Leadership studies is a multidisciplinary academic field of study that focuses on leadership in organizational contexts and in human life. Leadership studies has origins in the social sciences, in humanities, as well as in professional and applied fields of study. The field of leadership studies is closely linked to the field of organizational studies. As an academic area of inquiry, the study of leadership has been of interest to scholars from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds. Today, there are numerous academic programs related to the study of leadership. Leadership degree programs generally relate to: aspects of leadership, leadership studies, and organizational leadership.
Leadership has become one of the fastest-growing academic fields in higher education At all levels, undergraduate through doctoral, an increasing number of colleges and universities have begun developing not only individual courses, but entire degree programs specifically devoted to the study of leadership. Even among some of the more established and traditional academic disciplines such as engineering, education, and medicine, specialization and concentration areas have developed around the study of leadership. Most of these academic programs have aimed to be multidisciplinary in nature—drawing upon theories and applications from related fields such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, and management. Such an approach, Rost has argued "allows scholars and practitioners to think radically new thoughts about leadership that are not possible from a unidisciplinary approach". Outside of the classroom, there are formal leadership education and development opportunities led by many institutions’ Student Affairs departments. For example, Canadian institutions such as Sheridan College have large Peer Mentor student staff programs which allow students to gain work experience while building their leadership skill development, self-confidence, and connections to their campus community. Other Leadership opportunities may include: student leadership conferences, student staff roles, volunteer opportunities, co-curricular opportunities, and leadership workshops. Leadership education in higher education is important not only because it increases student retention rates, but it is also viewed as an important job skill. The National Association of Colleges and Employers in the United States surveyed employers and found that leadership was an attribute that 67.4% of the respondents look for in a successful candidate’s resume.
History of leadership as a field of study
The study of leadership can be dated back to Plato, Sun Tzu and Machiavelli; however, leadership has only become the focus of contemporary academic studies in the last 60 years, and particularly more so in the last two decades. Contemporary leadership scholars and researchers have often been questioned about the nature of their work, and its place within the academy, but much of the confusion surrounding leadership as a field of study may be attributed to a lack of understanding regarding transdisciplinary, inter-, and multi- disciplinary academic fields of study in general. The discipline is filled with definitions, theories, styles, functions, competencies, and historical examples of successful and diverse leaders. Collectively, the research findings on leadership provide a far more sophisticated and complex view of the phenomenon than most of the simplistic views presented in the popular press. Some of the earliest studies on leadership include: In addition to these studies, leadership has been examined from an academic perspective through several theoretical lenses: The first doctoral program in Leadership Studies was established at the University of San Diego in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences in 1979. The first undergraduate school of Leadership Studies was established at the University of Richmond Jepson School of Leadership Studies in 1992.
Empirical, meta-analytic, and theoretical studies have been conducted on various types of leadership. Some of the styles of leadership studied include:
Warren Bennis: American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership Studies. Bennis is University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California.
Stephen R. Covey: An international respected leadership authority, author of Principle Centered Leadership, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and The 8th Habit. Founder and vice chairman of FranklinCovey Company.
Peter Drucker: Writer, management consultant, and self-described "social ecologist". Widely considered to be the father of "modern management", his 39 books and countless scholarly and popular articles explored how humans are organized across all sectors of society—in business, government and the nonprofit world.
Victor Vroom: Business school professor at the Yale School of Management. Vroom's primary research was on the expectancy theory of motivation, which attempts to explain why individuals choose to follow certain courses of action in organizations, particularly in decision-making and leadership. His most well-known books are Work and Motivation, Leadership and Decision Making, and The New Leadership. Vroom has also been a consultant to a number of corporations such as GE and American Express.
Research methods in the study of leadership
Leadership has been studied using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research methodologies. From a quantitative psychology orientation, statistical and mathematical modeling has been used in the development of leadership scales, in testing established leader evaluation tools, and in examining perceptions of leaders. Quantitative analysis may also take an experimental approach, incorporating methods from the field of experimental economics. Survey methodology has also been widely used in leadership research. As such, traditional methods of analysis in survey research have also extended to the analysis of survey research within the study of leadership. From a qualitative orientation, leadership research has included a host of research techniques: phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory, interviews, case studies, historiography, literary criticism, etc. "Coaches and coaching psychologists are increasingly using the lessons and tools of positive psychology in their practice." An example of leadership research done was by P. Alex Linley and Gurpal Minhas researching the strengths that may be found in more effective strengthspotters; the people who are skilled in the identification and development of strengths in others. The study consisted of an online survey used to collect data on the Strengthspotting Scale, together with an assessment of 60 different strengths using the Realise2 model. There were 528 respondents to retrieve data from and the results showed that the four strengths connector, enabler, esteem builder and feedback were found across the Strengthspotting Scale. "The strengths of Connector, Enabler and Feedback were significant predictors for each strengthspotting domain, suggesting that these may be the essence of the personal characteristics of an effective strengthspotter".
Academic programs
There are a considerable number of doctoral, masters, and undergraduate degree programs related to the study of leadership. Given that the study of leadership is interdisciplinary, leadership-related degree programs are often situated within various colleges, schools, and departments across different university campuses. As such, at the doctoral level leadership related degree programs primarily include: Ph.D., Ed.D., and executive doctoral degrees. At the masters level leadership related degree programs primarily include: Master of Science, Master of Arts, and executive master's degrees. At the undergraduate level leadership related degree programs primarily include: Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees as well as leadership certificate and minor programs. For example, Old Dominion University offers an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in . Old Dominion University also offers a for undergraduates that help students foster leadership skills and values to ultimately be competitive in a student's career.
