STEM Grants and Coaching
Dr. Linda Liang served as co-PI, curriculum director, needs analysis collaborator and Leadership Assessment Director for the following grants for Post-doctoral university professors and leaders in STEM fields. Her work is described below for each grant. They are listed in reverse order, with the most recent grant being first.
CASL II
(Center for Advancement of STEM Leaders, hosted by Fielding Graduate Institute, Funded by the National Science Foundation), June, 2019.
Overview
“The projected outcomes of the CASL II grant were to enhance leadership capacity at HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) to broaden participation in STEM built upon and strengthened by the legacy of HBCU success in producing blacks in STEM and to provide a framework for producing leaders at non-HBCUs to increase successes in Broadening participation in STEM.
Dr. Liang, Senior Consultant, Leadership Assessment, assisted in the selection of the leadership assessment tool. We selected the Leadership Effectiveness Analysis (LEA 360, published by MRG) to provide feedback to the Fellows regarding their leadership strengths. Our experience in STEM grants lends us to believe that professors and higher education leaders benefit from detailed feedback about their leadership strengths and from leadership development opportunities to utilize those strengths to make an impact in the STEM fields. Dr. Liang also provided leadership development coaching sessions for each Fellow to review his/her results and also to develop strategies and developmental exercises to further utilize their strengths. This approach highlighted both hidden strengths, leadership skills that each Fellow was unaware that he/she possessed, and also blindspots, skills that Fellows thought were strengths but either that they were not displaying or that warranted further development.
Dr. Liang presented the details about the LEA 360 and what it measures, along with group results, at Residency I to the Fellows on September 14, 2019.
CASL I
(Center for Advancement of STEM Leaders, hosted by Fielding Graduate Institute, Funded by the National Science Foundation), August, 2017.
Overview
“CASL’s goal is to advance a new generation of STEM leaders who will broaden participation across racial, ethnic and gender categories in STEM at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU”s). The content of this program is based heavily upon the results of CASL research on successful leadership styles and strategies conducted at several types and sizes of HBCUs along with research from other sources….HBCUs are known for their success in recruiting, retaining and graduating comparatively large percentages of black and women students in STEM fields.” Dr. Orlando Taylor, et.al. Fielding Graduate University, Private Investigator.
The program is a year-long set of academic and skills building activities to improve participant’s effectiveness as a leader in broadening participation of under-represented students in STEM fields. Dr. Liang served as the Senior Consultant for Leadership Assessment. The EQ-I 2.0 360-degree assessment (Emotional Intelligence Quotient published by MHS) was used to evaluate each Scholars emotional intelligence. A 360-degree EQ-i was given to each scholar, his/her peers, direct reports and supervisor(s). Feedback was shared in individual sessions with Dr. Liang and a leadership development plan was compiled for each Scholar.
Dr. Liang presented the details about the EQ-I 2.0 and what it measures, its validity and reliability evidence at Residency I to the Scholars in September, 2017.
OURS Program
Opportunities for Underrepresented scholars
Overview
OURS III, hosted by Fielding Graduate University and funded by the National Science Foundation.
A continuation of the OURS I and II programs with Native American Scholars. (approximately 13).
OURS II, 2015, hosted by The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and funded by the National Science Foundation. A continuation of the grant described under OURS I with a new cohort. Assisted with curriculum design in the areas of power and influence, organizational diversity, creating and implementing performance standards, networking and building coalitions and managing academic, scholarly and leadership roles.
In addition, we administered the Leadership Effectiveness Analysis 360 (MRG) and the DiSC profile. Dr. Liang provided individual coaching sessions on leadership strengths to all Scholars (approximately 20).
OURS I, hosted by the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, funded by the National Science Foundation, Fall, 2013.
The OURS program is a leadership graduate certificate program specifically designed to address the compelling need for women faculty in STEM disciplines at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to acquire leadership skills to render them more competitive for senior positions within these institutions. HBCUs are an important dimension of the nations’ goals to prepare a broad participation of American citizens in the nation’s STEM workforce.
Dr. Liang, at the time was Department Chair of the Organizational Leadership Ph.D. Program, Online, assisted in the grant writing process, the design and delivery of the needs analysis to determine the specific leadership skills needed by the Scholars, and assisted with the curriculum design and delivery as well as the design of the Action Learning projects, and leadership assessments. At this time we used the Leadership Effectiveness Analysis 360 degree process, to measure 22 leadership competencies and the DiSC profile to measure leadership and communication styles. Dr. Liang was instrumental in creating the assessment process, and also provided individual feedback through coaching sessions to each Scholar (39 individuals). At each Residency, Dr. Liang facilitated discussions on leadership assessments and development, met with Fellows individually to help them identify an issue and structure their Action Learning Projects, and discussed leadership theories and applications. At the end of the grant period, approximately 40% of the Scholars had been promoted at their respective academic institutions.