Page 1 of 15
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 11
December 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 248
Research and Leadership Development through Participation
on a Interprofessional Research Team
Dr. Kaprea F Johnson
Assistant Professor of Counseling Office: Old Dominion University, 167-9 Education Building,
Norfolk, VA 23529
Email: Kfjohnso@odu.edu
Abstract
This case study details one research team and
includes a conceptual tri-level leadership
model for team participation and project
organization. Participants included seven
students and one assistant professor.
Findings highlight team development,
recruitment, expectations, leadership gains,
and implications for the profession.
Keywords: research teams, mentorship,
interdisciplinary, leadership
Over the past decade, researchers
have highlighted the importance of scholarly
research teams and have recognized their role
within graduate education; however, studies
have left out the importance of leadership in
the development of these teams and the
experiences of team members
(Hollingsworth & Fassinger, 2002).
Research teams are defined as two or more
researchers examining a subject matter in
collaboration (Pierce, 2005). A large portion
of the literature on research teams are in
journals related to medicine and health
sciences (Newington & Metcalfe, 2014;
Salazar, Lant, & Kane, 2011; Susan, 2006).
Within social sciences, anthropologists and
psychologists have used research teams for
over 35 years (Douglas, 1976; Gnagey, 1979;
Kuper & Marks, 2011; Levitt,
Kannan, & Ippolito, 2013). This literature
identifies teams as essential in graduate
education across disciplines (Borrego &
Newswander, 2010; Duthie et al., 2010;
Turner, 2006); however, few scholars are
providing direction on the experiences and
development of these teams, specifically for
counseling students (Paradise & Dufrene,
2010) .
While there are a limited number of
studies on research teams in counseling
programs, several studies recognized the
importance of establishing research teams for
this field (Black,
2004; Lambie & Vaccaro, 2011; Paradise &
Dufrene, 2010). These studies indicated
research teams are important for graduate
students because they assist in building
relationships, strengthening research self- efficacy, and building professional identity.
Research teams are naturally a group of
students, therefore a group model is the best
approach to team development as it
accommodates more students, provides
effective observation, allows for reflective
integration, and mentors several students at
one time (Paradise & Dufrene, 2010).
Page 2 of 15
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 11
December 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 249
Mentorship for counseling students
and specifically research mentorship
strengthens professional identity, improves
self-confidence, assists in the development of
professional skills, enhances scholarly
productivity, and increases satisfaction with
scholastic programs (Mijares, Baxley, &
Bond, 2013). Mentorship also produces
numerous research-related benefits including
development of knowledge of the research
process, establishment of professional
networks, alleviation of pressure to produce
solo research, increased research self- efficacy, increased levels of expertise,
realization of the importance of discovering
fresh knowledge, leadership ability, and
authorship (Briggs & Pehrsson, 2008;
Brown, Daly, & Leong, 2009; Lambie &
Vaccario, 2011; Paradise & Dufrene, 2010).
While mentorship is not present in all
research teams, some literature shows a
positive relationship between mentorship and
team participation (Hollingsworth &
Fassinger, 2002). Mentorship is also
beneficial to mentors including personal and
career satisfaction, research collaboration,
and improved productivity (Briggs &
Pehrsson, 2008; Brown et. al., 2009; Kram,
1985). In addition to all of the benefits listed
above, research teams also aid in the
development of leadership abilities (Lambie
& Vaccaro, 2011).
Interdependent Leadership Theory
Building leaders who are good
consumers of research and who can later be
leaders in clinical settings is advantageous to
the profession. One approach to develop
leaders is interdependent leadership through
experiential learning environments (Bowers
et al., 2013). Interdependent leadership is an
emergent approach that redefines the way in
which leaders and team members interact
(Palus, McGuire, & Ernst, 2012). Traditional
leadership models demonstrate leaders in a
top-down hierarchical process of distributing
beliefs and influence, often commandeering
the decision-making process for the better
good of the group (Palus et al., 2012).
Interdependent leadership, unlike traditional
models, assume that all members of the team
can make equally relevant contributions.
Chen, Kirkmam, Kanfer, Allen, and Rosen
(2007) even suggested that interdependence
on multilevel teams is critical to
empowerment of the team and people
involved. They found that members on an
interdependent team interact more closely
and thus are more likely to share perceptions
of team empowerment and have highly
effective performances (Chen et al., 2007).
Interdependence theory implies that
teams are able to out produce individuals
working independently (De Ortentiis,
Summers, Ammeter, Douglas, & Ferris,
2013). Positive interdependence is a social
interaction in which an individual can
achieve their goals if and only if others
involved also achieve their goals (De
Ortentiis et al., 2013). Positive
interdependence elicits positive interactions
where team members are supportive and
willing to work together to reach shared goals
thus increasing overall team effectiveness
(De Ortentiis et al., 2013). In an effort to
determine efficacy of shared leadership,
Wang, Waldman, and Zhang (2014)
conducted a meta-analysis of existing
literature and investigated factors which
Page 3 of 15
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 11
December 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 250
impact team effectiveness. Results indicated
a moderately strong, positive relationship
between shared leadership and team
effectiveness (overall p = .34, k = 42). The
use of this approach with counseling research
teams is an apparent gap in the literature and
led to this study’s primary research question,
what are the experiences of students on a
research team built using the qualities of
interdependent leadership?
Tri-Level Leadership Model (TL2M)
The Tri-Level Leadership Model has
its theoretical backing in interdependence
theory and motivational theory. The model
focuses on empowering constituents to feel
safe enough to take on challenges and ask
questions, and empowered enough to move
from novice researcher (i.e. completing
clerical task, literature reviews, etc.) to
feeling comfortable to complete more upper
level research and leadership related task (
e.g. writing a manuscript, leading a
conference presentation, collecting and
analyzing data).
Method
This study used a qualitative single- case study approach to describe the
development of a interprofessional research
team (IPRT) and understand the experiences
of the members (Stake, 2000; Yin, 2003). A
case study approach was chosen to provide a
real-life view of the development of one
research team and preliminary experiences of
its members. This case study was explanatory
in nature, as the IPRT developed organically
and existed for one full semester prior to the
study (Fall 2012). Data collection began mid- way through the second semester of the
team’s existence and analysis concluded mid- summer (i.e., from spring term 2013 to
summer term 2013). Institutional review
board approval was granted for this study to
be conducted.
The primary research question is:
What are the experiences of students on a
research team built using the qualities of
interdependent leadership? Sub questions
were (a) How was the team developed? (2)
What experiences did students have on the
team (b) What was the perception of
productivity on the team; (c) What were
students experiences with leadership?
Studies on research teams have
frequently focused only on the experiences of
team members or the benefits of developing
teams rather than providing practical
knowledge on the construction of a research
team (Galassi, Stoltz, Brooks, & Trexler,
1987; Hulse-Killacky & Robinson, 2005),
which is a goal of this study. The unit of
analysis for this study was a interprofessional
education research team, specifically the
structure and the experiences of team
members.
Setting and Researchers
The setting for this case study was a
research one university in the southern region
of the
United States, with a CACREP approved
counseling program. The research team was
housed in a counselor education and human
services department comprised of an
undergraduate human services program and
masters and doctoral counseling programs.
Two researchers, whom both completed an
advanced qualitative research course,
conducted data collection and analysis.
Demographics for the two researchers
