingness to provide feedback in order to improve future Symposiums.
The responses were then pulled, analyzed, and blocked into variable themes.
In doing so, responses that applied to be a particular variable were included in the
qualitative section for each variable. While life-work balance did not emerge as a
significant variable in this section, it may be a factor in how confident women were
in pursuing an SSAO position based on the free responses that were provided:
Some days I feel I am ready for the SSAO position but other days I don't.
This often is associated with the demands of my teenagers and what is
happening at their schools.
My answers are in direct correlation to the position to the job responsibilities
that my husband has as well. As his responsibilities include a good deal of
travel, I am often the one managing the schedule of the family. This has
changed somewhat with the addition of a child this year. I am still trying to
learn how to balance the different components of our life.
As seen in the literature, balancing career and family can impact the decision
to pursue an SSAO position, especially if the woman is the primary care giver of the
children and it is not a shared responsibility between the mother and father.
While most of the participants indicated on the survey that they were
confident in their leadership abilities in general with significant differences varying
by professional level, the free-response sections did not match this as many talked
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about their appreciation to talk to women already in SSAO positions and learn from
their experiences. Additionally, one of the free response questions specifically
asked, “Why did you decide to apply and accept the invitation to participate in the
Alice Manicur Symposium?”
Responses related to how confident individuals were in their confidence
levels to serve in SSAO positions include:
• Symposium served as a way explore path ways to SSAO positions.
• Symposium affirmed those who were considering pursuing an SSAO
position as a result of either a) completing a doctoral degree; b) feeling
stagnant in current job; c) SSAO was on “list”.
• Opportunity to utilize faculty as mentors to develop career plan.
Examples of these responses include:
I was ready to assess my fit and my long term goals' consistency with the
needs, roles, and responsibilities of an SSAO. I also wanted to view some
additional models and examples of other women and their strategies...
I thought the Symposium would be an opportunity to explore a SSAO
position and whether this would be the right thing for me. I also thought this
would be an opportunity to network as well as provide some reflection and
thought about my future.
Because I aspire to advance my career. I have gotten several job rejections
and wanted to improve my job search skills.
While the quantitative section for this variable reflected that the majority of
the participants expressed high self-efficacy in their leadership abilities to pursue a
SSAO position, that qualitative analysis based on the free responses did not match
this sentiment. Participants may believe or have the perception that they do have the
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leadership abilities to pursue a SSAO position, but when identifying factors or areas
where they may be lacking in experience, such as work life balance, or completing
their doctoral degree, participant’s self-efficacy is actually not that high. However,
by participating in a professional development program such as the Symposium, the
opportunity to reflect on one's own skill set, leadership abilities, and areas for
professional development to pursue a SSAO position, can be an integral component
for successful advancement.
Findings Related to Research Question Two
Confidence in Skill Sets
Self-reflection coupled with mentoring have been found to support mid-level
manager's decision making process to pursue a senior level student affairs position as
well as enhancing self-efficacy (Renn & Hughes, 2004). Self-reflection
(Nottingham, 1998) and mentoring provide opportunities to reflect on existing skill
sets and opportunities to determine how to acquire knowledge in order to enhance
skill sets in areas where one might be lacking experience. Thus, to answer Research
Question 2, “Prior to attending the symposium, how confident were the participants
in their existing skills related to pursing an SSAO position,” an analysis was
performed using the results of the skill set questions as the independent variables.
The skill set questions (questions #10 to #20), were scored using a 1-5 Likert scale,
with 1 = as Not Sure, 2 = Not Confident At All, 3 = Somewhat Confident, 4 =
Confident and 5 = Extremely Confident. The scores of the skill set questions were
reversed so that all of the questions would measure skill set in the same positive
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direction. Responses to the eleven scales were aggregated to create the new
composite variable, skill set. A Cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis was conducted
to make sure that the responses to the items were consistent. Results appear in Table
8. Each of the items were highly correlated yielding a Cronbach’s alpha of .821.
T-tests were performed on the composite variable, pre- and post-symposium,
by demographic characteristics. The variables did not differ significantly by three of
the five various independent demographic participant characteristics – race, marital
status and family. But there was a significant difference in skill set by education
level (t = -2.59, p < .01) and professional level (t = -2.49, p < .02). Women with
doctoral degrees and women who were senior student affairs professionals reported
statistically significantly higher confidence in their skill sets to pursue an SSAO
position going into the Symposium than women with master's degree and who were
in mid-level positions. It is important to note that respondents answers were not
matched, therefore those who identified as having doctorate degrees may not be the
same women who reported as being in a senior student affairs position. Therefore,
their results are reported separately above. No difference was found in skill set by
race, marital status, or children. Table 9 reflects the T-test results for skill set and
how this variable varied between education and professional level.
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Table 8
Cronbach’s Alpha for Skill Set Scale
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.821 11
Cronbach’s
Alpha if item
Deleted
PRE10 (I believe that i can manage personal and professional
balance successfully)
.799
PRE11 (I have strong support system to discuss career planning &
advancement)
.814
PRE12 (Am confident in strategic thinking & planning abilities,
to be used as a SSAO)
.810
PRE13 (Confident in my understanding of personal emotional
intelligence to aid in becoming a SSAO)
.818
PRE14 (Confident in my ability to reflect on personal strengths &
ability to maximize those strengths)
.808
PRE15 (Confident in my knowledge & skill set regarding
rewards, skills, talents, & interests needed for success as a SSAO)
.819
PRE16 (Confident in abilities to reflect on personal &
professional balance to be successful SSAO)
.796
PRE17 (Confident in knowledge & skill sets in career path
opportunities, how to find right campus, & strategies for next
career steps)
.805
PRE18 (Confident in decision making skills when prioritizing
between personal relationship/marriage/family & career)
.792
PRE19 (Confident in my abilities to communicate both
professional & personal needs to supervisor)
.812
PRE20 (Believe that I can make strategic planning choices that
will not impact personal life)
.800
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Table 9
Skill Set T-test
N Mean S.D. Difference T value Obs. Prob.
EducLevel
(Masters)
21 3.57 .48
EducLevel
(Doctorate)
27 3.93 .60 -.36 -2.59 .013
ProfLevel
(MidLevel)
21 3.57 .51
ProfLevel
(MidLevel)
29 3.91 .43 -.34 -2.49 .017
The negative T-values for Educational Level, (-) 2.59 and Professional Level
(-) 2.49, may be attributed to the actual questions versus incorrect data conversions.
When looking back at the syntax for the data analysis to check for input errors, the
variables were correctly reversed to give numeric values of 1 to 5 in order to have
the measures in the same positive direction. Therefore, two possible reasons for the
negative T-values can be the following: 1) The questions didn't actually match up;
OR 2) Scale Effect occurred as a result of the wording of the questions - the
questions sounded similar, but in fact, the questions varied as it related to different
context.
After further review of the questions in this section, the questions do appear
to sound similar, when in fact the questions are referring to different contexts. Scale
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effect may have occurred, as demonstrated by a few of the questions identified here
- they sound similar, but in fact have different contexts:
• Q12: I am confident in my strategic thinking and planning abilities,
which can be utilized to become a successful senior/chief student affairs
officer.
• Q14: I am confident in my ability to reflect on personal strengths and my
ability to maximize those strengths.
• Q18: I am confident in my decision making skills when it comes to
prioritizing between my personal relationship/marriage/family and my
career.
As demonstrated by the above questions, they have similar prompts that
begin with, “I am confident...” and they all refer to a type of skill set, but the skill
sets that this variable attempted to measure were ones that specifically referred to
becoming an SSAO officer. Only four of the eleven questions referred to skill sets to
become an SSAO officer and the remainder of the questions asked about skill sets in
general. Therefore, though there was a highly correlated Cronbach's Alpha, the
negative T-score suggest that there an error in the data. Here it looks like it is the
scale effect.
The statistical data reflected here depicts that the majority of the participants
were confident in their skill sets to pursue a SSAO position prior to the Symposium,
particularly for those in senior level positions as well as those that had doctoral
degrees. However, as indicative of quantitative analysis, this does not paint the
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entire picture since the Symposium is a professional development opportunity to
enhance participant's skill sets to pursue as SSAO position. A qualitative analysis
from the free response sections will add to the this picture.
Qualitative Assessment for Confidence in Skill Sets
As the statistical data reflect, in general, the findings showed that there was a
significant difference in overall confidence in their skill sets to pursue an SSAO
position based on education level and professional level. As mentioned earlier, since
the respondents answers were not matched, this study could not determine whether
or not the individuals who identified as having doctoral degrees were the same
women who reported as being in a senior level student affairs position. Therefore
the results were reported separately in the analysis. Matching the participant
responses would be a future recommendation in order to determine if having both a
doctoral degree and being in a senior level position in student affairs would increase
confidence levels to pursue a SSAO position.
Comments that did emerge from the free response section for this question
and reasons why participants enrolled in the Symposium talked about the value of
having mentors to guide an individual’s career planning. If these comments stood
alone, inferences perhaps could not be assumed. However, if looking at the overall
program and what the individual’s expressed they needed in terms of professional
development and confidence to pursue a SSAO position, the information may be
helpful.
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For the responses in the actual portion of the question, only two comments
were provided:
My director has only been in the field for less than 10 years. She does not
fully appreciate the knowledge base and skills of seasoned professional like
myself. I feel very oppressed sometimes and even stuck in my current
position.
I have only been working with my current supervisor for the last two months.
I am still in the process of trying to navigate a communication style that he
best understands.
The statements above appear to be related to Q19: “I am confident in my abilities to
communicate both my professional and personal needs to my current supervisor.”
In the free response section where participants were asked “Why did you
decide to apply and accept the invitation to participate in the Alice Manicur
Symposium,” the following themes emerged that relate to the importance of
mentorship and networks:
• Mentor/supervisor encouraged participants to enroll.
• Participants looking for role models, expanding networks.
• Guidance and direction from experienced leaders.
Some examples of the comments that were provided are as follows:
I had a strong mentor in Student Affairs in my last institution. I have
struggled to find mentors and close colleagues in my current institution who
are interested and available to have conversations about trends in the
field…strategic thinking…I believed I could obtain quality conversations
from the women who attended this Symposium – I needed those high quality
conversations and connections…
I am in the final stages in finishing my doctoral degree. I thought the
Symposium would be a great way for me to develop a 2-3 year professional
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development plan. This Symposium really gave me great role models that
are very motivating for me to accomplish future goals.
I was looking for female mentors and networks. My supervisor
recommended that I apply and I was so grateful. I was unsure of what I
wanted to do and if I wanted to stay in this field. I am so glad that I attended
this Symposium.
The comments provided by the two women in the original question and those
that commented in the free response question, allude to the importance of mentorship
relationships to foster confidence to pursue a SSAO position. Research (Nelson &
Burke, 2000) has found, as discussed in previous chapters, that mentors who support
the career advancement and advocate on behalf of their protégés have instilled
confidence in their protégés’ skill sets. Thus, having mentors increases the
confidence level of their protégés to pursue an SSAO position.
Findings Related to Research Question Three
Professional Development Expectations
Any time professionals engage in an opportunity to learn, obtain new
knowledge or skill sets, there is a level of expectation that participants have going
into a professional development program. As seen in the literature, instilling high
expectations has been to foster effectiveness when found in professional
development opportunities that often are “high quality in nature”. As such, to
answer Research Question 3, “Prior to attending the symposium, what did
participants expect from the symposium with respect to meeting participant
professional development needs,” an analysis using the results of the professional
development expectation questions as the independent variables. The professional
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development expectation questions (questions #22 to #32), were scored using a 1-5
Likert scale, with 1 = as Not Sure, 2 = Not Confident At All, 3 = Somewhat
Confident, 4 = Confident and 5 = Extremely Confident. The scores of the
professional development questions were reversed so that all of the questions would
measure expectations of the professional development, the Symposium, in the same
positive direction. Responses to the eleven scales were aggregated to create the new
composite, expectation. Results appear in Table 10. An alpha reliability analysis was
conducted to make sure that the items are reliable with each other or “hang” together.
Preliminary analysis to check on internal consistency of the total score was
performed. Question 29 (I am attending the Symposium because my vice
president/supervisor and/or mentor encourage me to apply) was omitted to obtain a
Cronbach's alpha of .694. The Cronbach's alpha fell slightly below the accepted
value of .70. Since the Cronbach's alpha fell below the accepted value, an analysis
of the means was performed on each of the scales in the composite variable. Table
11 reflects the means of the individual scales for the composite variable.
Questions 22 - 27 and questions 30-32 did not differ significantly by five
various independent demographic participant characteristics – race/ethnicity level,
professional level, marital status and family. But, Q28, “I am attending the
Symposium to help me with my decision-making process as it relates to work and
personal life balance,” was the only scale that reflected a significant difference. Q28
had a significant difference by professional level (t = 2.09, p< .04). Women who
were mid-level professionals had statistically significantly higher expectations that
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the Symposium would help them with their decision-making process to manage work
and personal life balance than did women who were senior student affairs
professionals. Table 12 reflects the T-test results for Q28 and how this scale varied
by professional level.
Perhaps this scale was the only one that reflected a significant difference by
professional level as a result of the Symposium being geared towards mid-level
women who are contemplating pursuing an SSAO position. Since women in mid-
level positions are often at the stage in their life where they could also be
contemplating family, mid-level professionals’ expectations may be much higher
regarding making an informed decision as a result of participating in the Symposium,
whereas women who have identified as senior student affairs professionals may
already believe they have the experience of managing work life balance and their
expectations are not as high; or perhaps women in senior student affairs positions do
not feel that managing work life balance is as important as women in mid-level
positions.
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Table 10
Cronbach's Alpha for Expectation Scale
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.694 11
Cronbach's Alpha
if item Deleted
PRE22 (Attending Symposium to gain strategies to balance
personal & professional life)
.675
PRE23 (Attending Symposium to gain strategies to advance
career and become a SSAO)
.685
PRE24 (Attending Symposium to build network of
supporters)
.683
PRE25 (Attending Symposium to learn how to navigate
personal skill sets to become SSAO)
.693
PRE26 (Attending Symposium to gain strategies to acquire a
mentor to coach me on career path)
.656
PRE27 (Attending Symposium to affirm desire to become a
SSAO)
.659
PRE28 (Attending Symposium to help with decision-making
process related to work and personal balance)
.666
PRE30 (Attending Symposium to learn more about realities
of becoming a SSAO)
.672
PRE31 (Attending Symposium to gain strategies to obtain
one-on-one consultation with faculty)
.659
PRE32 (Attending Symposium to determine if have skill sets
to become a SSAO)
.668
PRE33 (Attending Symposium because not sure what next
steps are in career)
.691
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Table 11
Pre-Symposium Survey: Expectation
Mean SD
EXPECTATION 3.99 .48
Q22 2.59 1.24
Q23 1.39 .57
Q24 1.43 .70
Q25 1.57 .64
Q26 1.90 .86
Q27 1.78 .86
Q28 2.55 1.23
Q30 1.46 .58
Q31 2.47 .966
Q32 2.37 1.2
Qualitative Assessment for Professional Development Expectations
As the statistical analysis of the data reflect, the findings showed that when
looking at the scales individually, there was a significant difference in professional
level, in terms of professional development expectations, when participants were
asked the following question, “I am attending the Symposium to help me with my
decision-making process as it relates to work and personal life balance.”
Since the Symposium is geared towards women in mid-level positions and
women at this stage in their career are found to be contemplating family, mid-level
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professionals’ expectations may be much higher regarding making an informed
decision as a result of participating in the Symposium, versus women who are at
senior level student affairs positions who may already know how to manage work
life balance since they have been in the profession much longer.
The significant difference found in professional level related to the
expectation that the Symposium would help with the decision-making process in
terms of work life balance aligns with the literature that having to choose between
family or career advancement (Marshall, 2009; Ting, 1997; Belch & Strange, 1990)
is a barrier for mid-level women.
While expectations of participants appeared to be insignificant in the data
analysis, perhaps a reason for this is the varied backgrounds of women participating
in the Symposium, in terms of professional level. In the free response section,
feedback was provided regarding some of the challenges that occurred within the
mentor groups and the overall sessions. Some of the themes that emerged are as
follows:
• Participants should go into the Symposium with the “right” expectations.
• Symposium may not have met the needs of all participants in terms of
relevancy and experience.
• Provide higher level discussions or sessions appropriate to the level of
experiences (senior level, specifically) of the populations present.
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Some examples of the comments that were provided are as follows:
Participants were at all different stages in their careers. I expected it would
have been more toward the higher end of experience.
One comment I would make is that there did not appear to be a substantial
number of women who would be pursuing a CSAO within the next few
months to a year. A workshop specifically for that type of individual would
have been helpful for me. I do understand that Manicur is also about
developing the pipeline and enjoyed supporting other women in that way.
Offer more in depth (higher level) coverage of the areas addressed. Most of
us have doctoral degrees and understand these issues on a basic level.
Directly address issues for women of color so that all participants might
reflect on value of the information for themselves. Be clear about the
challenges confronting those seeing to move to SSAO posts.
The comments provided here align with relevancy as an important part of
effective professional development (Guskey, 2000). As shared in the literature,
when professional development lacks relevant content (Borko, 2004), professional
development can be ineffective in terms of implementing the knowledge into
practice.
However, participants also shared that some of the reasons they did
participate in the Symposium was because they had specific expectations of the
Symposium that would help the participants in some way. The following themes
arose from the free response section for reasons why participants enrolled in the
Symposium and how the Symposium differed from other professional development
experiences that relates to expectation:
• Need for different professional development experience that focused on
women;
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• High expectations as a result of past attendees;
• Honest and specific strategies were shared by experienced professionals.
Table 12
Q28 T-test
N Mean S.D. Difference T value Obs. Prob.
ProfLevel
(Mid-Level)
20 3.90 1.02 .72 2.09 .04
ProfLevel
(Senior-Level)
28 3.18 1.28
Some examples of the comments that were provided are as follows:
I had heard great things about the Symposium. I was very glad to be invited
to attend and I had very high expectations for what it would entail based on
talking to previous participants.
I felt my professional development needs have not been met through
traditional conference attendance.
This is by far the best professional development choice I’ve made in my
career. For me, the common purpose and experiences of the participants
gave me an immediate sense of connection…
…I found this more beneficial because it spoke directly to career path (versus
skill set) and I appreciated having a small group of just women.
The comments provided here align with the importance of professional
development and having high expectations for professional development as an
important part in career advancement. Desimone et al. (2002) found that three of the
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six criteria for high quality professional development is connections to high
expectations, comprehensive, engaging learning collective involvement of groups
belonging to the same organization relate to the free responses the women made in
this section.
Training and professional development opportunities to enhance skill sets
that may be lacking in an individual’s resume can also support the advancement of
women to senior positions (Burgess & Tharenou, 2002; Biddix, 2010; Clarke, 2010).
Professional development is one mechanism to advance knowledge regarding the
profession, from that of a novice to an expert (Knox, 1993). Professional
development that involve a systematic approach including both “formal (i.e.,
educational institutions) and non-formal (i.e., professional associations) educational
experiences,” (Carpenter & Stimpson, 2007, p. 275) can support the advancement of
women to senior positions. Further, professional development opportunities that are
purposeful, relevant and provide an opportunity for growth and learning can be
additional ways in which individuals seek out senior leadership positions (McDade,
1997).
Findings Related to Research Question Four
Work Life Balance
One of the prominent challenges that women face in terms of career
advancement is work life balance issues (Nelson & Burke, 2000; Allen, Herst,
Bruck, & Sutton, 2000; Byron, 2005). Determining how professional development
can minimize this challenge will aid in the advancement of women to SSAO
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positions. Participant's confidence to manage work life balance was linked to answer
Research Question 4, “After the symposium, to what extent, if at all, did participants'
confidence in their ability to manage work life balance get addressed,” an analysis
was performed using the results of the work life balance questions as the independent
variables. The work life balance questions (questions #5, #7, #10 and #14), were
scored as using a 1-5 Likert scale, with 1 = as Not Sure, 2 = Not Confident At All, 3
= Somewhat Confident, 4 = Confident and 5 = Extremely Confident. The scores of
the work life balance questions were reversed so that all of the questions would
measure expectations of work life balance, in the same positive direction. Responses
to the four scales were aggregated to create the new composite, balance. A
Cronbach's alpha reliability analysis was conducted to make sure that the items were
consistent. Results appear in Table 13. Each of the items were highly correlated
yielding a Cronbach's alpha of .877.
T-tests were performed on the composite variable, pre- and post- symposium,
by demographic characteristic. The variables did not differ significantly by five
various independent demographic participant characteristics – race/ethnicity level,
professional level, marital status and family. In other words, given the balance
questions measured, participant ability to manage work life balance did not differ
across demographic variables. Table 14 reflects the means of the individual scales
for the composite variable.
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Table 13
Cronbach's Alpha for Balance Scale
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.877 4
Cronbach's Alpha if
item Deleted
POST5 (I obtained new strategies to balance life and work) .820
POST7 (I was able to gain new skill sets to manage
life/work balance from the faculty)
.821
POST10 (The ability to engage in dialogue and to interact
with others provided new insights to manage life/work
balance)
.856
POST 14 (As a result of the Symposium, I was able to make
decisions regarding family & children, as it relates to
work/life balance)
.871
Table 14
Balance T-test
Mean SD
BALANCE 3.80 .79
Q5 3.78 .92
Q7 3.71 .92
Q10 4.12 .86
Q14 3.61 .91
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While the quantitative analysis did not differ significantly across
demographic variables, overall, the participants appeared to have confidence to
manage work life balance based on the quantitative data. But again, because of the
number of factors involved in work life balance as indicated by the literature, such as
work demands, family, marriage, and even care of parents, determining how
confident a participant is in terms of work life balance is more complex than what
the quantitative analysis reports.
Qualitative Assessment for Work Life Balance
While work life balance did not vary significantly by demographic category,
work life balance appeared to be a qualitative theme in the free response section.
Since the Symposium indicated that participants would, “… focus on such topics as
strategic thinking; leading change; planning for career advancement and continual
development; and personal and professional life balance,” on the website (NASPA,
2011), it would be important for this expectation to be met. This is especially true
since participants expressed in the free response section regarding the reasons why
they decided to apply and participate in the Symposium:
I really wondered if it is possible to be a successful woman in higher
education and maintain your sanity and family/personal life. I wanted to hear
first-hand from women who had accomplished “balance” about how this was
achieved.
As a mid-level professional, new mom, and one who is striving to become a
scholar-practitioner, I wanted to see some viable examples of senior student
affairs officers that are successful as scholars, practitioners, parents, partners,
and community leaders.
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I did not feel that the topic of work life balance was covered. Many faculty
and mentors continued to talk about working 12 hour days and trying to find
balance. I do not feel that the majority of SSAO positions allow for much
personal time away from the position.
Concerns regarding work life balance expressed here align with the literature
regarding the challenges women face to advance their careers. What student affairs
has socialized professional to embrace are the long hours and the responsibilities of a
SSAO that those contemplating advancement are apprehensive because “the realities
of combining a family and a career may be incompatible with the current values of
the profession” (Levtov, 2001, p. 1).
However, participant experiences were mixed, some feeling as though they
learned new strategies to manage work life balance; others felt as though they've
gained enough knowledge prior to the Symposium; while still others felt as though
work life balance was either not discussed at all or could have been addressed more
during the Symposium. A sample of participant comments are included the
following:
• I would recommend it [the Symposium] for any woman who is struggling
with work/life balance, as well as any woman who is contemplating next
career steps and how to move forward.
• I did not feel that the topic of work life balance was covered. Many
faculty and mentors continued to talk about working 12 hour days and
trying to find balance. I do not feel that the majority of SSAO positions
allow for much personal time away from the position.
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• I have been balancing work & family for nearly 20 years and feel I
learned much of what there is to know about the topic prior to the
symposium
• Include more work/life balance information. All the other sessions were
treated very scholarly and seriously and I was a little surprised that this
discussion was left for a general panel discussion at the end. I thought
this topic could have been treated a little more formally since I know a
few of us (at least those I spoke with) really wanted guidance in this area
especially from people already serving as SSAOs.
The varied experiences may be a reflection of professional experience. As
seen in the individual scale under questions regarding “expectation,” Q28, “I am
attending the Symposium to help me with my decision-making process as it relates to
work and personal life balance,” was found to be the only scale that reflected a
significant difference by professional level. Therefore the varied experiences that
the women commented in the free responses above, may also be related to their
professional level, particularly since one woman commented that she has been in the
profession for 20 years (indicative of a senior student affairs professional based on
years of experience) and has learned as much as she can regarding work life balance.
Another possibility for the varied experiences may be due to the varied
experiences of participants during the Symposium. While some participants may not
have gained work/life balance strategies in general sessions, some may have received
knowledge and insights from their mentor or mentoring group, as each participant
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was assigned to a different mentor/mentoring group. Some participants may have
gained strategies in their one-on-one consultations with faculty and others may have
shared experiences with their peers both within and outside of their mentor groups.
Findings Related to Research Question Five
Confidence to Pursue SSAO Position
Just as self-efficacy was utilized in the pre Symposium survey as a
framework to support the advancement of women to senior roles, it is important to
utilize this same framework to assess the level of self-efficacy as a result of the
Symposium. As such, to answer Research Question 5, “After the symposium, how
confident were the participants in their abilities to advance their career and pursue an
SSAO position,” an analysis was performed using the results self-efficacy questions
as the independent variables. The self-efficacy questions (questions #1- #3, #6, #9,
#12, #13 and #15), were scored using a 1-5 Likert scale, with 1 = as Not Sure, 2 =
Not Confident At All, 3 = Somewhat Confident, 4 = Confident and 5 = Extremely
Confident. The scores of the self efficacy questions were reversed so that all of the
questions would measure expectations of work life balance, in the same positive
direction. Responses to the seven scales were aggregated to create the new
composite variable, self-efficacy. A Cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis was
conducted to make sure that the responses to the items were consistent. Results
appear in Table 15. Each of the items were highly correlated, with the exception of
question 3 (I feel confident in my abilities to become a senior/chief student affairs
officer as a result of participating in the Symposium) and question 9 (The
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Symposium helped me to reflect on personal strengths and how to maximize those
strengths to become a successful student affairs professional), and therefore these
two questions were omitted to obtain a Cronbach’s alpha of .837.
Table 15
Cronbach's Alpha for Self-Efficacy Scale
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.837 5
Cronbach's Alpha
if item Deleted
POST1 (Am confident in abilities to become a SSAO as a
result of the Symposium)
.798
POST2 (I learned new information that will assist me with
my work on campus)
.810
POST6 (Faculty provided knowledge and tools for me to
pursue a SSAO position with confidence)
.776
POST12 (Learned new skill set, concept or strategy from
faculty mentor that I can apply to my work on campus)
.810
POST13 (Able to reflect on my career & make informed
decisions about future career path as result of what I learned
from mentor &/or mentor group)
.816
T-tests were performed on the composite variable and participants' self-
efficacy regarding their abilities to advance their career and pursue a SSAO position
did not differ significantly by five various independent demographic participant
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characteristics – race/ethnicity level, professional level, marital status and family. In
other words, given the self-efficacy questions measured, participant confidence did
not differ across demographic variables. Table 16 reflects the means of the
individual scales for the composite variable.
Table 16
Self-Efficacy T-test
Mean SD
SELF-EFFICACY 4.43 .56
Q1 4.43 .64
Q2 4.54 .64
Q6 4.49 .70
Q12 4.30 .93
Q13 4.51 .78
Q15 4.18 .91
While the quantitative analysis did not reflect a difference in confidence
levels across demographic variables participants appeared to have confidence in the
decision making process to either pursue or not pursue a SSAO position. What is
unclear with this variable were the possible reasons, if any, for participants to decide
that pursuing a SSAO position was not for them, if that was the conclusion obtained
as a result of participating in the Symposium. Conversely, though free responses
will provide some insights, it is also not known based on the quantitative analysis
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which specific components of the Symposium fostered confidence in the participants
to pursue a SSAO position. A closer look at the qualitative analysis may provide this
insight.
Qualitative Assessment for Confidence to Pursue SSAO Position
While self-efficacy to pursue a SSAO position did not vary significantly
amongst the demographic variables, self-efficacy to pursue an SSAO position
appeared to be a qualitative theme in the free response section. The prominent
themes that emerged that participants found they either learned more about or
benefitted from the information included the following:
• Strategies for career planning - learning about the different paths;
• Better understanding of an SSAO position - not just skill sets;
• Required skill sets to become an SSAO;
• Opportunity to network;
• Information/experience affirmed or disconfirmed interest to pursue SSAO
position;
• Knowledge and experiences of SSAO's serve as a great resource.
Some examples of the free responses are as follows:
Better understanding of the breadth and depth of SSAO position.
Thinking about the multiple ways that you can gain skills to advance into an
SSAO role - hearing the stories and strategies used by the current SSAOs
which help me to envision what my path might look like - Feeling comforted
knowing that not all of these goals have to be achieved tomorrow...I am in the
younger half of the group and it helped me to see I have lots of time, both
personally and professionally. Being encouraged to make a
personal/professional timeline of where I want to be.
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It was very beneficial to receive affirmation about the ability to move
forward to a VP level.
The Symposium included faculty who had very different paths throughout
Higher Education, varying backgrounds, and differing perspectives, which
ensured that the variety of participants in the Symposium could relate to at
least one of the faculty members. I found the information to be incredibly
applicable to my current and future positions. The Symposium is, by far, the
best professional development opportunity I have attended in 9 years!
It helped me to consider all of the possibilities for how I can advance in this
field rather than just the “traditional” paths. We focused on competencies
which you can gain in a wide variety of ways...it's all about how you package
them and present them to others as you move up. It reaffirmed my belief that
having a strong professional network can be one of your greatest and most
powerful strengths which can provide innumerable opportunities if you
nurture that network.
Participants did not provide direct comments in terms of how the Symposium
might be improved to increase the confidence level of participants to pursue an
SSAO position. Feedback was provided regarding the dynamics of the group that
may have impacted experiences of the diverse populations that were at the
Symposium:
If the colleague is mid-level or higher. It was very beneficial to receive
affirmation about the ability to move forward to a VP level.
One comment I would make is that there did not appear to be a substantial
number of women who would be pursuing a CSAO within the next few
months to a year. A workshop specifically for that type of individual would
have been helpful for me. I do understand that Manicur is also about
developing the pipeline and enjoyed supporting other women in that way.
Offer more in depth (higher level) coverage of the areas addressed. Most of
us have doctoral degrees and understand these issues on a basic level.
Directly address issues for women of color so that all participants might
reflect on value of the information for themselves. Be clear about the
challenges confronting those seeing to move to SSAO posts.
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The free responses provided insight to this question as the participants
expressed their overall confidence to pursue a SSAO position as a result of
engagement with colleagues and mentors at the Symposium. Highlights of how
women increased their confidence to pursue a SSAO position include:
• Diverse faculty provide different career paths for individuals with diverse
backgrounds in terms of family, focus and personality.
• Honest experiences regarding of challenges and rewards of an SSAO.
• Increased understanding of skill sets needed for a SSAO to support career
planning.
Some examples of the comments that were provided are as follows:
The women leaders at the symposium shared their honest struggles and
successes. I could relate in many ways and this helped me feel not so alone.
I heard loud and clear that this is a tough career path and requires a hardy
individual. However, I also heard that it is extremely rewarding. This candid
feedback inspired me to reach farther and keep going on my path.
Better understanding of the breadth and depth of SSAO position.
Because I plan to be a SSAO and wanted help pursuing this path.
It helped provide some confidence.
However, few did express that for future, faculty and sessions regarding the role of a
SSAO could be more specific. Perhaps the feedback was varied since there were
different professional levels and as such, some required more details than others; or
some participants had more in depth conversations in the mentor groups than others.
Some examples regarding sentiments for specific actions for SSAO faculty:
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Seeing some of the faculty “in action”, perhaps even some role play or
dynamic practice of those leadership skills would be great!
For me, hearing how SSAPs dealt with real issues and strategies on
overcoming the challenges (if they perceived any to be present) would have
been helpful.
Providing tools to increase the confidence in an individual’s ability to pursue
a SSAO position appears to be important for the participants. Having the confidence
to pursue a SSAO position aligns with the literature that says increased self-efficacy
promotes career advancement. Women have been found to refrain from considering
occupations that they believe are beyond their abilities. Self-confidence has been
found to predict the decision making process for career advancement (Hackett &
Betz, 1981). Those who believe they have the capacity to make good decisions can
begin to think about exploring career choices and subsequent benefits (Bluestein,
1989). Increased leadership self-efficacy has been found to be related to both how
women envision their professional lives as a leader and how determined they are to
achieve what they envision (Bluestein, 1989).
Findings Related to Research Question Six
Satisfaction on the Effectiveness of the Symposium
Overall effectiveness of learning can be measured using Kirkpatrick’s (1994)
four levels of evaluation framework, reaction, learning, transfer, and results.
However, for the purpose of this study, the focus will be on level 1 - Reaction to
answer Research Question 6, “Upon completion, how effective did participants find
the Symposium,” an analysis was performed using the results of the satisfaction
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questions as the independent variables. The satisfaction questions (questions #8,
#11, #16), were scored using a 1-5 Likert scale, with 1 = as Not Sure, 2 = Not
Confident At All, 3 = Somewhat Confident, 4 = Confident and 5 = Extremely
Confident. The scores of the professional development questions were reversed so
that all of the questions would measure satisfaction in the same positive direction.
Responses to the three scales were aggregated to create the new composite variable,
satisfaction. An alpha reliability analysis was conducted to make sure that the items
with reliable with each other or “hang” together. Preliminary analysis to check on
internal consistency of the total score was performed. Question 4 (The ability to
engage in dialogue and to interact with other participants aided in my learning);
Question 17 (The information and tools provided during the Symposium will aid my
ability to become a senior student affairs officer); and Questions 18 (The manner to
which the faculty delivered the content will improve my ability to develop new skill
sets as a student affairs professional), were omitted to obtain a Cronbach's alpha of
.693. The Cronbach's alpha fell slightly below the accepted value of .70. Since the
Cronbach's alpha fell below the accepted value, an analysis of the means was
performed on each of the scales in the composite variable. Table 17 reflects the
means of the individual scales for the composite variable.
T-tests for the individual scales, Q8, Q11 and Q16 were performed. Q8, Q11
and Q16 did not differ significantly by the five various independent demographic
participant characteristics – race/ethnicity level, professional level, marital status and
family.
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Table 17
Cronbach's Alpha for Satisfaction Scale
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.693 3
Cronbach's Alpha if
item Deleted
POST8 (After Symposium, I have better understanding of
how to make change on campus)
.534
POST2 (I learned new information that will assist me with
my work on campus)
.665
POST6 (Faculty provided knowledge and tools for me to
pursue a SSAO position with confidence)
.583
Looking at the individual scores for the items in the satisfaction scale, the
participants were satisfied with the overall effectiveness of the Symposium. In
particular, participants felt strongly that:
• (#8): After participating in this Symposium, I have a better
understanding of how to make change on my campus.
• (#11): Participating in the Alice Manicur Symposium helped me to learn
about the various career path opportunities, how to find the right campus
fit, and strategies for the next career steps.
• (#16): The overall stated objectives of the Alice Manicur Symposium
met my expectations.
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Table 18
Post-Symposium Survey: Satisfaction
Mean SD
SATISFACTION 4.27 .55
Q8 3.94 .84
Q11 4.47 .64
Q16 4.41 .61
Though the quantitative analysis did not reflect significant correlations of the
composite scale, nor did they vary between demographic statistics, participants were
generally satisfied with the Symposium. An analysis of the qualitative data based on
the free responses will provide additional insights to components of the Symposium
that participants were satisfied with and areas that needed improvement.
Qualitative Assessment for Satisfaction on the Effectiveness of the Symposium
While the aggregate of the three scales did not provide significant
correlations nor did they vary between demographic statistics; the comments
provided in the free response sections indicated that overall the participants were
extremely satisfied with the Symposium. General themes that were expressed
included:
• Best/excellent conference ever experienced;
• Life-changing and/or inspiring;
• Helpful.
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A few examples from the comments expressing this general feeling of
satisfaction are as follows:
This symposium was the best conference that I have ever attended. It really
changed my life.
I believe that this was the perfect event for this stage in my career and I know
other women who would benefit from this development opportunity.
I have attended the New Professionals Institute as well as the Mid-Level
Managers Institute, but none pushed my existing skill sets like the Alice
Manicur Symposium. The cohort of attendees was a great fit for where I am
currently, and gave great feedback and insight for where I want to go next. In
total, this was an unbelievably helpful experience. Other than my doctoral
program, this was my best professional development experience to date.
Additional themes that emerged indicating that the Symposium was effective
include, particularly when recommending to future participants:
• Symposium was affirming and inspiring;
• Symposium provided opportunities to reflect, goal set and learn different
pathways to become an SSAO;
• Opportunity to network and explore career options.
Sample comments of how women were highly satisfied include:
This symposium was the best conference that I have ever attended. It really
changed my life.
It was affirming and the networking was a valuable tool that I could not get
anywhere else.
The Symposium included faculty who had very different paths throughout
Higher Education, varying backgrounds, and differing perspectives, which
ensured that the variety of participants in the Symposium could relate to at
least one of the faculty members. I found the information to be incredibly
applicable to my current and future positions. The Symposium is, by far, the
best professional development opportunity I have attended in 9 years!
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However, feedback was also provided regarding ways that the Symposium could
improve, this particularly revolved around the following themes:
• Not all issues/concerns applied to women equally across the board
(women of color, family).
• More focused discussions on topics specifically for women (unique
challenges, gender/sexuality in the workplace).
• More structure (mentor groups, discussion topics).
Sample comments of regarding areas of improvement in terms of effectiveness
include:
Overall, I really appreciated the Symposium. As a woman of color, I was
disappointed that more attention was not paid to (again) issues of
race/ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality. In speaking with colleagues,
some were having these discussions in their mentor groups but ours did
not…I expected that these types of issues – especially as it [the Symposium]
was focused on women – that we would have focused on the unique
challenges facing women (who are parents, lesbian, first generation in SSAO
position)…I felt similarly about the work/life balance discussion – I wish
there were more attention, deep thinking, and talking about that.
I recommend considering the following topics: 1) Health & Wellness (more
in depth on work/life balance); 2) There is an assumption that the information
taught and shared is applicable to all women, but sessions for women of color
and other categories where women have additional considerations would be
beneficial…
Our mentor group was unstructured and informal. It was good in a sense that
the discussion was generated by the members of the group but the
conversation was often dominated by 2-3 people. Providing a bit more
structure could have provided more opportunities for others to share and
inquire.
Having the varied responses, again, may be due to the varied populations at the
Symposium such as professional level, race and even marital and family status,
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based on the comments provided here. As previously discussed, one of the criteria's
for effective professional development is relevancy (Guskey, 2000). Perhaps the
Symposium coordinators might consider if sessions fully address and are inclusive of
the following:
• Does discussion topic apply to the varied level of experiences in the
room?
• Are the ethnic backgrounds of the participants represented in the faculty?
If not, is this going to be problematic?
• Does work life balance only mean considerations for marriage and
family? What if women are single, don’t want to have kids, or can’t
have kids? Will these issues be addressed?
While professional development in student affairs is a life-long process
(Knox, 2000), where knowledge is built upon previous experience, content still
needs to be relevant to all participants in order to be effective and for learning to take
place (Guskey, 2000). By incorporating relevant content will also provide
opportunities to assess for level 2 evaluation: learning (Kirkpatrick, 1994).
Findings Related to Research Question 7
Symposium Met Overall Outcomes
Lastly, to determine whether or not the identified learning outcomes were
met, an analysis of participant’s beliefs in the Symposium meeting overall outcomes
can help determine the scope of the Symposium's overall effectiveness. Therefore,
to answer Research Question 7, “To what extent to participants believe that the
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overall outcomes of the Symposium were met,” an analysis was performed using the
results of the satisfaction questions as the independent variables. The Symposium
outcome questions (questions #16-#25), were scored using a 1-5 Likert scale, with 1
= as Not Sure, 2 = Not Confident At All, 3 = Somewhat Confident, 4 = Confident
and 5 = Extremely Confident. The scores of the Symposium outcome questions
were reversed so that all of the questions would measure Symposium objectives in
the same positive direction. Responses to the ten scales were aggregated to create
the new composite variable, Symposium. A Cronbach's alpha reliability analysis
was conducted to make sure that the responses to the items were consistent. Results
appear in Table 19 reflects the means of the individual scales for the composite
variable. Each of the items was highly correlated yielding a Cronbach's alpha of
.825.
T-tests were performed on the composite variable and participants'
satisfaction on how the Symposium met the overall outcomes did not differ
significantly by ten various independent demographic participant characteristics –
race/ethnicity level, professional level, marital status and family. In other words,
given the symposium questions measured, participant experience with the
Symposium meeting overall outcomes did not differ across demographic variables.
Table 20 reflects the means of the individual scales for the composite variable.
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Table 19
Cronbach's Alpha for Symposium Scale
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.825 10
Cronbach's Alpha
if item Deleted
POST16 (Overall stated objectives of the Symposium met my
expectations)
.800
POST17 (Information and tools provided during Symposium
will aid my ability to become a SSAO)
.803
POST18 (Manner in which the faculty delivered content will
improve my ability to develop new skill sets as a SA
professional)
.794
POST19 (Having a survey prior to the Symposium to
determine my developmental needs would be helpful in
future)
.834
POST20 (Variety of content that the faculty addressed as a
SSAO enhanced my understanding of skills needed to focus
on to become a SSAO)
.811
POST21 (Session regarding strategies for life/work balance
will aid my development as a mid-level preparing to be a
SSAO)
.801
POST22 (I appreciated using StrenthsQuest as a tool to learn
about my strengths and discussing how to maximize)
.817
POST23 (My professional development needs were met by
participating in the Symposium)
.806
POST24 (Overall content of Symposium will aid my
development in preparation of next steps in career)
.806
POST25 (I have reflected upon moving beyond mid-level
position to SSAO position)
.821
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Table 20
Post-Symposium Survey: Symposium
Mean SD
SYMPOSIUM .48
Q16 4.41 .61
Q17 4.53 .58
Q18 4.37 .60
Q19 3.94 .93
Q20 4.39 .57
Q21 3.6 1.0
Q22 3.6 1.2
Q23 4.5 .54
Q24 4.67 .48
Q25 4.61 .67
The Alice Manicur Symposium was geared towards mid-level managers
contemplating to become SSAOs. This study sought to determine the effectiveness
of the Symposium on participant's decision making process in terms of self-efficacy,
satisfaction and work life balance. Overall the participants appeared to be confident
in their abilities to become a SSAO and surprisingly their confidence levels did not
change after participating in the Symposium from the statistical analysis. However,
based on the free-response, many women commented on how much they learned in
terms of strategies for career planning, developing skill sets and some even
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expressed that they were still unsure due to responsibilities with family. Therefore,
this indicates that in actuality, participants are unsure of their skill sets and the
Symposium impacted the manner in which they would approach future planning.
Qualitative Assessment of Overall Symposium Meeting O
In terms of satisfaction regarding the effectiveness of the Symposium, the
statistical analysis did not reflect any significant findings that would indicate how
satisfied the participants were. However, again, through the free responses,
participants were especially satisfied with the content, however, they were
expressive and unsatisfied with the structure of the logistics, assignments and even
the mentor groups. While most of the feedback was positive in terms effectiveness of
the Symposium and the satisfaction scale, there were components that participants
thought definitely did not work. A summary of suggested improvements that
resonated among the majority of the participants included the following:
• Pre-Symposium Assignments: Needed follow-up at Symposium,
especially StrengthsQuest.
• Resume Review: Needs to be provided to everyone.
• Mentor Groups: Not enough time, too large to get all the issues/questions
addressed.
A sample of some of the comments includes (on pre-symposium assignments):
I was disappointed at how little we actually discussed StrengthsQuest. I
thought it would be a major component of the time together, and instead, feel
like we never talked about it. It would have been very helpful to have the
strengths on the name badges for at least a day, and then to have session
devoted to discussing them.
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Assignments should not be distributed with no follow-through. For example:
StrengthsQuest, textbook reading, and SSAO interviews lacked depth and
dialogue; basically non-existent.
Comments on availability of resources include:
A better packet of information - I know we are trying to be green, but I
expected more than just a paper clip with 4 pages.
The opportunity to meet one on one with a representative from Spellman and
Johnson was advertised, yet only available to 6-7 people. This either should
not be advertised, or efforts should be made to give everyone an opportunity.
As much as I enjoyed the experience, there were a few things that seemed
disorganized/not as I expected:
a) I know there was a problem with FedEx, but we really needed
nametags before day 3. I really felt like it inhibited my ability to
network with people. I feel like those should have been in a carry on
or something or replaced with something else.
b) More 1:1 time with Spellman and Johnson recruiting rep
c) Mentor Groups/Access to Faculty: Consultation sessions with the
mentors should be about 20 minutes (instead of 15), if possible.
Please provide a suggested list of questions or topics to consider
discussing, but still allow us the freedom of deciding if we would like
to ask those questions, or come up with our own.
d) Also, I felt our time could have been better spent, especially
during the individual session times. Maybe give small assignments
that individuals can work on during those times.
In summary, the findings showed that there was not a significant difference in
participant’s satisfaction regarding the effectiveness of the Symposium in terms of
the composite variable and the demographics. However, if we were to take a look at
the learning outcomes outlined by the Symposium listed on the website (NASPA,
2011):
• Participants will be able to understand multiple factors to be considered in
a decision to pursue a SSAO position;
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• Participants will establish mentoring and peer relationships that will
extend beyond the symposium;
• Participants will develop strategies for next career steps
— conclusions could be made on how well the Symposium met the outcomes and
participant needs by reviewing each outcome individually and applying some of the
free responses where appropriate.
Learning Outcome 1: Participants will be able to understand multiple
factors to be considered in a decision to pursue a SSAO position.
As previously discussed participant feedback overall indicated that most
participants learned about the realities and roles of those in SSAO positions.
Participants expressed highly the value of the faculty and their experiences, as well
as the overall content of the Symposium in terms of career planning and pursing an
SSAO position. However some shared that they would have liked to have heard
about specific case studies that SSOAs experienced and how they handled those
situations; more information on how they manage their lives and their demanding
roles; more structure and guidance that would lend the opportunity for all
participants to have a similar experience; and more focused discussions on the
unique issues of women, in particular with gender and culture.
Learning Outcome 2: Participants will establish mentoring and peer
relationships that will extend beyond the symposium.
One of the themes that were highlighted in the free response was the
opportunity to receive mentorship and to network with fellow colleagues. The
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Symposium did this structurally by assigning participants into mentor groups as well
as providing opportunities consult one on one with different faculty. While most of
the participants found value in the mentor groups and faculty interactions,
improvements could be made in terms of the size of the groups, providing structured
question both in the mentor group and the faculty interactions, and guidance for both
the mentors and mentees on how to best utilize this time.
Learning Outcome 3: Participants will develop strategies for next career
steps.
Participants did express that one of the benefits of the Symposium was the
opportunity to discuss career planning and the next steps needed to get to that next
level. The participants appreciated guided advice overall from the faculty members
regarding how to plan for their next steps in their career. Participants also especially
found value in the Spellman and Johnson component which provided more tangible
skill enhancement suggestions that related to resume building, cover letters and
references. However, this portion was initially limited to less than 10 people, which
many expressed that this should not be the case in the future.
Lastly, while there were a number of questions incorporated into the surveys
regarding work life balance and the Symposium indicated they would be addressing
this issue, the data did not reflect significant results regarding how work life balance
may impact career advancement. It was through the free responses that issues of
work life balance emerged.
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Based on the statistical data analysis and the feedback from the free-response
sections this study can offer some implications, future research and lessons learned
regarding the advancement of women in SSAO positions. A thorough analysis of the
Symposium feedback and recommendations for future planning will be discussed in
Chapter Five.
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CHAPTER FIVE
ANALYSIS, SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Overview of the Problem
Despite women making progress in advancing to senior positions across
careers, the advancement of women from mid-level manager positions to SSAO is
still incremental. The lack of women represented in high level student affairs
positions has been documented in the literature (Ting & Watt, 1999). In 1892 at the
University of Chicago, Alice Freeman Palmer, was appointed the first dean of
women (Townsend & Twombly, 2008). Installing the position of dean of women
provided a pathway to leadership positions at college campuses for women. Since
Congress passed Title IX of the Civil Rights act 35 years ago, “making it illegal to
discriminate on the basis of sex in any educational program or activity that receives
federal funding” (Steiger, 2007, p. 1), the fight for equality for underrepresented
women still persist. Therefore, this study focused on how professional development,
specifically NASPA’s Alice Manicur Symposium, effectively met the professional
needs of women contemplating career advancement to a senior student affairs officer
position while addressing a prominent issue that hinders advancement: work life
balance.
The literature suggest that an existing pool of qualified, experienced women
is present on university campuses, but has yet to be tapped to enhance the gender
diversity at senior administrative level positions (King & Gomez, 2007). At the
same time, the leading Student Affairs professional associations have taken up the
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responsibility for offering coaching to women seeking to advance by providing
professional development programs. As such, NASPA’s Alice Manicur Symposium
was the forum to determine the effectiveness of professional development and
impact on the decision making process to advance from a mid-managerial position to
a SSAO.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which a key
professional development symposium addressed the perceived concerns regarding
advancement from mid-managerial positions to SSAO positions. Traditionally
professional development opportunities have focused on job specific skills, but not
on the effectiveness of professional development modalities that support the career
advancement of mid-level women to SSAO positions while addressing a prominent
challenge for women: work life balance. Specifically, this research proposal
evaluated the National Association of Student Administration’s Alice Manicur
Symposium. The Alice Manicur Symposium is geared towards women in the
profession who are contemplating advancing to a SSAO position (NASPA, 2010).
Through this study the participants revealed that overall the Alice Manicur
Symposium was effective in the following ways:
• Providing mentoring opportunities;
• Creating/expanding networks;
• Learning about the role of SSAOs.
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Mixed feedback was received for the following (in other words, some felt
that the Symposium enhanced their learning, some wanted more information, and
others did not feel like it touched on the topic enough):
• Mentor Groups;
• Work Life Balance Strategies.
Areas for improvement, in terms of the learning outcomes outlined by the
NASPA office:
• Pre-Symposium Assignments;
• Interactive Engagement Opportunities;
• Case Studies Exercises;
• Follow-through on assignments and tracking for participants who do
advance to SSAO positions after participating in the Manicur
Symposium.
Currently NASPA recruits for the Alice Manicur through mailings, referrals
and recommendations (S. Gordon, personal communication, November 2, 2011).
But for those who are truly wanting to seek out SSAO positions and who are
planning to invest the money to participate, NASPA may want to begin tracking who
advances to SSAO positions as a result of the Symposium. In this way, NASPA can
provide concrete statistics that in fact the Symposium is an effective professional
development opportunity.
Further, while details will be further explained in the recommendations
section, the Alice Manicur Symposium was generally successful in terms of feelings
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regarding satisfaction from participants, but in order to get closer to becoming an
effective professional development opportunity, NASPA should consider the
following:
1. Streamline the mentor group meetings so that there are structured
exercises in each group. While the outcomes may definitely vary due to
the diversity of the groups, at least participants won't have a sense of
feeling they missed out on a conversation that was important to them.
2. Ensure that the program and structure of the Symposium clearly meets the
learning outcomes and activities described/promoted on the web and any
other promotional materials.
3. Consider expanding the program for at least one more in order to provide
resources (such as the resume review, etiquette lunch meeting, etc.) that
have been typically limited to those that get up early in the morning to
sign up for such activities.
4. Given that this was a Symposium for women, take advantage of the safe
space often felt by women when a group such as this is brought together,
to talk about gender, cultural issues, and work life balance that is unique
to women in SSAO positions.
5. Lastly, while all participants are women and they do share common
interest, participants are still different and therefore ensuring the program
sessions meet the needs of all levels and backgrounds of those that are
participating in the Symposium.
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Implications and Future Recommendations
As already mentioned, the overall sense of the Symposium by the participants
was appreciation and satisfaction to gather with fellow colleagues and to build
support networks to discuss career planning and possible advancement to SSAO
positions. However, in terms of learning and knowledge acquisition, the Symposium
reflected what is typically seen in professional development: an opportunity to
gather, talk, and meet new people, but little attention to professional development
curriculum. Therefore, the following will outline a number of conclusions and the
resulting implications. Finally, recommendations for future study are suggested.
Based on the results of this study the following implications are offered:
1. Work life balance is an important part of the decision making process
regarding whether or not to pursue a SSAO position. The Symposium
coordinator and/or faculty could have provided specific scenarios for a set
of questions regarding work life balance in both the general session and
mentor groups in order for participants to feel as though this issue was
addressed equally, since feedback reflected varied responses regarding
whether or not strategies to manage work life balance was met.
2. Work life balance may be evolving and as such, professional
development needs to adapt to this change. As expressed by the
participants, not all of the issues applied to women equally across the
board. Work life balance does not always imply getting married or
having a family. Therefore in formulating the questions or scenarios, a
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diverse spectrum of scenarios should be provided that includes
considerations for women who do not have family or who are not
planning to have children.
3. Professional development needs to be relevant. Important consideration
needs to factor in the variety of experiences and backgrounds of the
participants. Sessions and discussions need to be applicable to the
experience of the participants in terms of professional level, educational
level as well as cultural background. Provide higher level sessions or
breakout sessions for participants to select from based on their
professional and educational needs.
4. Professional development needs follow through. In the data analysis for
the discussion on how participants were satisfied in the overall
effectiveness of the Symposium, improvements were suggested regarding
the pre-Symposium assignments. The pre-Symposium assignments
included: interviews, the completion of StrengthsQuest, and reading
assignments. The assignments were not only provided to the participants
late, but participants were given the impression that the assignments were
going to be important discussion pieces at the Symposium. This was not
the case. The interviews were never discussed, StrengthsQuest was
glossed over at best, in the mentor groups, and the reading assignment
was referenced once because one of the authors was a faculty member.
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5. Professional development needs to be provided over a period of time in
order to be impactful. While the Symposium was advertised as a three
day experience, participants felt as if it were really two and a half days,
and as a result, not enough time was available to maximize the resources
available. The mentor groups met only for an hour half and within that
time, participants were encouraged to talk about specific issues, yet the
groups were so large, many groups ran out of time and therefore, not
every concern or issue was addressed. Faculty one and one consultations
were only slated for 15 minutes, which many felt was not enough time to
discuss and inquire – especially if participants were unclear on what they
were suppose to do during this time.
6. Professional development needs to meet the learning outcomes and
adhere to what participants are told they will experience. The
Symposium was geared towards women and the desire of these women to
pursue a SSAO position. However, topics specifically towards women
were not fully fleshed out and therefore, some participants were left
feeling as though they still had unanswered questions. The Symposium
also promoted that participants would engage in “case studies…games,
and simulations; and will be knowledge-based, fun, upbeat, and highly
interactive,” however participants expressed that this was not the case.
Some even commented on how much of the delivery was done in a
lecture style manner and thus was not interactive at all.
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Future Recommendations
Overall, the data reflected that the Symposium was a great experience for the
majority. However, in order for the Symposium to be truly effective in providing the
skill sets and confidence of women to pursue SSAO positions, a framework for
professional development should be followed. Based on the data obtained,
suggestions will be framed according to the structural framework for effective
professional development as outlined by Birman, Desimone, Porter and Garet
(2000):
Form. How was the activity structured?
The Symposium was a traditional conference that was unique in that it
focused on women aspiring to be SSAO’s. Most of the general sessions were held in
a large ballroom kept much of the presentations in a lecture style format. The mentor
groups, for some did not have assigned rooms. A suggestion for future would to
have the general sessions mix up the format in terms of presentation. Involve group
work facilitated by faculty to talk about case studies. Perhaps role playing scenarios
so that participants could see how each SSAO handled a particular challenging
situation. Regarding the mentor groups, if they are large, they need to have a large
space to converse and not in the middle of the lobby. Or make the groups smaller,
which was the intent of the small discussion groups that the Symposium promoted.
Duration. How much time was invested by the participants and over what
period of time did the activity occur?
178
The Symposium was advertised as a three day program. However, because
one of the days was split into half days, the program felt as if it were shorter. Since
participants would have enjoyed more time with mentor groups, faculty consultations
and also specified reflection time, the Symposium should probably be organized as
three full days in order to maximize the time at the conference, especially since many
required traveling the day before and after due to distance.
Participation. Who was involved? Were the participants a collective group
from the same organization or were the participant's individuals from different
organizations?
While the participants were all aspiring SSAOs, the participants varied by
educational level (master’s and doctorate's) and professional level (mid-level and
senior). Additionally the majority of the women were Caucasian with a marginal
representation of African American women and limited representation from the
Latina population. Therefore, sessions need to consider all levels of experience
when developing curriculum, especially the program includes women that are no
longer considered “mid-level.” Adding sessions, as suggested by participants’, that
were higher level discussion topics for those in senior positions would have
enhanced the relevancy of the Symposium. Additionally, sessions around race and
gender may have increased the effectiveness and impact of those who are from
diverse cultural and racial backgrounds, especially to those who expressed needing
more discussions around these two topics and to those who may experience work
related issues around this topic.
179
In addition to the structural components, Birman et al. (2000) designated
three core elements that describe the processes that take place during professional
development opportunities:
Content focus. To what extent did the experience focus on enhancing the
individuals’ knowledge base?
Participants did suggest that an outline or planning document be provided in
the faculty consultations when discussing the skill sets needed to become an SSAO
as well as using this as way to help with their career planning strategies.
Additionally, mentors needed have similar agendas in terms of addressing the issues
of skill sets needed to be an effective and successful SSAO as well as work life
balance. This did not occur with all the mentor groups.
Active learning. What opportunities are available for individuals to actively
participate in a deeper understanding of learning and practice?
While it was asked of the participants to bring a journal for reflection, there
wasn’t designated time for participants to reflect upon the learning they acquired
throughout the day, nor was there any mechanism to report back on the following
day that would ensure that professional needs were being met.
Interactive sessions may also contribute to active learning. Providing case
studies and impromptu “role-playing” activities could have enhanced the experience
of the participants.
180
Coherence. Did the activity foster opportunities for continued discussion
among colleagues and integration of experiences that align with personal and
organizational goals?
While many of the participants enjoyed the opportunity to network on their
own time, there were also those that did not feel there was enough time carved out
for active/formalized networking or opportunities for continued discussions. Adding
to the schedule, which may mean extending the program to an additional day (4 full
days instead of 3), would provide the opportunity for scheduled networking and
continued discussions.
Keeping in mind Guskey’s (2000) three common challenges to professional
development, expense, lack of follow-up, and irrelevance, the following suggestions
are offered:
Expense. The Symposium’s registration cost was $695 alone. In addition to
hotel expense ($140/day) as well as travel, this was a large investment for those that
were not sponsored by their institution or the scholarship provided by NASPA.
While most of the participants felt that Symposium was worth the expense and
highly valued, participants did indicate that there were some logistical considerations
to be considered:
• Consider price range of restaurants for mentor group dinners.
• Given the high cost of the registration, snacks/beverages in the middle of
the day would have been appreciated.
181
• Name tags at the beginning would have been helpful. If they are not
delivered on time, purchase new ones, rather than waiting until they
arrive to distribute them.
• Ensure that the learning outcomes and activities outlined on the web and
promotional materials are met at the Symposium.
Follow-up. As already discussed, it is important for follow-up to be
conducted when it involves participants being asked to complete a task prior to the
Symposium. But what Guskey is referring to here is really about whether or not
participants are able to use the tools they acquired back at their work place. For the
Symposium, how many of the women began their search for an SSAO position or
secured an SSAO position? Upon interviewing one of the educational directors from
the NASPA office, NASPA does not currently track to see if participants have gone
on to secure a SSAO position. Obtaining this data would be beneficial not only to
NASPA, but to future participants.
Irrelevance. Relevancy, as has been discussed previously, is important to
incorporate with the professional development program.
Future Research & Lessons Learned
Evaluating professional development is extremely difficult because of time
constraints, ensuring that the right questions are being asked, and taking into
consideration the various nuances that can occur. Based on this study, the following
are future recommendations for research in the area of effective professional
development for mid-levels pursuing a SSAO position:
182
Micro-level Perspective
• Ask planning coordinators of the Symposium to provide agenda and
sessions that will be included in the program. By doing so, evaluation
surveys can accurately formulate questions that can measure the
professional development being studied.
• To assess for learning, ask factual questions in both pre and post surveys
that is based on the agenda and program sessions provided by the
planning coordinators.
• Match participants in pre and post surveys in order to see if demographics
actually matter in the experience.
• Race/Ethnicity and relationship to advancement; what groups are
currently represented and how to support these women.
• Age – does this affect work life balance and advancement?
• Does the Symposium enhance, affirm, or disconfirm an individual's
decision to advance to a SSAO position?
To add as part of the qualitative section, ask specifically components of the
Symposium that were effective in terms of increasing knowledge and confidence to
pursue a SSAO position.
Macro-level Perspective
• Program curriculum: closer attention to detail in terms of planning,
delivery (lecture versus engaging case studies), aligning the experience
with the goals).
183
• Work life balance across careers - how does it impact women overall in
higher education, specifically women pursuing tenure.
• Looking at the advancement of men and what strategies parallel or differ
from women - how can knowledge regarding the advancement of men,
support the advancement of women?
• Building the pipeline - are there ways to prepare new professionals as
they enter mid-level that will ultimately support their advancement to
SSAO positions - in particular, adding to the curriculum of preparation,
work life balance issues.
While the data in this study was sufficient for the purpose outlined in terms
of satisfaction, richer data could be obtained in future that can speak specifically to
the effective mechanisms that support the advancement of women to SSAO
positions. Additionally, more research on work life balance, since this a prominent
challenge for women, needs to be conducted as the literature is limited in terms of
how to support women who are contemplating advancement in their careers.
In summary, professional development can be an integral part of career
advancement for women, if implemented in a structured manner that focuses on
curriculum development and meeting the goals and objectives of the program. By
providing formalized mechanisms that can be replicated to support the advancement
of women, with considerations to the diverse roles of student affairs professionals
and backgrounds of women, can we begin to see more women advancing to SSAO
positions.
184
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APPENDIX A
ALICE MANICUR SYMPOSIUM DESCRIPTION
http://www.naspa.org/divctr/women/manicur.cfm
Alice Manicur Symposium
For women aspiring to become SSAOs
January 8-11, 2012, Mayfair Hotel & Spa, Coconut Grove, Florida
The Alice Manicur Symposium, established and coordinated by NASPA's Center for
Women, is designed for women in mid-level managerial positions who are
contemplating a move to a senior student affairs officer (SSAO) position in the near
future. Participants join other experienced student affairs professionals, from
community colleges, two-year and four-year public and private colleges and
universities to engage in workshops led by innovative and knowledgeable faculty
members with diverse backgrounds. Symposium sessions focus on such topics as
strategic thinking; leading change; planning for career advancement and continual
development; and personal and professional life balance.
The Alice Manicur Symposium provides an engaging and supportive environment
for women to learn and reflect on their personal and professional aspirations. The
symposium utilizes both thematic large-group sessions with time for discussion and
small, faculty-led mentor group time. This combination allows participants to
process new information, and gain insight from one another. Participants have time
for one-on-one visits with faculty, in addition to free time for journaling or
dialoguing with other participants.
Participants should have completed a master's degree. In the past, many participants
have been working on a doctorate or have recently completed one. The symposium is
geared toward mid-level managers who report directly to a senior student affairs
officer or academic officer of the institution. Participants usually have oversight of
one or more functional areas with responsibilities related to selection and supervision
of staff, budgeting and planning, and/or program design and implementation.
The Alice Manicur Symposium is offered once every two years.
About Alice Manicur
Alice Manicur, the daughter of an Italian immigrant and coal miner from West
Virginia, was introduced to higher education at Berea College during the early
1950's. She earned both her MS (1955) and EdD (1960) in College Student
203
Personnel from Indiana University. In 1960 she became the first dean of students at
Frostburg State University, and is still active in the university's administration. In
1976 she was the first woman to become president of NASPA. She has also been a
member of the NASPA board of directors and the NASPA Foundation board of
directors. In 1982 she was the recipient of the Fred Turner Award for outstanding
service to the profession and in 1993 she received the Scott Goodnight Award for
outstanding performance as a dean. In 1996 the Symposium for Women Aspiring to
be SSAO's was named in her honor.
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APPENDIX B
ALICE MANICUR SYMPOSIUM FACULTY
Program Director
Charlotte Tullos
Faculty
Retired Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student
Affairs and Interim Associate Provost for Student Success
University of North Texas at Dallas
Doris Ching
Emeritus Vice President for Student Affairs
University of Hawaii System
Gwendolyn Jordan Dungy
Executive Director
NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
Patricia Telles-Irvin
Vice President of Student Affairs
Northwestern University
Patricia Whitely
Vice President for Student Affairs
University of Miami
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Karen Whitney
President
Clarion University
Jan Winniford
Vice President for Student Affairs
Weber State
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APPENDIX C
ALICE MANICUR SYMPOSIUM LEARNING OUTCOMES
& ASSIGNMENTS
The symposium is envisioned as a didactic and experiential learning opportunity
with adequate time for personal reflection and one-on-one or small group mentoring
that will contribute to the participant’s skills and decision-making process about the
pursuit of a SSAO position. The symposium will involve faculty presentations, case
studies, small group discussions, games, and simulations; and will be knowledge-
based, fun, upbeat, and highly interactive. The three-day learning experience will
result in the completion of an action plan by the participant.
Learning Outcomes
• Participants will be able to understand multiple factors to be considered in a
decision to pursue a SSAO position.
• Participants will establish mentoring and peer relationships that will extend
beyond the symposium.
• Participants will develop strategies for next career steps.
Pre-Symposium Assignments
Required
• Interviews - download assignment.
• Complete StrengthsQuest assessment - access code will be provided upon
acceptance.
• Purchase a blank journal or notebook for reflections.
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APPENDIX D
ALICE MANICUR SYMPOSIUM PRE-INTERVIEW ASSIGNMENT
As you prepare to take the next steps to become a future SSAO, it is important to
learn about other individuals’ leadership journey in your organization. There are
lessons to learn, suggestions to consider and challenges to anticipate.
Therefore, as part of your preparation for the Manicur Symposium, we ask you to
interview a minimum of two but no more than three administrators in senior
positions (vice presidents, vice provosts, provosts, presidents, etc.) from your
respective institutions or another institution of your interest. We hope your
interviews are with women administrators; however, you do not need to limit it to
women only.
Below you will find a set of questions to ask each individual. The interview should
not last more than one hour. You may wish to bring them information about the
Manicur Symposium to provide them with context for the interview. Once you have
completed the interviews, we would like for you to review your notes and identify
any patterns. The patterns can be related to the paths they took, the challenges they
have faced, their problem solving methods, their values, their networking style, etc.
1. When did you decide to be a senior administrator? What brought you to your
career as a senior administrator?
2. What was your career goal?
3. What strategies would you recommend I consider in achieving a senior
administrative role?
4. How would you describe your leadership style? In what ways have you had
to adapt your leadership style as your career progressed? If so, how and
why?
5. In your current position as a senior officer, what have been your biggest
challenges/surprises to date?
6. What are the most significant forces, factors, or changes that will impact the
future of Student Affairs and student services in the next five years? How
will these changes affect the role and responsibilities of senior student affairs
officers and the skills that will be needed for successful leadership?
7. Could you give an example of an ethical dilemma you confronted and how
you managed it?
8. What are the key factors to consider when facing institutional or professional
change?
9. Have your relationships with others contributed to your success? If so, how?
10. How important is it to understand financial planning and budgeting? What
advice do you have for me on these issues?
208
APPENDIX E
ALICE MANICUR SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
Sunday, January 8, 2012
11:00 a.m-1:00 p.m. Registration
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Welcome and Overview
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Insights into the Real Life of an SSAO
3:00 - 3:15 p.m. Break
3:15 - 4:15 p.m. Contemporary Issues in Higher Education
4:15 - 5:15 p.m. Understanding the Challenges of Conflict and Politics
5:15-6:15 p.m. Mentor Groups
6:15 p.m. Group Photo
6:30-7:30 p.m. Reception
7:30 p.m. Dinner with Mentor Groups
Monday, January 9, 2012
7:00 - 8:00 a.m. Optional Board Walk
8:00 - 8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Strategic Thinking
9:30 - 9:45 a.m. Break
9:45 - 11:15 a.m. Crisis Management, Legal Issues and Media
11:30-12:30 p.m. Individual Consultations
12:30 - 1:30p.m. Lunch
1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Mentor Group Meetings
2:40 - 3:40 p.m. Concurrent Sessions #1 or #2
3:40 - 4:50 p.m. Concurrent Sessions #1 or #2
5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Individual Consultations
7:10-8:30 p.m. Dinner
8:45-10:00 p.m. Dessert and Fireside Chat on Working with the President
209
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
7:00- 8:00 a.m. Optional Board Walk
8:00- 8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Managing Resources: Resource Efficiency
9:30- 9:45 a.m. Break
9:45 - 10:45 a.m. Emotional Intelligence and Cultural Competencies
11:00-12:30 p.m. Individual Consultations
12:30 -1:30p.m. Lunch
1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Authentic Leadership: Leadership Ethics
2:30 - 2:45 p.m. Break
2:45-3:45 p.m. Preparing for your Next Career Move
3:45- 4:00 p.m. Break
4:00-5:30 p.m. Mentor Group
5:30-7:00 p.m. Individual Consultations
7:00 p.m. Dinner with Mentor Groups
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
7:30 - 8:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:00-8:45 a.m. Mentor Group Meetings
9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Balance - You and the SSAO Position
10:00-11:30 p.m. Wrap-Up Session
210
APPENDIX F
ALICE MANICUR SYMPOSIUM APPLICATION
2012 Alice Manicur Symposium
Mayfair Hotel & Spa, Coconut Grove, Florida * January 8 – 11, 2012
Please fax application to Lucy Fort at 202-204-8466. You will be notified of
decisions by October 14, 2011. Those accepted will be asked to register for this
event online.
Application Deadline: September 30, 2011
Member ID #: I would like to become a member:
Prefix: First name: M. I. Last name
Nickname:
Title: Department:
Institution name: (Acronym)
Address: Suite/Floor:
City/State/Zip: Country:
Office e-mail: Office phone: Home e-mail:
Address type: Office Home
Preferred e-mail: Office Home
211
DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
(Collected to report aggregate statistical information. Personal information will not
be released):
Gender Race/Ethnicity Highest Degree Earned
Male African American Associate
Female American Indian Bachelor’s
Transgender Asian Pacific Islander Master’s
Prefer Not to Answer Caucasian Post Master’s Certificate
Hispanic/Latino Doctoral/Terminal
Multiracial
Other
Prefer not to Answer
YEAR OF FIRST TIME FULL POSITION:_____
M/NUPF ALUM ____YES ____ NO
212
APPENDIX G
ALICE MANICUR SYMPOSIUM APPLICATION (CONTINUED)
Please provide no more than a paragraph per question for the following:
1. Why are you interested in participating in the Alice Manicur Symposium?
2. What do you hope to learn during the symposium? Please describe your specific
goals.
3. Please describe what your responsibilities are in your current position. Include for
how long you have been in your position and how many staff members you
supervise directly.
4. Please comment on your professional background and describe the strengths and
assets you would bring to a senior-level position. Please also describe what you think
you need to learn and improve upon in order to be fully ready to take on a senior-
level role.
5. Please describe your institution. This information will be used to create cohort
groups.
Please submit one copy of your resume/curriculum vitae and one letter of
recommendation from a senior student affairs officer familiar with your career
path. The letter should address why you will benefit from participating in this
institute and what you will contribute to the Institute.
If selected, registration deadlines and rates are as follows:
Early Bird (By
11/4/11)
Regular (By
11/21/11)
Late (After
11/21/11)
NASPA Member $695 $795 $895
Non-Member $900 $1000 $1100
213
APPENDIX H
ALICE MANICUR SYMPOSIUM
PRE-SYMPOSIUM SURVEY
214
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217
218
219
220
221
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223
APPENDIX I
ALICE MANICUR SYMPOSIUM
POST-SYMPOSIUM SURVEY
*Does not include NASPA's Program Evaluation
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Aala, Myhraliza Guerra
(author)
Core Title
Effective professional development strategies to support the advancement of women into senior student affairs officer positions
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Education (Leadership)
Publication Date
04/19/2012
Defense Date
03/26/2012
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
advancement,NASPA,OAI-PMH Harvest,professional development,senior student affairs officer,Women,work life balance
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Sundt, Melora A. (
committee chair
), Brewer, Dominic J. (
committee member
), Picus, Lawrence O. (
committee member
)
Creator Email
aala@usc.edu,mgaala@gmail.com
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-7369
Unique identifier
UC11289450
Identifier
usctheses-c3-7369 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-AalaMyhral-618.pdf
Dmrecord
7369
Document Type
Dissertation
Rights
Aala, Myhraliza Guerra
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Tags
advancement
NASPA
professional development
senior student affairs officer
work life balance