As a capstone to the MA Leadership program, students complete a Leadership Integration Project exploring a topic in depth and produce research that answers a practical industry problem.
This year’s Langley campus MA Leadership students pursued questions such as, “What do Millennials in Metro Vancouver workplaces value in their leaders?” and “What are ways to improve access to oral health care services in rural areas of India?”
Applying the research skills and leadership theories they learned in the classroom, students tackled timely topics, including, the mental health challenges faced by healthcare professionals, the impact of leadership styles on jobholder engagement and turnover intention, and the ways to improve asynchronous online education for young students.
Academic poster event sees lively engagement
In a first-ever Leadership Integration Project poster event (March 22, 2023) held at the Langley campus Kuhn Centre, 80 graduate students presented on their research, sharing their findings with faculty, staff, and other student researchers.
Associate Professor of Leadership Dr. Sergio Cepero Espinosa, who oversees the Leadership Integration Projects, was greatly pleased with the results of many students’ hard work. “We want our students not just to present their research, and not just to produce a high-quality product, but we want them to be able to speak on their findings with confidence,” Dr. Espinosa expresses.
By completing these projects, students demonstrate their capacity for high-quality research and apply their communication and presentation skills. Some students may even have the opportunity to publish their work one day. “The capstone projects are exposing them to what a research project is all about,” says Dr. Espinosa, "Through this experience, students may be inspired to consider moving into a research career."
Learning and applying leadership knowledge
Navroop Hans is graduating from the MA in Leadership program with a specialization in health care. Expressing happiness at reaching this milestone, Navroop also comments of her education at TWU, “I'm feeling very privileged, because over here, I came to know about the Canadian culture and about transformational servant leadership. Moreover, I have gained knowledge in a lot of areas, as professors over here are so good, and the environment of the university is quite cooperative and eco-friendly.”
Harinder Kaur, who is completing a MA in Leadership degree specialized in health care, is similarly excited about graduation. Harinder chose a research topic relevant to her profession as a dentist, seeking ways to improve access to oral health care for residents of rural India. Thinking of her time at TWU, she comments, “In this university, I learned about the mindset of transformational Christian leadership, and how to be in a cooperative environment. The professors here are so helpful, and I have loved being a part of Trinity Western University.”
Many faculty members participated at the academic poster event on March 22, interviewing students to assess and evaluate students’ work.
Part of the MA Leadership program, the Leadership Integration Project (LIP) is designed to improves students’ leadership capacity and impact across the specializations within the program: business, health care, and education.
Students conduct independent research—completing each stage from identification of a problem for investigation, research design, data collection and analysis, to written report of findings—and present on their results.
About Master of Arts in Leadership at TWU
The Master of Arts in Leadership at TWU is designed to develop emerging leaders to become confident and effective servant-leaders for the 21st Century. The program is offered with two foundational curriculum themes Transformational Servant Leadership and Values-Based Leadership. Learn more at the MA in Leadership at TWU.
About TWU GLOBAL
GLOBAL connects TWU with the world through innovative programming, cross-institutional relationships, and a commitment to providing quality university education worldwide through our Facilitated Academic Resource (FAR) Centres. Learn more at TWU GLOBAL.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four locations in Canada: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Instagram @trinitywestern, Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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Photo credit: Kayla Bock