2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering leadership (EL) research publication has seen significant growth coinciding with the ever-increasing recognition that leadership development is an essential component of undergraduate engineering student development. To support the continued growth of this nascent field, reflection on the past research history combined with recognition of current and future challenges is vital to developing a relevant research agenda. Such a research agenda may inform future growth by meeting intellectual demand with relevant insights informed by prior work. An end-goal of the EL research enterprise is strengthening the field’s impact on the EL community and the engineering education field more broadly. A substantial portion of the research on EL is published through the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). In particular, EL thought leaders often publish through a division focused on supporting EL education, educators, and researchers, the Engineering Leadership Development Division (LEAD).
The purpose of this paper is to report the results of the 2022 ASEE LEAD special session entitled Imagining the Research Agenda for ASEE LEAD. This special session was hosted by LEAD and brought together a diverse group of thought leaders from the EL community to provide an interactive opportunity to imagine the future of ASEE LEAD’s research agenda. To identify the current state of the ASEE LEAD research agenda, the session considered the recently published book New Directions for Student Leadership: No. 173. Student leadership development in engineering and a review paper of all articles related to leadership published at the ASEE annual conference between 1996 and 2021. Interactive small group design activities built on this foundational knowledge to imagine future directions for the Division’s research agenda over the next 5-10 years. Following the session, a thematic analysis of session artifacts helped synthesize a set of priorities for the Division’s research agenda. All artifacts were digitized and then independently analyzed by two of the session facilitators to independently identify themes across the artifacts. The facilitators then convened to adjudicate discrepancies until a common set of themes emerged. These results informed the ASEE LEAD executive committee’s path forward and formulation of the 2023 ASEE LEAD call for papers. For EL researchers, this paper provides insights into relevant research topics that may be considered in the coming years. For EL educators and practitioners, this paper frames the current state of the community’s knowledge gaps and provides insights into the discipline’s future directions.