The Relationship Between CliftonStrengths and the Completion of a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (PK-12) Degree

Abstract

Doctoral program completion rate and the time-to-completion rate continue to be areas of growing concern for universities across the country and around the world (Elgar, 2003; Lindsay, 2015; Park, 2005; Patterson, 2016). Doctoral non-completion is an expensive prospect for students who enroll in a given doctoral program, as individual doctoral students each invest substantial course time, intellectual resources, and money in pursuit of an advanced degree. The Gallup Organization’s CliftonStrengths Assesment (CSA), is one tool universities use to help students better understand their talents and abilities. By completing the CSA, students are given a report of their natural talents and tendencies, which may improve their effectiveness in managing their academic, professional, and personal lives (Louis, 2012). Students enrolled in a PK-12 Ed.D. program at a Midwestern private institution take the CSA as one of their first assignments in the doctoral program.The first purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact the dominant CliftonStrengths domains had on the completion of a PK-12 Ed.D. program. The second purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which the absence of CliftonStrengths domains impacted student completion of a PK-12 Ed.D. program. A third purpose of the study was to examine to what extent the relationship between aPK-12 Ed.D. student’s dominant CliftonStrengths domain and completion of a PK-12 Ed.D. program was affected by the variable of sex. The final purpose of the study was to examine to what extent the relationship between a PK-12 Ed.D. student’s dominant CliftonStrengths domain and completion of a PK-12 Ed.D. program was affected by the variable of generational status. Findings from the current study indicated there were no statistically significant relationships between the presence or absence of a student’s CliftonStrengths domain and the completion of a PK-12 Ed.D. program. In addition, there were no statistically significant findings related to the effect of sex (male or female) or generational status (Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millenials) on CSA dominant domains or degree completion.