Research

Understanding the lived experiences of those individuals engaged in, and most impacted by, leadership for social movements is a hallmark of creating social change. Using both qualitative and quantitative approaches for social science research, our team explores leadership for social movements with these areas of foci.

  • Pedagogical best practices for expanding transformative leadership capacity for social movements, including mechanisms for skill acquisition
  • Addressing culture and climate of organizations for minoritized groups

 

Projects & Outputs

  • The Pedagogy of Transformative Leadership for Social Movements: Ongoing projects related to the pedagogy and skill acquisition of transformative leadership for social movements

    • Bruce, J.A. & McKee, K.E. (in press 2023). The Case for Leadership [Education] in Social Movements: Transformative Leadership as a Framework for Creating Movement Leaders. Pedagogy Series, ISA Social Justice and Democratization Space
    • McKee, K.E. (2022). Critical and transformative approaches in leadership evaluation and research. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2022(175), 41-50.
    • McKee, K.E. & Bruce, J. A. (2021). Teaching Social Justice in Agricultural Contexts in Gutherie, K & Cunhoo, V. (Eds.). Shifting the Mindset: Socially Just Leadership Education. Information Age Publishing.
    • McKee, K.E. & Bruce, J.A. (2021). What if? Teaching transformative leadership in a pandemic. Workshop at Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Pittsburgh, PA.
    • Simpson, C., Bruce, J., McKee, K.E. (2021). Transforming colleges of agriculture: How LGBTQ+ students enact transformative behaviors. Research Poster at the Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Pittsburgh, PA. Outstanding Research Poster
    • Bruce, J.A. & McKee, K.E. (Eds). (2020). Transformative leadership in action: Allyship, advocacy, & activism. Emerald Publishing.
    • Bruce, J.A., & McKee, K.E. (2020). Developing Advocate Identities. In J.A. Bruce & K.E. McKee (Eds.), Transformative leadership in action: Allyship, advocacy, & activism (pp. 149-162).  Emerald Publishing.
    • McKee, K.E. & Bruce, J.A. (2020). Developing Activist Identities. In J.A. Bruce & K.E. McKee (Eds.), Transformative leadership in action: Allyship, advocacy, & activism (pp. 185-198).  Emerald Publishing.
    • McKee, K.E. & Bruce, J.A. (2020). Becoming a Transformative Leader: The Student Leadership Activist Identity Continuum. In J.A. Bruce & K.E. McKee (Eds.), Transformative leadership in action: Allyship, advocacy, & activism (pp. 49-62).  Emerald Publishing. 
    • McKee, K.E. (in press). Critical and transformative approaches in leadership education and research. New Directions for Student Leadership.
    • Collins, D., Bruce, J. & McKee, K. (2020). Teaching Transformative Leadership for Social Justice: Using Literature Circles to Enhance Learning and Create Deeper Meaning. Journal of Leadership Education. 18(3). 158-166.
    • Gonzalez, M., Kokozos, M., Byrd, C., & McKee, K. (2020). Critical Positive Youth Development: A Framework for Centering Critical Consciousness. Journal of Youth Development, 15(6), 24-43. 
    • McKee, K.E., & Bruce, J.A. (2020). Teaching transformative leadership as advocate and activist identities. Panel at International Leadership Association Conference. 
    • Bruce, J.A., & McKee, K.E.  (2020). Teaching transformative leadership as learner and ally identities. Panel at International Leadership Association Conference. 
    • McKee, K.E., & Bruce, J.A. (2020). Teaching transformative leadership. Workshop at Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Awarded Outstanding Workshop
    • Gonzalez, M. , McKee, K.E., Kokozos, M., Shealy, L. , Chan, S.  (2019). #PassTheMic Youth multimedia program: Setting the stage to amplify youth voices. Journal of Extension, 57(6).
    • Collins, D., Bruce, J.A., & McKee, K.E. (2018). Teaching intersectional social justice at the apex of leadership. Poster Presentation at Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Chicago, IL.
    • Priest, K., McKee, K.E., & Bruce, J.A. (2018). Developing identities and capacity to engage in leadership education for social justice. Workshop at Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Chicago, IL.
    • McKee, K. & Bruce, J. (2017). Using Project Based Learning and Communities of Practice to Develop Transformative Leadership for Advocate and Activist Social Identities. Innovative Practice Paper presentation at Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Charleston, SC.
    • Bruce, J.A. & McKee, K.E. (2016). Barriers to inclusive leadership learning environments. Poster Presentation at Association of Leadership Educators. Sacramento, CA.
    • Bruce, J.A. & McKee, K.E. (2016). Creating inclusive leadership learning environments. Educator Workshop presented at the Association of Leadership Educators. Sacramento, CA. 
    • Bruce, J.A. & McKee, K.E. (2016). Inclusion: More than just a seat at the table. Educator Workshop presented at the International Leadership Association National Conference. Atlanta, GA. 
    • Bruce, J. & Lorensen, M. (2016) What Makes a Difference in How We Deal With Difference? The Dynamics of Context and Inclusion. Roundtable presented at the International Leadership Association National Conference. Atlanta, GA.

 

  • The Oaks Leadership Scholars Program: Ongoing program evaluation for a co-curricular, undergraduate, transformative leadership for social movements program

    • Bruce, J.A., McKee, K.E. & Vanhoy, M.E. (2023). Leadership for Social Movements: A Content Analysis of Student Activism Projects over a Five-Year Span. Research Paper at the Mobilization Conference. San Diego, CA.
    • Simpson, C. K., Bruce, J. A., McKee, K. E. (2022). Examining the Efficacy of a Transformative Leadership Development Program. Research Poster at Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Kansas City, MO.
    • McKee, K. & Bruce, J. (2021). Any movement of the needle: The Oaks Leadership Scholars represent themselves as learners, allies, advocates, and activists. Journal of Leadership Education, 20(2).  doi: 10.12806/V20/I2/R7
    • Simpson, C. K., Bruce, J. A., McKee, K. E. (November 2020). Student Experiences in Justice and Equity Programs. Roundtable at International Leadership Association Conference. 
    • Bruce, J., McKee, K.E., Morgan, J. & Warner, W. (2019). The Oaks Leadership Scholars: Transformative leadership in action. The International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 31(3), 536-546. http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE3574.pdf 
    • Bruce, J.A., & McKee, K.E. (2018). Who enrolls in a leadership and social justice program?. Poster Presentation at Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Chicago, IL.

 

  • Leadership Skill Acquisition Across Contexts: Ongoing investigation in how individuals acquire and apply leadership skills in a variety of contexts

    • Bruce, J. and Collins, D. (2020) Photographing Leadership: Making Meaning of Our World in K. L. Guthrie & D. M. Jenkins (Eds.).Transforming Learning: Instructional and Assessment Strategies for Leadership Education. Information Age Publishing
    • Bruce, J. & Brierton, S. (2018). Social Media Identity in Doctoral Leadership Education: SMILE. In Allen, S. & Hyatt, L. (Eds.), Advancing Doctoral Leadership Education through Technology. Edward Elgar Publishing.
    • Bruce, J. & Stephens, C. (2017). Bridging Secondary and Postsecondary Leadership Experiences: A Toolkit for Leadership Learning Facilitators. In Rosch, D. (Ed). The Role of Student Organizations in Developing Leadership: New Directions for Student Leadership, Number 155. Josey-Bass Publishing.
    • Ingerson, K. & Bruce, J. (2015). A Case Study of Leadership Pedagogy in an Organizational Behavior Class. Journal of Leadership Education, 14(3). 1-16.
    • Moore, L. & Bruce, J. (2015). Teaching Leadership in the Experience Economy Paradigm. Journal of Leadership Education, 14(4).
    • Baughman, K. & Bruce, J. (2011). Developing an Identity; A Qualitative Inquiry into the Leadership Development of Student Leaders from Special Populations. Journal of Leadership Education, 10(2).

  • Transformative Leadership for Social Movements Assessment: Quantitative Instrument validation

 

  • The Path to Equity: Autoethnography of women engaged in DEI work at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) in the US

 

  • Trauma Informed Work: An integrative literature review of trauma informed pedagogical strategies in leadership education

    • Holden, S. & Bruce, J. (in press-2023). Trauma Informed Pedagogy in Leadership Education: Where are We Now and a Path Forward. Journal of Leadership Education.
    • Bruce, J. & Holden, S. (2022). Trauma Informed Pedagogy for Leadership Education. Workshop accepted at the Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Kansas City, MO.

 

  • Developing Transformative Leadership Capacity in Communities: A mixed methods examination of the development of transformative leadership through engagement with Cooperative Extension.

 

  • Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: A literature review and guide for culturally sustaining pedagogy in leadership education.

    • McKee, K.E., Traini, H.Q., Smist, J., & Rosch, D. (in press). Being heard: Pedagogical Strategies that support BIPOC students in postsecondary leadership courses. Journal of Leadership Education.
    • McKee, K.E., Traini, H.Q., Smist, J., & Rosch, D. (2022). Being heard: Pedagogical Strategies that support BIPOC students in postsecondary leadership courses. Research Paper at the Association of Leadership Educators Annual Conference. Kansas City, MO.

       

  • Faculty DEI Decision Making: A Case-Study of HBCU faculty related to their experiences with inculcating multiculturalism and DEI into the work

    • Green, B., Bruce, J., McKee, K.E., Edwards, H., Morgan, J. (2022). Strategies for diversity & inclusion: A case study of faculty decision making. NACTA Journal

 

  • Understanding Student Needs in Higher Education: A phenomenology of student retention

    • Codallo, M., Bruce, J., McKee, K., Jayaratne, J. (2020). Factors that Influence University Student Retention in Colleges of Agriculture. North American College and Teachers of Agriculture Journal. 64. 134-139.

 

  • Burnout in Higher Education: Understanding the phenomenon of burnout for women in higher education administration in the United States

    • Bradshaw, M.Q., Bruce, J., McKee, K., Sutton, R., Orders, A. & Dunn, C. (submitted). Burnout in Female Administrators in Higher Education. Advancing Women in Leadership Journal

 

  • The Climate of Cooperative Extension: Assessing the organizational climate of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension System for Women

    • Cunningham, G., Bruce, J.A., McKee, K.E., Jayaratne, K.S.U., & Correa, M. (2022). An Assessment of the Organizational Culture of Cooperative Extension- An Autoethnography of Women in Leadership. Advancing Women in Leadership Journal
    • Cunningham, G.M., Bruce, J., McKee, K., Jayratne, J. & Correa, M. (2021). Assessment of the organizational culture of Cooperative Extension: Women in positions of leadership. Poster at Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Pittsburgh, PA. 
    • McKee, K. & Bruce, J. (December 2019) Creating Inclusive Extension Programs. Journal of Extension. 57(6) Available at: https://www.joe.org/joe/2019december/comm1.php
    • Shaeffer, A.D., Kistler, M.J, Poore, M, Bruce, J., and Jayaratne, K.S.U., (2016).  North Carolina Women Cattle Producers’ Educational Needs and Sources of Information. Journal of Animal Science, 94(supplement):12.

 

  • Making Higher Education more Accessible: A narrative analysis of application essays from nontraditional students

    • Stearns, S., McKee, K.E., Duggins, J., & Dole, J. (accepted). Academic profiles of students in a college of agriculture. NACTA Journal.
    • Stearns, S., McKee, K.E., Dole, J.M., & Bruce, J. (2022). Untapped reserves: A narrative analysis of application essays from nontraditional students at a college of agriculture and life sciences. Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research.
    • Stearns, S., McKee, K., Dole, J., & Duggins, J. (2022). Uneven paths: The pathways that lead students to enroll, NACTA Journal.

 

  • Queer Representation in Leadership Education

    • Holden, S. & Bruce, J. (2022). Queer Representation in Leadership Education: An Integrative Literature Review. Journal of Leadership Education. 21(3). doi: 10.12806/V21/I3/R7
    • Collins, D. & Bruce, J. (2020). How (In)Visible are Queer Youth in Leadership? Roundtable at Association of Leadership Educators Conference.

 

  • Agricultural Identity: Assessing Identity Influence on Student Success Outcomes Within Campus Climate

    • Grabsch, D., Moore, L., Bruce, J., &  Stephens, C. (2020). Agricultural Identity Influence on Student Success Outcomes Within Campus Climate. North American College and Teachers of Agriculture Journal. 64.

 

  • Rural Youth Leadership Development: Focusing on youth in Central Appalachia

    • Collins, D. & Bruce, J.A. (2018). Rural youth leadership development: Focusing on youth in Central Appalachia. Roundtable at Association of Leadership Educators Conference. Chicago, IL.