Leadership Science

Why study Leadership Science

The science and study of Leadership is inherently interdisciplinary therefore, students with interests in sociology, psychology, and other related fields will find a unique academic home in the Leadership Department. Students studying STEM fields, humanities, and education could also find a complementary double major or minor in leadership since the underlying theories and frameworks can be applied to a variety of disciplines, particularly those who regularly engage within people centered organizations.

Students will be introduced to the interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks for the study of leadership, will engage in course work designed to build core leadership skills and also be exposed to the dynamic nature of the discipline itself. Students will learn about organizational dynamics, followership, diversity, ethics and teambuilding along with communication and motivational theories.

Students who major in Leadership are uniquely positioned to demonstrate all the NACE Career Readiness competencies (PDF) as the curriculum has several specific courses aligned with the following competencies. For example:

1. LDSP 2100: Foundations of Leadership aligns with the Leadership competency
2. LDSP 3070: Career Development for Leaders aligns with the Career and Self-Development competency
3. LDSP 3100: Organizational Dynamics with Teamwork and Communication competencies
4. LDSP 3130 Judgement and Decision making and LDSP 4400: Strategic Leadership and Planning both align with the Critical Thinking competency

This is not an exhaustive list, and all of our courses can be directly or indirectly aligned with career readiness competencies. Regardless of the career fields our majors find themselves in after graduation, they are ready for the ever evolving, changing and challenging world of work. The department also engages in continuous quality improvement of our curriculum and have recently added or improved several courses such as:

1. LDSP 1010: Leadership Skill Development which focuses on specific exemplary leadership behaviors and actions.
2. LDSP 2200: Comparing Leadership Across Sectors which investigates the commonalities and differences of leadership approaches across various sectors such as military, non-profit and government organizations.
3. LDSP 3050: Leading with Emotional Intelligence is an updated approach to leading diverse groups and teams.

As mentioned previously, because leadership is interdisciplinary, our graduates can be found in careers such as:

1. Civic and public service positions with local, state and national governments,
2. Public and private leadership positions with organizations in technology, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and service industries,
3. Entrepreneurs and thought leaders in innovative and emerging fields,
4. Those that have not been invented yet…