A Qualitative Study of College Cadet Women’s Leadership Identity Development in a Military Training Environment Jeananne Marie Knies Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Educational Research and Evaluation David J. Kniola, Chair Claire K. Robbins Elaine Humphrey Tiffany A. Drape October 23, 2019 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: Male-dominated environment, Higher Education, Grounded Theory, View of self Copyright © 2019 by Jeananne Marie Knies A Qualitative Study of College Cadet Women’s Leadership Identity Development in a Military Training Environment Jeananne Marie Knies ABSTRACT In December 2015, the United States’ Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, issued a directive that each branch of military avail every position to women (Pellerin, 2015).
Given this and the dearth of literature on women’s leader development in military environments, it was imperative to research if and how these environments shape and influence leadership development among college aged women. Specifically, this study sought to reveal women’s view of self as leader in the context of a military training environment at a senior military college. The Leadership Identity Development (LID) model developed by Komives, Owen, Longerbeam, Mainella, and Osteen (2005) served as a framework for this study that utilized constructivist grounded theory methods for data collection and analysis as described by Charmaz (2014). The participants in this study were 21 college students who identified as women participating in a 24-hour military training program between the ages of 19 to 23 and agreed to participate in individual face-to-face interviews.
Through interviews and analysis of the data, eight themes emerged from the women’s experiences that revealed how they developed as leaders in the environment, and conditions that both promoted and inhibited their leader development. These themes are leadership defined, internal dialogue, strategies for managing influences, practicing leadership, context for learning leadership, external influences, internal influences, and experiences. These findings have implications for future research and practice. A Qualitative Study of College Cadet Women’s Leadership Identity Development in a Military Training Environment Jeananne Marie Knies GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT It is important to understand how college aged women develop a leadership identity in a military training environment that has historically been male-dominated.
This study sought to better understand the experiences of 21 women who learned leadership in a military training environment that was a 24-hour live in experience on a campus of higher education. The women agreed to meet for a face-to-face interview that lasted approximately one hour to share their experiences. Constructivist grounded theory methods for data collection and analysis (Charmaz, 2014) were utilized in this study, and the Leadership Identity Development (LID) model developed by Komives, Owen, Longerbeam, Mainella, and Osteen (2005) served as a framework. I share the findings of this study and implications for future research and practice.
iv Acknowledgements They say it takes a village to raise a child, but the same can be said for completing a PhD. There are many people in my village I want to thank for the many different ways they supported me over the last five years and my journey to becoming Dr. First, I would like to thank my chair, colleague, and friend Dr. You have such an amazing gift for providing feedback in an affirming and supportive way that communicated I could and would finish if I just made these small little tweaks! Thank you so much for your support and positivity through this process.
I also want to thank my committee members for your guidance and help as I worked through my topic, finalized research and interview questions, helping to make my study the best it could be, and going above and beyond to reschedule my prospectus when personal matters attempted to throw a wrench in our plans! Thank you Dr. Elizabeth Creamer, Dr. Elaine Humphrey, and Dr. Claire Robbins! And thank you Dr.
Tiffany Drape for joining my village and agreeing to see me through to the end! I want to thank Dr. Martha Glass, who is a role model and mentor, who has shaped me personally and professionally. Words cannot articulate how grateful I am for her support and guidance these last five years. She has read and reread multiple drafts of my dissertation, has been there for the tears and doubts, and for the accomplishments and celebrations.
Without her in my life keeping me going and believing in me, this process could have continued for many years. Thank you for being you Martha! I want to thank my many colleagues who have become friends over the years for all their support and guidance: Whitney Bortz, Chelsea Lyles, Emily Paetz, Meghan Weyrens Kuhn, Greg Beecher, Kathy Flint, Jade Kline and Sam Harbison. And my amazing church family and v life group who have been constants in my life and prayer warriors for peace, patience and strength through this process. Thank you for always welcoming and loving me as is: Jonathan and Robbin Tagg, Chris and Claire Andrews, Jaynie and Alan Shryer, Chelsea, Kevin and Ty Lyles, Lauren and Kaleb Delk, Kearah, Adam, and Emmaline Donato, Lexi, Tom, Ellen and Adelaide Sproul, Allie, Matt, and Nora Kuester, Anita and Jerald Walz, Andrew Thompson, Scott Creamer, Sarah and Seth McCoy, Lucy, John and Rachel Copeland, Michelle, Curt, Cole, and Clare Ramsey.
And my #MomTribe for helping balance motherhood while pursuing my degree; Nelly Archibald, Jen Friedel, Stephanie Meckley and Erin Yoder. And to my family, who loves me unconditionally and supports me in any dream I pursue. Thank you for finding the beautiful balance of checking in on my progress but never making me feel I was behind or not moving fast enough. This is a tough balance to strike with someone who has responsibility and achiever in her top five strengths, and one of the most dreaded questions a PhD candidate is asked.
Thank you for allowing me the space to not talk about my degree, to put the stress aside and just enjoy my time with you. To my favorite momma in the entire world Vikki Krieger, stepdad John Krieger, brother and sister-in-law Brooks and Hannah Tiffany, sister Mikal Willmer, dad Mike, stepmom Carey, and sister Shelby Willmer, brother Garth Jackson, parents in-law Bob and Helen Knies, siblings in-law Alyssa and Dillon Sutherland, and sister Colleen Allen. And to my grandparents, Brooks and Jean Mason, and Jane Krieger, who I miss dearly, who did not really get to see my start, but I know would be so proud and are always with me. To my husband, my partner in this crazy amazing journey called life, who is a balance in every way to me, and who makes me laugh even on the darkest days and toughest of times.
Austin Robert Knies, you have never doubted me for one moment in this journey, you have vi always known I will finish, and have been nothing but supportive through this process, taking pride in a wife who has worked tirelessly and diligently to complete a goal, and enjoyed daddy daughter time so I could write. You have made me believe I could finish, you have helped me to see myself through your eyes, and I love that you cannot wait for us to be introduced as Dr. Knies! I could not have asked for a more supportive, committed, and honoring husband than you. And to my daughter, Brooke Riley Knies, my stream of courage, my true reason for finishing.
You have gifted me with a life and love I never knew possible. You make me want to be the best version of myself, to be a role model for you, as a woman, a leader, a wife, a mother, a believer. To empower you to feel confident, brilliant, bold, silly, strong, and brave; to be a beautiful person. It is because of you I walked at graduation, to show you that you may not be good at everything in life, but with perseverance, dedication, and a village, you too sweetie can achieve your goals.
Knies for me, but also for you, as a reminder to keep believing, to be true to yourself, and your journey. I am proud to be your mom and excited to see all the ways in which you will continue to change the world for the better. vii Table of Contents Abstract…………….ii General Audience Abstract………………………………………………………………….iv Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………….vii Chapter One – Introduction……………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter Two – Literature Review…….18 Chapter Three – Methods….50 Chapter Four – Study Findings……………………………………….63 Chapter Five – Discussion.154 CADET WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 1 Chapter One Introduction A note about language. As this study focused on the role gender contributed to leadership identity development, it was important to use inclusive language regarding gender identity, gender expression, and assigned sex at birth throughout the study.
At times language was in the literature that conflated assigned sex, gender identity, and gender expression by using man/male interchangeably, using woman/female interchangeably, and not including language that honors the identities of trans and non-binary people. In those cases, quotes and caveats were noted. For the first time in the history of the military in the United States of America, all service positions (enlisted and officer) in both combat and support roles across all military branches (Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Marines) are open to cisgender women. Despite this change, misperceptions and barriers remain for women and require on-going attention and advocacy.
However, given the long history of American military, it is only relatively recently that cisgender women have been fully integrated into the military. Moreover, it is only since the 1970s that women have been permitted access to military training environments such as the service academies (Kamarck, 2016; National Women’s History Month, 2015; National Women’s History Project, 2017; Parrish, 2016). By design, the military organization has historically been exclusively male. Subsequently, it is understandable that the culture lends itself to promoting traditional masculine styles of leadership, and rewards members who mimic such characteristics (Weitz, 2015).
This culture permeates military training environments, socializing new recruits at a young age to embrace the male-dominated culture. CADET WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 2 There are three main forms of military training environments that exist in the modern American higher education landscape: Service Academies, Senior Military Colleges (SMCs), and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). These military training environments focus on developing leadership and character in a regimented and disciplined educational regime that aligns with military culture (Dunn, Ho, Odom, & Perdue, 2016). In addition, while each training environment proffers both academic and military training, the nature of these environments and the experiences of military students remain distinct from civilian students.
These undergraduate training environments are designed to develop leaders for the express purpose of preparing future military officers, but also to provide a safe environment to learn and practice skills needed when cadets commission in their chosen service branch. However, given the context of a male-dominated organization, new questions arise about inclusivity. Importantly, it is unknown if these unique military training environments are effective in the way they teach and train future military officers to operate in a clearly diverse workplace. Also unknown is the extent that these environments recognize, appreciate and validate the unique and diverse leadership perspectives and characteristics of this new class of future leaders.
Understanding these and other similar questions would allow both higher education and the military insights to better identify and prepare emerging leaders who do not fit the status quo (i., heterosexual, White, and male). This study was designed to explore the experiences of women cadets in their development of self as a leader in the context of a military training environment. However, it was first important to know the history of how and when women were integrated into the United States Armed Forces because it provides critical context for how a military culture was built as a male-dominated environment and was subsequently slow to grant access to women.