Advising as Servant Leadership: Investigating Student Satisfaction

Abstract

Student satisfaction with advising is positively linked to first-year student retention and sophomore persistence to their senior year. However, inconsistencies in the advising literature confound conclusions about the most effective advising approach to elicit student satisfaction. Positive links between the servant leadership approach and advising behaviors have been shown, but student satisfaction remains unexamined. We investigate student satisfaction with servant leadership–based advising. Utilizing hierarchical multiple regression analysis, we found positive correlations between servant leadership and student satisfaction with advising. In particular, advisors' altruistic behaviors elicited the greatest impact on student satisfaction. Implications for practice include advancing advising pedagogy and improving advisor selection and professional development.

The Relationship between Instructor Servant Leadership Behaviors and Satisfaction With Instructors in an Online Setting

“…Three of these behaviors (altruistic calling, wisdom, and persuasive mapping) strongly predicted student satisfaction in combination. These findings provided evidence consistent with the current servant leadership literature, according to which levels of student satisfaction increased when The Relationship Between Instructor Servant Leadership Behaviors and Satisfaction with Instructors in an Online Setting instructors exhibited servant leadership behaviors in traditional, hybrid, or online classroom settings (Ali & Ahmad, 2011;Jacobs, 2011;Huber, 2014;Paul & Fitzpatrick, 2015;Setliff, 2014).…”

“…There is a need to recapture the vision and passion that ignited the early excitement about becoming servants in the field of education (Guillaume, Honeycutt, & Savage-Austin, 2013;Letizia, 2014;Shaw & Newton, 2014). This leadership gap in higher education can be filled by a leadership style that will transform educational institutions and thus restore the public confidence in higher education, foster long-term commitments, and nurture a work environment in which people thrive as they provide service to others (Letizia, 2014;Noland & Richards, 2015;Paul & Fitzpatrick, 2015;Shaw & Newton, 2014;Wheeler, 2012). Servant leadership is that kind of leadership style.…”

Elevating Academic Advising: Natural Language Processing of Student Reviews

“…Furthermore, previous studies have shown that academic advisors characterized as empathetic, responsive, and helpful were more inclined to receive elevated ratings from students [21,22]. Likewise, our study indicates that academic advisors whom students perceived accessible, friendly, and empathetic to their academic needs were significantly more likely to receive positive reviews.…”