On the effect of SHPE’s social-cognitive leadership theory to Hispanic professionals’ leadership self-efficacy (work in progress)

Universities have heeded the call and responded to influences from industry and accreditation requirements by explicitly incorporating leadership development in their engineering curricula [1-3]. This has been incorporated differently depending on the institution, but it ranges from leadership-specific coursework, workshops, minors, and other opportunities for experiential learning. For example, the University of Texas - El Paso (UTEP) recently established an innovative Engineering Leadership (E-LEAD) bachelor's degree, the first of its kind in the U.S., whose engineering curriculum is grounded on collaborative learning [4]. Other institutions have developed leadership programs that can be pursued concurrently with an engineering major, such as Georgia Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, University of Maryland, University of Central Florida, Iowa State University, and West Point Military Academy [3,5]. However, UTEP's E-LEAD program is the only one to structure the pedagogical approach of all their engineering coursework to intentionally develop specific engineering leadership skills [4]. Despite the importance that engineering education researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and advocates have highlighted on leadership development, such efforts have been relegated into industry practices, and either curricular or co-curricular experiences [6]. Significantly less focus has been placed on intentional leadership development in extra-curricular activities, even though the engineering education literature continues to highlight the importance of such experiences in students' overall development while pursuing a higher education and professionals in the field [7]. A vital part of extra-curricular activities for engineering education is participation in national engineering diversity organizations. Within that, pursuing leadership positions in minority-based engineering organizations has been shown to have a positive impact for a multitude of student outcomes, including leadership development [8]. To our knowledge, no work currently exists in attempting to understand the leadership development of practicing engineers who participate in minority-based engineering organizations at the professional level, such as the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). SHPE hosts an annual three-day conference in the first week of August, known as the National Institute for Leadership Advancement (NILA). NILA serves two audiences: collegiate students and professional members that are elected SHPE chapter leaders. In 2019, SHPE developed a leadership framework that was applicable across its nationally organized conferences. The framework provides the abstraction necessary to map and evaluate NILA's pedagogical approach with leadership theory in the literature. In our earlier work, the social-cognitive leadership theory of McCormick (2008) [9] was shown to be compatible and mapped with NILA and SHPE's national chapter program [10]. Moreover, our earlier work focused only on the results from the SHPE student member participants [10]. The focus of the present work is on the NILA leadership concepts' applicability to the STEM workforce and its effect on the professional chapter leaders' self-efficacy. The hypothesis of this work is that the social-cognitive leadership theory within NILA increases SHPE professional members' leadership self-efficacy. [1] National Research Council, The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century. The National Academies Press, 2004. [2] ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission, Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs, Baltimore, MD, 2018. [3] T. M. Chowdhury, D. Knight, D. A. Kotys-Schwartz, J. D. Ford, and H. Murzi, "Using Competing Values Framework to map the Development of Leadership Skills as Capstone Design Students Transition to the Workplace," ASEE Virtual Annu. Conf. and Expo., 2020. [4] M. Kendall, D. Chachra, K. Roach, E. Tilley and K. G. Gipson, "Convergent Approaches for Developing Engineering Leadership in Undergraduates," in ASEE Annu. Conf. and Expo., Salt Lake City, 2018. [5] B. J. Novoselich and R. P. Lemler, "Military Leadership for Engineers: A Comprehensive Look at Leadership from Army Doctrine to Engineering Course Work," ASEE Virtual Annu. Conf. and Expo., 2020. [6] D. B. Knight and B. J. Novoselich, "Curricular and Co-curricular Influences on Undergraduate Engineering Student Leadership," J. Eng. Educ., vol. 106, no. 1, pp. 44– 70, Jan. 2017. [7] C. R. Zafft, S. G. Adams, and G. S. Matkin, "Measuring Leadership in Self-Managed Teams Using the Competing Values Framework," J. Eng. Educ., vol. 98, no. 3, pp. 273– 282, 2009. [8] W. C. Lee, H. M. Matusovich, "A Model of Co-Curricular Support for Undergraduate Engineering Students," J. Eng. Ed., vol. 105, no. 3, pp. 406-430, Jul. 2016. [9] M. J. McCormick, "Self-Efficacy and Leadership Effectiveness: Applying Social Cognitive Theory to Leadership," J. of Lead. Stud., vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 22-33, 2008. [10] S. L. Plata, I. M. Hasbún, M. Rodriguez, "Social-cognitive theory of SHPE's premier leadership conference for undergraduates and professionals in the STEM workforce," pending publication, 2021.