Conference Paper Feb01 2015

research proposal

Advancing Leaders in engineering: A Quantitative Correlational Research Study of Leadership Development For Women Engineersby

Phyllis MacIntyre

ABSTRACT This paper explores the leadership practices of women engineers licensed in British Columbia, Canada. The paper reports on the results of a quantitative correlational study using the Leadership Practices Inventory to operationalize leadership and explore associations with levels of university education, executive coaching, years of engineering practice, and the location of practice as rural versus urban. The number of women leaders continues to increase in Canadian corporations while the influence of women engineer leaders is not as progressive. Growth in the fields of engineering leadership education, management education, and leadership education offered sufficient evidence to pursue research that furthered the leadership development of women engineers. In university engineering education inclusion of leadership education improved, while attention to leadership development for professional women engineers remained sparse. The participants assessed their leadership practices and a correlational analysis will associate their leadership to levels of education programs, executive coaching, years of professional practices, and location of practice in terms of rural or urban. The study concluded with recommendations for program components of leadership development to advance women leaders in engineering. IntroductionThe shortage of leaders to meet the needs of business and government organizations was a dominant issue in Canadian organizations (Calnan & Levac, 2009; Henein & Morissette, 2006). Henein and Morissette (2006) described Candas lack of leadership education and developmental pathways as a national deficiency. In Canada, women engineers sought support and direction for leadership development from engineering associations and affiliated societies (Calnan & Levac, 2009). Leadership is a process that takes place over a period of years and leadership development requires many components of formal and informal education that goes beyond the traditions of a Canadian engineers university experience and the engineer-in-training program.

One remedy to improve the supply of leaders was to provide more leadership education to support professionals in their leadership development; professionals develop leadership through a combination of learning. According to Ely and Rhode (2010), leadership development for women was the combination of experiential learning with program components for learning conceptual frameworks of leadership, practice to integrate and apply the skills of leadership, self-discovery of ones leadership identity, and support through coaching and mentoring to sustain the leaders growth. Henein and Morissette (2006) stressed the importance of a community of practice that renews and promotes leadership. Evidence of the increase of women leaders in American organizations showed slightly more than one half of the management and professional positions were held by women (Catalyst, 2011c). In the engineering profession, the influence of women in leadership roles was less in evidence (Calan & Levac, 2009). As stated by Lambert (2008), engineering continues as the profession in which the number of women was under-represented. In this research study, the subject of leadership development focused on a population of women engineers. For women engineers, the path of leadership development includes barriers that male engineers do not experience. Although Calnan and Levac (2009) documented the existence of a gender balance in the environmental and chemical engineering specializations, among licensed professional engineers in 2010, only 10.5% were women (p. 22). The Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) is the national organization of the provincial and territorial associations that license engineers. CCPE surveyed engineers and asked the following qualitative question; What is the vision of success you would like to see for women engineers in Canada? The intent of the survey was to capture engineers perceptions about women leaders in their workplace situations. The survey responders numbered 2,432 with 58.8% women and 41.2% men; they reported that women engineers want leadership education (Calnan & Levac, 2009, p. 4). Noteworthy in the survey was the expectation that women engineers sought guidance in leadership within the profession. Research on university engineering education showed the progress to include courses and activities for leadership development in undergraduate programs (Crumpton-Young et al, 2010). For women engineers already in practice, they looked to engineering associations and affiliated societies for leadership education that advances their leadership in professional practice.

The Research ProblemKaagan (1999) defined leadership development as the process of teaching leadership and suggested a mix of learning activities that promoted a safe, shared, adult learning experience. He taught leadership that began with substantive learning of leadership theory followed by applied practice through a curriculum of learning activities. The learning activities integrated Schons (1983) model of reflection-in-action that introduced professionals to tools for learning more disciplined thinking through reflection and inquiry. By teaching leaders to use these skills, they learned to pause and examine their assumptions, reflected on individual experience, shared and tested their assumptions with others, and reconstructed an experience for future learning (Bolman & Deal, 2003; Senge, Kleiner, Roberts, Ross, & Smith, 1994). This process of critiquing and reexamining was a post-modernist way of learning in which the leader examined his or her narrative of a situation and used multiple perspectives to develop different ways of thinking about future encounters. Leonard (2003) described the implications of postmodernism for leadership development as a requirement to teach leaders to examine self through stories, assumptions, and metaphors (p. 11-12). This postmodernist approach supported the developmental nature of leadership as a process of learning that connected leaders to the experience of leadership, moving from the metaphor of personal narrative to the reality of connecting and relating as a leader. This way of learning represented a significant advancement in leadership development, as individual learning combined cognitive and emotional thinking (Goleman, Boyatis, & McKee, 2002). For example, leadership development programs integrated postmodernist approaches when the curriculum included skill development for the leader to communicate through dialogue and conversation. Sloan (2006) defined a learning space where dialogue was critical to the experience and one where power and authority levels were not barriers to the exchange (p. 104). Instruction that contributed to learning these skills included executive coaching and mentoring from senior leaders in the profession (Griffiths & Campbell, 2009; Joo, Sushko & McLean, 2012).

For engineers whose education emphasized technical and analytical skills, learning dialogue skills prepared them for the multi-faceted demands of professional practice (Adams, Evangelou, Dia de Figuerrdo, Mousoulides, Pawley, Schifellite, Stevens, Svincki, Trenor, & Wilson, 2011). Alexandrou, Swaffield & MacBeth (2013) identified professional conversations as the mechanism for leaders to move from private reflection, to dialogue, and to public exchange. Engineers who chose a career with corporate or government organizations were likely to learn professional conversations in leadership development programs that combined in-house training, executive coaching, continuing education, or university executive management program (Hannum, Martineau & Reinelt, 2007; Sloan, 2006).

The global economy changed business in the decade of the 1990s to an extent that increased the competition of engineering services increased. Bonasso (2001, 2002) foresaw the challenges that globalization presented for engineers who were perceived as only technical problem-solvers. He argued that technology applications had broader social and the cultural implications, and a complexity that was not present in earlier times. He proposed that engineers communicate and lead by speaking publicly about new technology, by contributing to the debates, and by visibly adapting to new value systems on international engineering projects. Bonasso (2002) believed engineers made more than physical contributions and that engineers had to take the lead and change perceptions of their public role. One response to the global competition of engineering services was an increase in the engineers who specialized in one area of engineering. A specialization increased the engineers technical expertise, while at the same time it narrowed the engineers focus, rather than broadening the engineers mindset to the global context of business. During the 1990s, engineering graduates came unprepared for the challenges of the global economy because engineering practice required additional skills in cultural diversity, cross-disciplinary teamwork, and leadership, topics not addressed in university engineering education. In large technology organizations, structural changes facilitated an individuals adaptation to the cross-disciplinary nature of work during this period (Moss Kanter, 1997). At Texas Instruments, the organization stripped away the hierarchy to create cross-functional teams that provided opportunities for women to advance through developmental assignments and to strengthen cross-disciplinary action within the organization (Foust-Cumming, Sabatini & Carter, 2008).

The general problem was that engineers regarded leadership training as a soft skill with less value in a technical field. Specifically, the challenge for organizations or professional association leaders was to identify the preferred strategies and techniques needed to develop engineers as leaders or to risk using leaders without technical expertise for strategic planning and decision-making, particularly in technology-based organizations. In the US, a survey of engineering employers showed that employers expected engineering graduates to have equal skill in technical expertise, business knowledge, and leadership capability (Dunn, 2009). His research assumed a future in which technical expertise became a commodity, making leadership skills even more important in the competitive market for engineering services. Reyes and Galvez (2011) provided an example of the increasing complexity in engineering practice. In civil engineering projects, the complexity included integration of multiple disciplines into the team, with leadership that enabled all team members to share knowledge, adapt to new technologies, and practice sustainability. he curriculum advancements to add leadership in business university education offered comparable lessons for engineering education (Gray, 2007; Rousseau & McCarthy, 2007; Schoemaker, 2008).

Engineering Leadership Education

Engineering leadership recently emerged as a scholarly discipline, and engineering leadership education is in a nascent stage of development (Haghighi, Smith, Olds, Fortenbury & Bond, 2008). Farr and Brazil (2009) characterized the impact of globalization on engineering practice as negative and disruptive and proposed that engineers develop leadership capability through a combination of training, experience, and career growth. University educators recognized the different demands that engineers faced, as a result engineering curriculum expanded to include leadership development. Since 1995, Pennsylvania State University (PSU) offered a minor in engineering leadership development in the undergraduate degree. The curriculum objectives included the addition of skill development in communication, project planning, management, organizational leadership, economics, and marketing. Learning outcomes addressed technology management, shared leadership in teamwork, creativity, innovation, and critical thinking. In the program, student engineers experienced the diversity of a global, engineering team, made possible through partnerships between PSU and engineering schools in Morocco and Hungary. Advances in the curriculum for engineering leadership combined a mix of applied sciences, engineering, entrepreneurship, and cultural studies that provided a virtual team experience through the Internet technology of Skype. Crumpton-Young, McCauley-Bush, Rabelo, Meza, Ferreras, Rodriguez, Milan, Miranda, and Kelarestani (2010) defined engineering leadership in the context of leading a technical team. The authors conducted surveys of engineering students and of professional engineers to document their awareness of leadership skills and attributes. The students priorities for learning leadership were skill development in communication and problem solving and they showed a keen awareness of the leaders roles of setting the example and representing the group. Leadership Development in CanadaAlthough leadership courses and activities improved in American undergraduate engineering education, little or no attention surfaced in the profession for practicing engineers (Crumpton-Young et al, 2010). In Canada, the number of women in corporate leadership continued to increase; the percentage of women in senior corporate positions rose from 9.8% in 2001 to 17.7% in 2011 (Catalyst Inc, 2012). In engineering, the influence of women in leadership roles was less in evidence (Calan & Levac, 2009). Henein and Morissette (2006) claimed that Canada lagged behind in development of leaders, and the shortcoming was noticeable on a local and international scale. The authors proposed a national leadership strategy to do the following: make leadership development a priority for federal and provincial governments, stress the value of capable leaders, support investment in leadership development, and take a strategic, long-term perspective. Leadership capability in women engineers was part of this crucial resource; a resource that Canada needed to develop or acquire.At the University of Toronto, Reeve (2010) stressed the urgency for engineering leadership education. He expanded leadership capability to include social responsibility to acknowledge the role for engineers to lead public policy debates on the impact of new technology on Canadian society. In Canadian universities, Touchie, Pressnail, Beheeshti, and Tzekove (2010) argued for engineering leadership that focused on sustainability and a holistic thinking in decision-making, in contrast to the broader range of management and leadership education in American engineering education (Schuhmann, 2010). Leadership development takes place beyond university and requires broadening career opportunities for engineers across the many domains the profession covers. Numerous factors contributed to changes in the practice of engineering and leadership capability was essential for professional engineers (Fishbein & Chan, 2010; Schuhmann, 2009). For example, projects had implications across national and cultural boundaries; and large-scale engineering projects raised ethical issues that questioned the social responsibility of engineers. Reeve (2010) claimed that a bond of trust existed between engineers and the Canadian public, a bond that might be lost without sufficient engineering leadership. In addition, the increasingly, cross-disciplinary nature of engineering and science in a new discipline such as nanoelectronics, provided compelling reasons for engineering leadership education (Brun & Neilson, 2010). Beyond Canada, Khattak, Ku & Goh (2012) reported on the lack of engineering leadership programs in Australia and European universities, in contrast to advancements in American engineering schools. Theoretical FrameworkThe literature review categorized research through the multiple perspectives of management education, leadership education, engineering leadership education, and curriculum development. Management education defined the formal education that took place in postgraduate education, including the Masters of Business Administration (MBA). In the context of curriculum development, the recent history of the MBA offered useful parallels for leadership education and for engineering leadership education where the literature noted the facultys resistance to curriculum change to broaden the program content.

Theories of transformational leadership, management and leadership, and engineering leadership conceptualized the theoretical framework of this study. Adult learning theory, experiential learning theory, cognitive learning theory, and constructivist theory contributed to the curriculum for learning leadership. Constructivist learning includes learning collaboration skills where role-playing is a useful instructional technique to integrate perception, beliefs, and previous experience. The constructivist approach represented a significant departure from the tradition of learning scientific principles and application protocols.

Cunliffe (2009) described relational leadership as the leaders ability to develop relationships and interact with followers.. Her inclusion of moral activity might be a response to the history of corporate scandals and unethical behavior of the previous decade. Her research deepened understanding of leadership and strengthened the constructivist pedagogy for teaching and learning leadership; see Figure 1: Theoretical Framework. Figure 1: Theoretical Framework

Literature ReviewThe literature review revealed a strong foundation of current knowledge and established the appropriate research method for exploring the topic of leadership development for women engineers in British Columbia, Canada. In this study, the variable of gender across the engineering disciplines was secondary to the research questions on leadership development for women engineers. Women engineers acquired technical expertise in undergraduate education and entered the workforce having immediately applicable skills. Not surprisingly, the culture of engineering included technical learning and knowledge that was a normative measure of strength. Even among the engineering disciplines, stereotypes of the harder, technical learning in electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering persisted against the perception of easier learning in industrial engineering (Frehill, 2007). One interpretation of the hard, technical stance was that engineers lacked a clear line of sight between the technology in use and the human application of the technology products (Gata & McKay, 2003). For example, an engineer working on the turbines of a hydroelectric system or the intricacies of circuits were distant from the social capital that results from the technology. Of relevance in this study was the influence of stereotypes and bias on the leadership development of women engineers (Ely & Rhode, 2010) Management Education

Leadership and management were an intricate entanglement, even though differences of definition and interpretation prevailed (Allio, 2011). Managers and leaders both acquired and manipulated capital, human resources, intellectual capital, and the visible assets of property, equipment, and computing power. Management focused on the current, present arrangements, while leadership had a time horizon for decision-making that related to the future vision (Thomas & Carnall, 2008). In the literature, seminal works (Bennis, 1999; Mintzberg, 2004) contrasted the differences between managers and leaders. The curriculum in the MBA degree reflected the American values of market economics (Shoemaker, 2008). The business school subjects of economics and finance became the core of a common curriculum for the MBA; Brocklehurst, Sturdy, Winstanley, and Driver (2007) claimed the outcome of the common curriculum was the international recognition of American MBA credentials. By the late twentieth century criticism surfaced of the MBA with criticism of its decline in influence. (Sinclair & Hintz, 2007). Although management education and research was not limited to business schools, the MBA received the majority of the criticism. Business schools responded to the criticism with curriculum reviews and innovations in management teaching (Shoemaker, 2008). Mintzberg (2004) proposed developing managers through action learning, more reflective thinking, and development of personal competency in listening, speaking, and collaborative thinking., Mintzberg and Gosling (2004) criticized MBA education for graduating specialists instead of general managers with the skills to integrate and collaborate across business units and functions.

Ackoff (2002) noted the pedagogical limitations of the MBAs instructional focus, which left students unprepared to continue to learn after graduation. Adults learned how to learn when taught methods of inquiry, use of reflective practice, and dialogue education (Vella, 2008). When the business schools at the University of Toronto and Case Western University introduced an integrated curriculum, the enrolment rates suffered because the perceived measure of success remained on analytical skill, instead of a broader managerial competency (Bennis, 1999; Pfeffer & Fong, 2004). Criticism of the excessive analytical focus related to the tension between teaching management theory versus management practiceMonaghan and Cervero (2006) proposed integrated and multiple layered learning that related to all levels in the organizational context, the individual, the group, and the organization. In business schools curriculum included the meta-abilities of self-knowledge, critical reflection, emotional resilience, and leadership (Buckley & Monks, 2004). The use of multidisciplinary integration in management education (Ducoffe, Tromley, & Tucker, 2006) proposed learning that was multidisciplinary and integrated problem solving approaches.

Boyatzis (2008) reviewed longitudinal studies on the impact of management education that was limited to finance and economics and proposed a competency based curriculum. Changes in program design of management education included teaching methods to improve both cognitive thinking and emotional intelligence. The integration of leadership courses into programs stressed a variety of learning activities that helped students learn the relationship skills of emotional intelligence. Building on the concept of multiple intelligences, his research enabled graduate management education to move to a new level of adult learning that developed emotional, social, and cognitive abilities within degrees such as the MBA and executive management programs at business schools.

Rousseau and McCarthy (2007) proposed teaching evidence-based management (EBM) for management learning. This promising approach provided the opportunity for the student to practice management, described by the authors as application of learning, reflection on the results, revision of the individuals understanding, and practice to improve. Mintzberg (2004, 2005) reinforced the value of learning through shared reflection, a generative type of learning. When managers returned to their organizations the practice of shared reflection promoted learning in their organizations.

Leadership EducationThe literature on leadership revealed many different perspectives, models, and theories. Burns (1978) published seminal research on leadership that introduced a continuum on which the leaders style evolved from a transactional style to the transformational leadership style. As cited in Jandaghi, Matin, & Farjami (2009), Burns first concept of transformational leadership emphasized the dual roles of leaders and followers to move each other to a higher level of purpose. Henein and Morissette (2007) described leadership as an invisible field of study in Canada after a comprehensive two-year study in which the majority of participants reported no formal education in leadership. They proposed a national strategy for leadership education, with leadership becoming a Canadian theme in schooling, post-secondary education, and adult education. They proposed an emphasis on a practice field through service learning and community projects. Their approach suggested that leadership development started with civic education, connecting Canadian diversity to the broader international community. The apprenticeship model combined formal and informal education through an experiential, adult learning scaffold with similarities to leadership learning. Guiding the apprentices learning were artisans, mentors, and adequate practice time to refine ones skills. While the apprentice focused on the craft, the developmental journey of a leader began with questions of identity that required guidance from leaders, educators, and those within the profession. Learning came from a combination of sources. In formal university education, cognitive thinking took priority; however, learning leadership required abstract, contextual, and conceptual thinking. Recent developments in curriculum reflected a broader range of learning in Canadian universities, such as the integration of problem-based learning and community services learning in the arts, business, and health sciences (Kuruganti, Needhamm & Zundel, 2012). Engineering Leadership EducationEngineers continued to use the MBA degree as a source of learning for management and leadership. In previous decades, management dominated the MBA curriculum and leadership currently takes an equal stance. Recent curriculum developments in MBA education responded to the growing demand for leadership in business and government. In planning for engineering education, universities faced similar curriculum demands for leadership and global engineering skills development. For engineering education, the added challenge was to provide leadership in the application of new technology, including leadership in the public policy debates (Farr & Brazil, 2009; Fishbein & Chan, 2010; Reeves, 2010). Engineering leadership education was a new scholarly discipline (Haghighi, Smith, Olds, Fortenbury & Bond, 2008). Since 1995, Pennsylvania State University (PSU) offered a minor in engineering leadership development in the undergraduate degree. Schuhmann (2010) reported the results of a 2005 curriculum review at PSU in which objectives included skill development in communication, project planning, management, organizational leadership, economics, and marketing. Learning outcomes included technology management, shared leadership in teamwork, creativity, innovation, and critical thinking. Learning diversity took place on virtual team projects with exposure to the global context through partnership with an engineering school in Morocco. The curriculum was a rich combination of applied science, engineering, social science, and cultural studies.

In Canada, the most progressive leadership education for engineers began at the University of Toronto in 2004. Faculty in the department of applied science and engineering began a certificate program, known as Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT). The LOT incorporated learning to lead teams, learning the social and psychological dynamics of relationship building, and learning to acquire the identity of leadership. Reeve (2010) contrasted the challenges for engineers to blend the traditional undergraduate engineering education with leadership education. In the applied sciences of engineering education, engineers learn to take calculated risks. As a leader, the engineer learned to move with the uncertainty and unpredictability of the technology application as presented in the individual and organizational context. Equally important to a leadership development program was the formation of a community of leaders that encouraged and supported continuous learning (Alelandrou, Swaffield & MacBeth, 2013; Reeve, 2012). This community of practice involved formal and informal learning and creation of networks that reinforced the importance of leaders developing leaders.

Learning Leadership

Reflective Learning

Curriculum innovations in management education incorporated learning reflective practice that proved beneficial in the 1990s, leadership development became an important part of MBA education. Densten and Gray (2001) examined the importance of integrating reflective practice in leadership development programs. Reflective practice was constructivist learning linking leadership theory to the experience of the student. Brookfield (1995) integrated reflective practice into education for new teachers and claimed that the teachers improved their ability to facilitate student learning. Lougham (1996) claimed teachers developed their ability to reflect when they detached from personal feelings and viewed their assumptions of teaching through the perspectives of others. Known as double loop learning, the process involved shared reflection and group learning (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 1999). When an individual examined his or her assumptions and asked others to contribute a perspective on the assumptions, a double loop of learning occurred. Through the double-loop learning, leaders learned the value of relationships how to while also question personal attitudes and beliefs. Cunliffe (2009) went beyond reflective practice to emphasize critical thinking, in contrast to Schons (1983) concept of a professionals reflection-in-action. She advocated teaching leadership from a critical perspective in which leaders thought about leadership in different ways. She proposed a philosopher metaphor that viewed leadership as three intertwining threads of relational leadership, of moral activity, and of reflexivity. Leadership was relational and the interaction contributes to the learning. Reflexivity was a means of questioning accepted assumptions in business decision-making by using critical, open dialogue in contrast to decisions moving from the top to the lower levels of the organization.

Situated learning

Situated learning gained favor in management education, particularly for the MBA in the United States and in Europe. Situated learning was a partnership between a university and large industry employer to offer a degree or certificate program that emphasizes learning the companys processes. In addition, program participants strengthened networks between the university and the next generation of industry managers and leaders. In engineering education the concept of the Learning Factory at Pennsylvania State University was an example of situated learning in engineering (Lamancusa, Zayas, Soyster, Morell & Jorgensen, 2008). In a partnership between the university and industry employers, a new engineering curriculum emerged, one in which the learning was active and stimulating, both practical and theoretical. The Learning Factory provided a venue for practice-based curriculum, interdisciplinary learning, and technology entrepreneurship. Some learning factories included outreach projects to developing countries, a product of the collaborative efforts of engineering educators, conferences, professional associations, NGOs, and government agencies. Another initiative in engineering education was the program known as the Engineer for the Americas (Morell, 2008). It promoted the education of engineers in Latin America and fostered foreign direct investment for entrepreneurial and technology-based business, encouraging a spirit of engineering leadership beyond the primacy of market growth. Research literature was lacking in these active learning experiments for engineering leadership education.

Thursfield (2008) used an interview approach to study an MBA developed by university academics and senior corporate managers of a government agency. The aims of the program were to increase collaboration and collective learning across the agency. The situated learning included the senior agency managers in the design and teaching. Students learned reflective practice by examining his or her individual approach to agency problems. Consistent with an MBA education, the assessment of student performance was individual. Thursfield (2008) argued against situated learning for an MBA program because the organizational politics prevented successful collaboration. Situated learning enabled the agency managers to practice individual reflection and question individual assumptions and methods of problem solving. However, the participants did not go beyond individual reflection and had no exchange with the senior agency managers to promote their collaborative thinking. In this example, the mechanisms to facilitate collaboration did not exist within the organization or in the design of the educational program. One conclusion was that the MBA program was not successful in furthering collaboration within the agency.

Experiential learning

Kolb (1984) believed that adults learn through the experience of learning by doing. His experiential learning theory presented a cyclical model of learning with four stages: a concrete experience initiated in a seminar, workshop, or laboratory; a stage of reflective observation of the experience; the formation of an abstract model; and the experimentation to apply or test the learning in a future experience. Turesky and Gallagher (2011) reinforced the value of experiential learning as a theoretical framework for coaching leaders; by teaching the leader awareness of learning preferences the leader grasped a wider range of behaviors, which enhanced relationships with followers and others. Griffiths and Campbell (2009) compared adult learning to the process of coaching where coach and client questioned, reflected, listened, and interacted. The learning took place through iterations in which the client tested their learning in a work context, then related and questioned their actions in conversation with the coach before proceeding to the next iteration. Kolbs model of adult learning was foundational to adult education; it enabled working adults to connect new knowledge to the reality of their work experience.

Executive Coaching

Joo, Sushko & McLean (2012) defined coaching as a developmental practice for managers, particularly in organizations that moved away from vertical hierarchy to team structures using horizontal coordination. Management of team structures required skills in leadership including the ability to merge technical and strategic perspectives using communication and relationship skills. Technological change made jobs more challenging and added complexity to the work processes of a team. Globalization enabled business to outsource work and form new global, business alliances, requiring leaders to sustain the collaboration. In managerial coaching, coaching integrated process improvement and employee performance and strengthened the capability of employees. At the managerial level, use of coaching broadened the perspectives of the managers and employees to accommodate the changing nature of work. Executive coaching utilized instructional technique for teaching leaders goal-setting, strategic thinking, conversation skills like active, listening and feedback, and leading transformative change (De Hann, Bertie, Day & Sills, 2010). Through the process of coaching, the leader developed competencies that furthered a culture of organizational learning (Cerni, Curtis & Colmar, 2010). Coaching was interdisciplinary, a combination of adult learning, organizational development, counseling psychology, and management education. De Haan & Duckworth (2012) defined executive coaching as a combination of organization and leadership development focused, relevant, and specific to the leader, using a conversational tone in a learning exchange between the coach and the leader.All forms of coaching apply facilitated learning with the coach teaching through inquiry, by skillful questioning that retains a focus on reaching a solution (Bower, 2012). In executive coaching the learning was specifically on leadership skills and behavioral change that formulated the identity of a leader, including a higher sense of purpose. Ely, Ibarra & Kolb (2011) examined the leadership development of women and characterized the process of achieving leadership as involving identity work. Identity work was the leaders ability to reflect on her personal identity and expand the identity over time to a collective one. Identity work required an integration of self-understanding, leadership experiences, developing relationships, and the pursuit of a higher purpose. In an organizational context, the higher purpose related to the business or strategic objectives. Executive coaching provided the leader with a practice field for this identity work, where the leader experimented, implemented change, and used the executive coachs feedback to assess actions and behavior. Executive coaching provided a learning process with the coach providing a framework for the leader to develop and practice as a leader; the structure was conversational and the learning took place in the cognitive and affective domains. De Hann and Duckworth (2013) summarized the outcome research on executive coaching and cited studies where the clients of executive coaches reported productivity gains and increased leadership effectiveness (Bowles, Cunningham, De La Rosa & Picano, 2007; Thach, 2002; Perkins, 2009). Other studies on outcome research for executive coaching showed increased self-efficacy in goal-setting, more belief in self, increased ratings on feedback from direct reports, and the ability to ask superiors for improvements (Bower 2012; De Hann, Duckworth, Birch & Jones, 2013).

Research on leadership and coaching was more substantive from academics in physician and nursing education (Garcia, 2009; Foli, Braswell, Kirkpatrick & Lim, 2014), in psychology (De Haan & Duckworth, 2012), and in womens leadership development (Ely, Ibarra & Kolb, 2011), and provided extensive literature on the pedagogy of leadership. New ways of teaching leadership emerged as group learning replaced individual reflective practice and pedagogy taught relational leadership (Cunliffe, 2009; Eriksen & Cunliffe, 2010). Innovation in pedagogy for leadership suggested new possibilities for engineering leadership. In the organizational context and in professional practice, executive coaching emerged as a learning process for leadership development in business, government, education,and health. Although it became a popular learning venue for leadership, the evidence-based literature on executive coaching was only five years old and in this respect was similar to the discipline of engineering leadership. Methods

The quantitative correlational study attempted to identify the leadership capacity of women professional engineers in the province of British Columbia (BC). The engineers assessed their leadership using the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), a self-assessment that articulates leadership as actions and behavior. Secondly, the study explored the association between leadership practices and the levels of university education, executive coaching, the years of engineering practice, and the location as to urban or rural. Research Design

The choice of the research design was significant in a broad area of inquiry such as leadership. The research design built upon transformational leadership theory; leadership was developmental and focused on the relationship between the leader and followers (Avolio & Bass, 1999). This study documented the leadership of women professional engineers and explored sources of learning that contributed to their leadership development. In Canada, research identified the need for more leadership development (Heinin & Morissette, 2007); specifically, the literature suggested the need for women leaders in engineering and the applied sciences (Frehill, 2007; Koehler, 2007; Firestone, 2012).

This study used a quantitative, correlational research design to determine a relationship between the leadership practice of women professional engineers and their leadership development. Kouzes and Posner (2003) characterized leadership in a model of five leadership practices and produced a self-assessment instrument known as the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). In the correlation analyses, the leadership practices represented the dependent variables in the correlation analyses to test the association with five independent variables: the presence of executive coaching, the highest level of university education, years of engineering practice, and location of practice as to urban or rural. .. Spearman correlation analysis predicted a measure to explain the association between leadership and the highest level of education. Pearson correlation analysis predicted measures to explain the relationship between leadership variables and between leadership and the number of years of practice. Point-biserial correlation analysis tested the relationship between leadership and executive coaching. Population SampleThe population consisted of women professional engineers licensed in the province of British Columbia, Canada by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC). In March 2013, the agency had a membership of approximately 12,000 professional engineers in which 1322 were women; the agency was a stable source of data on the number of professional women engineers (APEGBC, 2013). This study included an additional criterion of engineering experience; participants had five or more years of experience as a licensed engineer, an estimate of experience level for a professional engineer to assume leadership roles; this criterion produced a small population to 722 . The methodology for calculating sample size relied upon a sample size calculator that was available on the internet. Applications of the sample size formula may reduce the threat to external validity, that is, the margin of error between the sample size and the target population. Determination of the sample size for this study was conducted using G*Power (Heine, 2013) and correlations required the most stringent sample size. For a two-tailed test, using an effect size of .30, an alpha of .05, and a power of .80, the sample size calculated by G*Power software calculated a sample size of 82 participants. According to G*Power software, a minimum sample size of 82 participants was required to achieve empirical validity. When the data was collected between March and May of 2014, the sample size was 52 with responses from 38 participants. The reduction in sample size suggested that it may be harder to find an association between the leadership practices and the independent variables. In general, the more participants in a study, the easier it is to interpret the effects between the variables; this makes it harder for the researcher to find associations. In this study the results of the correlations analysis showed associations and these associations may prove to be stronger from a larger sample size in future research. Data Collection Tools

Demographic Data

Data collection utilized a participant questionnaire to collect relevant demographic data. The relevant demographic data included the level of university education, presence of executive coaching, and location of engineering practice and years of engineering practice,. This study categorized university engineering education according to diploma, baccalaureate, masters degree, and doctorate levels. A second source of data on executive coaching was the numbers of hours, which is a metric for measuring the service provided by a professional or certified coach.

Most of the participants had a Bachelors degree (21, 55%), and 15 participants had a Masters degree (40%), and one participant (1, 3%) had a doctorate. Only 10 participants (26%) had executive coaching. Most participants had their engineering practice in an urban location; only five participants (13%) came from a rural location. The most common area of practice was civil engineering (14, 37%) followed by environmental (7, 18%). Frequencies and percentages for participant demographics are presented in Table 1. Table 1

Frequencies and Percentages for Participant DemographicsDemographicn%

Education

Diploma13

Bachelors2155

Masters1540

Doctorate13

Executive Coaching

No2566

Yes1026

Did not respond38

Location

Rural513

Urban3387

Area of Practice*

Chemical513

Civil1437

Computer science and software25

Electrical and telecommunications411

Environmental718

Industrial38

Mechanical and manufacturing411

Mining13

Geotechnical13

Aerospace and defense13

Note. Participants were able to select more than one response.

The average number of years in professional practice by participants was 20.58 years (SD = 7.82). Of those that received coaching, the average number of hours spent in executive coaching for participants was 94.30 (SD = 148.27). Means and standard deviations for professional experience appear in Table 2.Table 2 Descriptive Statistics for Years in Practice and Hours of Executive Coaching Professional ExperienceMSD

Years in professional practice20.587.82

Hours of executive coaching94.30148.27

Leadership Practices InventoryThe Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) is an inventory of thirty statements; rated on a Likert scale from 1 to 10, the higher the rating, the more likely the participant applied the behavior. The statements represent the following five leadership practices or subscales: modeling the way (MW), inspire a shared vision (ISV), challenge the process (CP), enable others to act (EOA), and encourage the heart (EH). Kouzes and Posner (2002, 2011) claimed that leadership was a learned behavior that developed through the study of the five practices; and research continued to support their claims (Duygulu & Kublay, 2010; Tourganeau & McGilton, 2004; Vito & Higgins, 2010). The total score of the self-assessment was the sum of the subscales; and data was continuous.In this study the LPI provided the women engineers with a language to describe her leadership. Kouzes and Posner (2002) reported the reliability coefficients for the LPI-Self assessment in the range from 0.75 to 0.87 and for the LPI-Observer assessment to range from 0.88 to 0.92 (p. 6). The authors claimed the variation in reliability coefficients was not detrimental to the LPI with the justification that reliability remained consistent for demographic variables of gender, marital status, educational levels, countries, and without re-testing differences (p.7-8). Posners (2010) data analysis supported the earlier claims of Kouzes and Posner (2002) with respect to demographic variables. Comparison of the reliability of the LPI included review of studies with similar purpose of identifying leadership capability in professional groups, such as nursing and post-secondary teaching (Clavelle, Drunkard, Tullai-McGuinnes & Fitzpatrick, 2012). As cited in Brown and Fields (2011), the exploratory and confirmation analysis of the LPI supported the psychometric properties of the LPI (Fields & Herold, 1997). Factors that influenced instrument sensitivity were the time of day, weather, individual personality, political or social events, and the activity within the participants organization (Kouzes & Posner, 2003, pp. 201-203). Kouzes and Posner (2002) identified face validity of the LPI as accounting for most of the validity, due to the subjective evaluation of the LPI by leaders who participated previously in the authors research. The authors reported that participants identified with the language of leadership used in the thirty statements; the language described their own or another leaders personal best experience; thus, it was concluded that the LPI had face validity (p. 14). Other measures of the validity of the LPI included the statistical measure of factor analysis to support the discriminatory validity of the LPI (Field & Herold, 1997; Carless, 2001; Herold & Fields, 2004). Vito and Higgins (2009) used factor analysis to test the construct validity of the LPI for use by a specific group of police managers. They found the LPI was valid for police leadership performance and a valid construct for assessing the leadership capabilities in law enforcement agencies (p. 317). Also, the LPI had proven reliability and validity in similar studies for professionals in nursing and in higher education (Clavelle, Drunkard, Tullai-Mcguiness & Fitzpatrick, 2012; Herbst & Conradie, 2011; Tourangeau & McGilton, 2004).

In this study Cronbach alpha reliability was conducted on each of the five subscales. Acceptable reliability ( > .70) was found for inspire a shared vision, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. Challenge the process had questionable reliability ( > .60) while unacceptable reliability ( < .60) was found for modeling the way (George & Malley, 2010). Also, there were no values considered as outliers, which were assessed within each of the subscales of the LPI. Values that were greater than 3.29 standard deviations from the mean were considered outliers (Stevens, 2009). Normality for each of the scales was assessed with Kolmogorov Smirnov (KS) tests. The results of the tests showed significance for enable others to act (p = .020). The interpretation of this finding merits caution as it was the only subscale with significance. Table 3 presents the Cronbach Alpha reliability and descriptive statistics for the five LPI subscales of the Leadership Practices Inventory. Table 3

Means and Standard Deviations and Subscales of Leadership Practices InventoryScaleNo. of itemsMSD p

MW6.447.490.75.200

ISV6.896.071.59.200

CP6.636.931.12.200

EOA6.757.841.00.020

EH6.797.091.13.200

Examination of the descriptive statistics for the items from the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) provided insight to the choice of leader behaviors of the women engineers. Descriptive statistics for the 30 statements of leader behavior, listed according to the five subscales of leadership practices appear in Table 4.

Table 4

Mean and Standard Deviation and Statements of Leadership Practice InventoryLeadership Practice

Leader behaviorMSDS SD

Challenge the process

3. seek out challenging opportunities that test my own skills and abilities7.391.69

8. challenge people to try out new and innovative approaches to their work6.551.84

13. search outside the formal boundaries of my organization for innovative ways to improve what we do6.212.03

18. ask what we can learn when things do not go as expected7.891.52

23. make certain that we set achievable goals, make concrete plan, and establish measurable milestones for the projects and programs that we work on7.681.60

28. experiment and take risks even when there is a chance of failure6.132.16

Inspire a shared vision

2. talk about future trends that will influence how our work gets done6.241.88

7. describe a compelling image of what our future could be like5.321.99

12. appeal to others to share an exciting dream of the future5.552.11

17. show others how their long-term interests can be realized by enlisting in a common vision5.18 2.13

22. paint the "big picture" of what we aspire to accomplish.6.891.93

27. speak with genuine conviction about the higher meaning and purpose of our work 7.321.90

Enable others to act

4. develop cooperative relationships among people I work with8.531.06

9. actively listen to diverse points of view8.001.09

14. treat others with dignity and respect9.030.94

19. support the decisions that people make the own7.581.59

24. give people a great deal of freedom and choice in deciding how to do their work7.791.77

29. ensure that people grow in their jobs by learning new skills and developing themselves7.971.38

Modeling the way

1. set a personal example of what I expect from others8.391.05

6. spend time and energy on making certain that the people I work with adhere to the principals and standards we have agreed on6.341.74

11. follow through on the promises and commitments that I make9.051.05

16. ask for feedback on how my actions affect other people's performance 5.501.84

21. build consensus around a common set of values for running our organization 6.632.02

26. am clear about my philosophy of leadership6.952.29

Encourage the heart

5. praise people for a job well done7.791.49

10. make it a point to let people know about my confidence in their abilities7.161.42

15. make sure that people are creatively rewarded for their contributions to the success of our projects6.421.87

20. publicly recognize people who exemplify a commitment to shared values6.921.88

25. find ways to celebrate accomplishments6.631.50

30. give the members of the team my coworkers lots of appreciation and support for their contributions7.631.46

Data AnalysisThe data analysis plan addressed five research questions and used correlation analysis to measure the degree of association between variables that influenced the participants leadership development The data analyses included Spearman correlations, descriptive statistics, a repeated measures ANOVA, a between measures MANOVA, and Pearson correlations. .

Data collected was transferred into SPSS version 21.0 for Windows by use of Excel worksheets. Data analysis included descriptive statistics to determine the sample characteristics in terms of university education, executive coaching, and location of practice; and summarizes professional experience in terms of area of practice, years of practice, and hours of executive coaching. Analysis of the data collected from the LPI described the profile of the participants leadership; calculation included the mean and standard deviation for the five subscales of the LPI. Throughout the data analysis the scores from the five subscales of the LPI were treated as continuous level data.

Correlation coefficients between .10 and .29 represented a small relationship; coefficients between .30 and .49 represented a medium relationship; and coefficients .50 and above represented a large relationship. An alpha of .05 was used for the data analysis. Prior to analysis, the assumptions of Spearman correlation analysis were assessed; the assumptions included that data must be at least ordinal, and scores on one variable must be monotonically related to the other variable. Also, the assumption was assessed with the examination of scatter plots (Morgan, Leech, Gloekner, & Barrett, 2007).

Results

Five Subscales of the Leadership Practices Inventory

To assess the association between the five subscales of the Leadership Practices Inventory Pearson correlations were conducted between scores on all five of the subscales. Scatterplots between each of the variables were examined to assess for linearity and homoscedasticity; see Figure 1: Scatterplot between Subscales of Leadership Practices Inventory. The scatterplots showed no strong deviation from a linear relationship found, and all plots showed no signs of heteroscedasticity. Therefore the assumptions were met. Inspire a shared vision scores were shown to have a significant positive relationship with both challenge the process scores, r = .74, p < .001, as well as encourage the heart scores, r = .39, p < .01. Lastly, encourage the heart scores were shown to have a positive relationship with both challenge the process scores, r = .37, p < .01, as well as enable others to act scores, r = .53, p < .001. No other relationships were statistically significant. Results of the correlations appear in Table 5.

Table 5Pearson Correlations between Five LPI Subscales LPI subscalesMWISVCPEOAEH

MW-

ISV.17-

CP.17.74***-

EOA-.00 .13.29-

EH.21.39*.37*.53***-

Note. * p < .05. * p < .01, *** p < .001 Otherwise p > .05.Figure 2: Scatterplot between Subscales of Leadership Practices Inventory.

Years of Practice

To examine the association between LPI subscale scores and number of years in practice Pearson correlations were conducted. . Inspire shared vision scores were shown to be significantly positively correlated with the number of years the participant had spent in practice, r = .35, p < .05. No other correlations were statistically significant (p > .050). Results of the correlations are presented in Table 6.Table 6Pearson Correlations between Five LPI Subscales and Years in Practice

LPI subscalesNumber of years in practicep

MW.26.123

ISV.35*.033

CP.27 .108

EOA-.01.961

EH.17.304

. Note. * p < .05. Otherwise p > .05.

Level of Education

To examine the association between the five subscales of the LPI and the highest level of university Spearman correlation analyses were conducted. No correlations were statistically significant. Therefore the finding showed no association between LPI subscale scores and the highest level of university education. Results of the correlations are presented in Table 7.Table 7Spearman Correlations between Five LPI Subscales and Level of EducationLPI subscales rp

MW -.11.516

ISV.15.361

CP .13.427

EOA-.18.271

EH -.14.387

Executive Coaching

To examine the association between LPI subscale scores and the hours of executive coaching point-biserial correlations were conducted. Because there were so few participants that had received executive coaching, the presence of executive coaching was used in place of the number of hours. No correlations were statistically significant; as a result the finding showed no association between LPI subscale scores and the presence of executive coaching. The correlation analysis resulted in the findings in Table 8.Table 8Point-Biserial Correlations between Five LPI Subscales and Executive CoachingExecutive coaching received

Scores for LPI subscales rp

MW .14.422

ISV -.04.835

CP .17.323

EOA .00.980

EH .04.819

Additionally, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to assess if there were differences in the five LPI subscales by executive coaching received. Due to the smaller sample size, only a few participants had received executive coaching and the presence of an executive coach (Yes vs. No) was used in place of hours. Prior to analysis, equality of variance was assessed with five Levenes tests. Results of the Levenes tests did not show significance for any LPI scale (p > .050 for all), and thus the assumption was met. Results of the MANOVA did not show significant differences by the presence of an executive coach, F (5, 29) = 0.73, p = .610, partial 2 = .11. Since the MANOVA was not significant, the individual ANOVAs were not interpreted. Results of the MANOVA are presented in Table 9.

Table 9

MANOVA and ANOVA for LPI Subscales by Executive CoachingMANOVA

F(5, 29)ANOVA F(1, 33)

SourceMWISVCPEOAEH

Executive Coaching0.730.660.04**1.010.000.05*

Note. * p < .05. ** p < .01. Otherwise p > .05.

Location of Practice

To examine the association between LPI subscales and the location of the engineering practice, point-biserial correlations were conducted to assess the influence of locations as urban or a rural. The assumption with respect to location related to accessibility to services like executive coaching in an urban location, with urban defined as a city with a population greater than 70,000 and with a university where executive coaching may be offered through management education. No correlations were statistically significant and no association can be inferred between the five LPI subscale scores and the location of the engineering practice as to urban versus rural. Results of the correlations are presented in Table 10.Table 10Point-Biserial Correlations between Five LPI Subscales and Location Scores for LPI subscales Locationp

MW.14.406

ISV.19.248

CP-.01.980

EOA.04.799

EH.13.455

Note. * p < .05. Otherwise p > .05.

Additionally, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to assess if there were differences in the five LPI subscales by location. Prior to analysis, equality of variance was assessed with five Levenes tests. Results of the Levenes tests only showed significance for encouraging the heart (p = .043), and thus a more stringent alpha level of .025 will be used when assessing the encouraging the heart ANOVA. Results of the MANOVA did not show significant differences by location, F (5, 32) = 0.84, p = .535, partial 2 = .12. Since the MANOVA was not significant, the individual ANOVAs were not interpreted. Results of the MANOVA are presented in Table 11Table 11MANOVA and ANOVA for LPI Subscales by LocationMANOVAF(5, 32)ANOVA F(1, 36)

SourceMWISVCPEOAEH

Location0.840.711.380.010.070.57

Discussion and Conclusion

This study was important to enable the target population of women professional to describe their leadership and attempt to identify influences to their development as leaders. The results of the assessment using the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) indicated that enable others to act (7.84) was the dominant leadership practice. Enable others to act describes leaders with a collaborative style of interaction and engagement; specific leader behaviors included building trusting relationships with followers, actively listening to and responding to diverse points of view, supporting decisions made by followers, and promoting the followers growth as a leader (Kouzes & Posner, 2011, 2013). The leader behaviors in enable others reflect transformational leadership and the leaders comfort level to strengthen her followers capability and including their aspirations for leadership (Jandaghi, Matin & Farjami, 2009).

Examination of the leader behaviors with the highest mean scores revealed the highest was follow through on the promises and commitments the leader makes (9.05) and the second highest was treat others with dignity and respect (9.03). These results indicate that the leaders valued the importance of creating relationships across cultures, disciplines, and the many domains that engineering touches.

The leader behaviors with the least mean scores included show others how their long term interests can be realized by enlisting in a common vision (5.18) and describe a compelling vision of what our future could look like (5.32). These leader behaviors describe the leadership practice for inspire a shared vision, which had the lowest mean score of the five subscales (6.07). The findings implied that women engineer leaders do not view their leadership beyond the future possibilities of a specific technology or project. Inspire shared vision requires conducting a shred visioning process is characteristic of transformational leadership and an essential part of the identity work proposed for womens leadership development (Ely, Ibarra & Kolb, 2011).

Although the second highest mean scores were for the subscale of modeling the way (7.49), the lower reliability on this subscale suggested the participants did not interpret the leader behaviors consistently and similarly for challenge the process, with lowest Cronbach Alpha Reliabilities (0.44 and 0.63), respectively. One leader behavior under challenge the process was to experiment and take risk (6.13). This is noteworthy with respect to the perception of risk, which differs substantially between engineering and business. For the professional engineer the highest purpose is safety and security of the technology application, given that engineering standards and protocols minimize risk. Although anecdotal, a note from one woman engineer reinforced this difference when she wrote that no risk was taken in engineering while plenty of risk was common in her business.For women engineers to model these leadership distinctions to future engineers, they require a coordinated program of leadership development that draws upon the pathways already defined in engineering leadership education, management education, and leadership education. Canadian engineers emphasized the value of sustainability in education and professional practice (Reyes & Galvez, 2011). Sustainability is a theme that extends to all realms, including succession of women leaders in the engineering profession. Only through leadership development that is grounded in Canadian engineering and education values will women engineers create a legacy within the profession (Alexandrou, Swaffield, & MacBeth, 2014). Dinpolfo, Silva & Carter (2012) reinforced the proactive responsibilities of senior leaders to develop future women leaders by investing time to sponsor and promote inclusive leadership development. This study suggested that the ways of integrating engineering and leadership are complex and the learning process is complex. Like the intricacy of management education and leadership education, leadership development requires a combination of reflective learning, situated learning, experiential learning, and executive coaching. A leadership development program that embraces these many ways of learning will provide women engineer leaders with a program model of learning and development. As noted by Garcia (2009), the leaders thinking is incomplete unless it incorporates dialogue and reflection with others. Leaders require a practice field for shared reflection, experience, and deliberate learning. In the organizational context, Garcias (2009) approach suggested a practice field for the woman engineer leader that expands critical thinking to a wider range of issues related to the organizations culture and its social responsibility. These critical skills can be learned through coaching and mentoring, which generate the professional conversations on her leadership. Executive coaching is a facilitated process for learning leadership; it integrates self-understanding, experience of leader identity, and the pursuit of a higher purpose (Ely, Ibarra & Kolb, 2011). In the organizational context, the higher purpose relates to the strategic vision for the business, where technology change and innovation are the business drivers. For women engineers in professional practice, clarity of her identity as a leader will help to integrate leadership, engineering, and business. In this study, executive coaching was not associated with the leadership of the participants. Neverthhless, ; it provides a practice field for the leader to learn professional conversation techniques as well as facilitated learning of leadership skills (Ander, Cerni, Curtis & Colmar, 2010; De Hann, Bertie, Day & Sills, 2010; Levenson, 2009). Although the findings of this study were inconclusive, the outcome research on executive coaching substantiated its value for increased leadership effectiveness and productivity gains (Bowles, Cunningham, De La Rosa, Picano, 2007; De Hann & Duckworth, 2013; Thach, 2002; Perkins, 2009). Other studies on outcome research for executive coaching showed increased self-efficacy in goal-setting, more belief in self, increased ratings on feedback from direct reports, and the ability to ask superiors for improvements (Evers, Brouwers & Tomic, 2006; De Hann, Duckworth, Brich & Jones, 2013). In this study, the only independent variable shown to influence the leadership variable was years of engineering practice. Years of practice are an inadequate measure to guide current and future leaders in the profession. In the next section, recommendations suggest a program model to support learning and development for women engineer leaders. Recommendations The evidence from this research described the leadership of a sample of women engineers as collaborative, relationship oriented leaders whose influence may be strengthened through a coordinated effort within the profession. The recommendation includes a program model designed around three components: leadership education, a community of practice for women engineer leaders, and the practice fields for leadership learning, see Figure 2, Program Components for Leadership Development

The theoretical framework for this study encompassed formal education and the literature review identified the improvements to programs for engineering leadership, management and leadership. Advancements in the application of learning and curriculum improvements combine to provide ways of learning leadership that accelerate leadership development. In this component of the program, sources of formal education that contribute to the theory and practice of leadership will consider existing management and leadership programs that provide appropriate context for the woman engineer leader. The missing elements of leadership education for women engineers are access to facilitated learning of executive coaching and the group learning that will enhance relationship building, particularly with senior engineer leaders. New ways of learning leadership necessitates fields of practice that stimulate the professional conversations, integrate engineering and leader identity, and encourage relationship building. A community of engineer leaders comprises organizational leaders from engineering firms, key employers, and university engineering faculty, leaders of the professional engineering associations and affiliated societies. The purpose of this community is to create a culture of leadership and generate pathways for articulating, sharing, and generating leadership development for women engineers. Through a community of leaders, women engineers will further define the contexts for their leadership development. For example, one context for a women engineer leader is leading a diverse group of stakeholders around technology with public policy implications. When engineers lead public policy discussion the stakeholders confront them for explanations that translate technical standards into relevance to their lived experience. Here the leadership development requires focus on leader identity and a vison of the technologys role in society (Bonasso, 2001, 2002; Reeves, 2010). Figure 2: Program Components for Leadership Development

A program model would coordinate the group learning with other engineer leaders and the formal education that teaches relational leadership across interdisciplinary boundaries. Innovation in pedagogy for leadership education suggested new possibilities that will benefit women engineer leaders (Cunliffe, 2009; Eriksen & Cunliffe, 2010).

Suggestions for Further Research

This study could be expanded to a larger sample of women engineers practicing in Canada. In this study the limitations of the small sample size made testing the associations between variables less certain. With a larger sample size, the interpretation of the results of the correlation analysis may prove stronger associations than evidenced in this study. Given the top leadership practices of women engineer leaders are enabling others, it is important to explore the sources of leadership development reveal for women and male engineers. The infrastructure for leadership development of women engineers is lacking in Canada. This study described the leadership strengths of women engineers and the requirements for learning leadership that will foster women engineer leaders. A coordinated effort involving professional engineering associations and affiliated societies together with engineering firms and university engineering faculty offers the way forward for creating the community of leadership practice for current and future women engineers. This is a feasible educational endeavor that will enhance leadership in the engineering profession.

The results of this study were inconclusive. The reliability of the Leadership Practices Inventory was questionable in contrast to earlier research. In the literature executive coaching emerged as a learning process for leadership development in business, government, and health. Although new as evidence-based disciplines, womens leadership development, engineering leadership education, and executive coaching are established and growing fields of study. Engineering firms, corporations and government that employee engineers will benefit from a program of leadership development for women engineers.

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