Research
KLI Leadership Research Fellowships
KLI faculty and students investigate a wide range of research topics in leadership. KLI currently offers two research fellowship program opportunities for CMC students, with three available awards. These competitive fellowship awards are designed to provide students with financial fellowships that will allow them to focus more of their time on leadership research. It also encourages faculty members to support and encourage knowledge and understanding of leadership and organizational effectiveness through student research.
Awards
Up to three awards will be provided. Each fellowship award is $2,000. One half of the award is payable in the fall semester and the second half is paid in February. The award is taxable income.
Leadership Thesis Fellowship Program
This Fellowship is designed to encourage and support senior thesis research on topics related to all areas of leadership. This fellowship is open to CMC seniors only.
Leadership Research Fellowship Program
This Fellowship is designed to encourage and support student research on projects related to all areas of leadership. This fellowship is open to all CMC students.
Ongoing Research
KLI supports and disseminates research through a variety of means. Advancing research in leadership is of great importance to the Institute.
Current Research Topics
Data Science of Leadership
The Data Science & Leadership team leverages a large language model "digital twin" simulation methodology, where LLMs help emulate human behaviors, to improve leader training exercises.
Effective Mentorship
The Effective Mentorship Team is responsible for KLI LEAD, an initiative that develops the next generation of industry leaders through transformational leadership, career-aligned guidance, and leadership development.
Followership
The Followership research team is focused on expanding research and understanding of the concept of followership, a topic with limited research, and developing a database to create a more extensive understanding of the various perceptions of followership.
Networked Leadership
The Networked Leadership team is analyzing the impact of social networks on effective leadership. By using Social Network Analysis (SNA), an analysis on someone's "centrality" within a social network, their capabilities/traits, and even their titles, the research aims to identify the networks which produce productive leaders.
Responsible Leadership in Tech
The Responsible Leadership in Tech Team examines how students at Claremont McKenna College perceive and define responsible leadership, drawing on survey responses about their personal experiences and understandings of the concept. Using qualitative data analysis across open-ended questions, the team explores how definitions and demonstrations of responsible leadership vary across different student demographics, including major, gender, grade level, and career interests. The team aims to understand what responsible leadership means within a liberal arts college context and where meaningful discrepancies in perception exist across the student body.
The Language of Leadership
The Language in Leadership project researches how leaders use communication to motivate and energize their followers. The research will analyze four categories of speeches: motivational speakers, commencement speakers, sports coaches, and business leaders.
Women in Leadership
The Women in Leadership team seeks to explore the ongoing challenges women face today, understand the causes of gender disparities in leadership, and find ways to empower and celebrate women leaders through research and advocacy.