4-H Youth Leadership
The Impact of Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development
Skills
4-H Youth
Leadership
Confidence
Community
Youth Emphasis January 24, 2012
Team
Evaluation Leadership Team
Ellen Andrews, Matthew Calvert, Heidi Dusek, Sara Gronski, Debra Ivey, Annie
Lisowski, Betsy Olson, Sarah Tarjeson, Ellen Taylor-Powell, Shep Zeldin
UW-River Falls Survey Research Center
Shelly Hadley, David Trechter
Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis Team
Ellen Andrews, Matthew Calvert, Heidi Dusek, Barbara Escobar, Sara Gronski,
Debra Ivey, Annie Lisowski, Linda Lueder, Kandi O'Neil, Betsy Olson, Denise
Retzleff
Report Preparation
Jackie Askins, Matthew Calvert, Ellen Taylor-Powell
Wisconsin 4-H Youth Leadership
Survey
Survey sampled 268 youth grades 6 through
college freshmen
survey was distributed by UW-RF Survey
Research Center via email to 1,576 randomly
selected youth
Drawn from 12,942 4-H members statewide +
representation of other leadership programs
Follow up focus groups in seven counties.
Focus Groups
# counties
# participants
4-H Ambassador Groups
3
45
4-H Project Committees & Other County
2
9
Teen Courts
2
17
After-School Program Leadership
1
20
Community Coalitions
1
12
Groups
Demographics
Gender
Count
Male
Female
Sample
268
34%
66%
12,942
36%
64%
4-H Statewide
Age
Sample
4-H Statewide
Ethnic Background
Sample
4-H Statewide
Count
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
268
4%
19%
17%
13%
12%
10%
14%
9%
1%
12,942
5%
17%
17%
16%
14%
13%
11%
7%
0%
Other
Native
Native
Amer/
Hawaiian/
Count
Asian
Amer
Black or
Afr Amer
White or
Cauc
Hispa. or
Latino
Alaskan
Native
Pacific
Islander
Two or
More
Races
268
1%
0%
99%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
12,942
1%
0%
98%
0%
1%
0%
1%
0%
4-H Leadership Opportunities
Intentional youth
leadership
opportunities
% who have
participated
Length of participation
Less than 1
Year
1 – 2 Years
3 or More Years
4-H Club Officer
63%
7%
23%
33%
Specific Leadership
Training Opportunities
37%
8%
17%
13%
4-H County Committee
35%
9%
11%
15%
Leader/Organizer of
Afterschool Programs
32%
10%
12%
9%
4-H Teen Leadership
Group
25%
6%
8%
12%
4-H Camp Counselor
15%
2%
8%
5%
4-H State Team
12%
3%
5%
4%
Community Coalition
Member
7%
3%
3%
1%
Teen Court Panelist
4%
0%
2%
1%
Local Government
Representative
6%
3%
2%
1%
4-Hers’ Number of Activities
How many of the 10
leadership activities have
4-Hers participated in?
None
1
2
3
4
5 or more
Number of respondents
72
58
41
37
20
44
Multi-year participation
To what extent have you
participated in the
following 4-H or UWExtension youth
leadership opportunities
or programs?
% who have participated
in this
Length of participation
Less than 1 Year
1 – 2 Years
3 or More Years
4-H Club Officer
63%
7%
23%
33%
Specific Leadership
Training Opportunities
37%
8%
17%
13%
4-H County Committee
35%
9%
11%
15%
32%
10%
12%
9%
25%
6%
8%
12%
4-H Camp Counselor
15%
2%
8%
5%
4-H State Team
12%
3%
5%
4%
Community Coalition Mbr.
or Mbr. of Youth Board of
a Comm. Coalition
7%
3%
3%
1%
Teen Court Panelist
4%
0%
2%
1%
Local Government
Representative
6%
3%
2%
1%
Leader/Organizer of
Afterschool or other Outof-School Time Programs
4-H Teen Leadership
Group
Varied Leadership Activities
Number of leadership activities or programs in which respondents
reported participating:
None
Number of respondents
1
58
2
41
3
37
4
20
5 or more
44
72
4-H Leadership and Membership:
What’s the Difference?
Those in intentional leadership activities are more likely to:
• Work as a group or team
• Work in cooperation or partnership with an adult
• Guide, train, or advise younger children and peers
• Make decisions that affect a club, group, organization, or
community
There is less difference between those in leadership activities and all 4Hers in:
• Contact and interact with community leaders
• Plan and/or act to change something in the community or within a
program
• Learn about and/or practice mediation and conflict resolution
• Learn and practice public speaking
Leadership Development Constructs
Leadership may be defined as the ability to
influence and support others in a positive manner
for a common goal. Leadership is a set of skills and
attitudes that can be learned and developed to
influence the action of others.
--Lisa Lauxman, National 4-H Program Leader
• Identity
• Connections
• Skills
Skills: What Employers Want
High School Graduates
Rank Applied Skill
1 Professionalism/Work Ethic . . 80.3%
2 Teamwork/Collaboration . . . . 74.7
3 Oral Communications . . . . . . . 70.3
4 Ethics/Social Responsibility . . 63.4
5 Critical Thinking/
Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . 57.5
6 Information Technology
Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53.0
7 Written Communications . . . . 52.7
8 Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.1
9 Lifelong Learning/
Self Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.5
10 Creativity/Innovation . . . . . . . 36.3
11 Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.2
Four-Year College Graduates
Rank Applied Skill
1 Oral Communications . . . . . . 95.4%
2Teamwork/Collaboration . . . 94.4
3 Professionalism/Work Ethic 93.8
4 Written Communications . . . 93.1
5 Critical Thinking/
Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . 92.1
6 Ethics/Social Responsibility 85.6
7 Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.8
8 Information Technology
Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.0
9 Creativity/Innovation . . . . . . 81.0
10 Lifelong Learning/
Self Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . 78.3
11 Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71.8
Leadership Skills
Count
A Great Deal/To a
Great Extent
+
Quite a
Bit/Somewhat
Slightly/Very Little
+
Did Not Contribute/
Not at All
Don’t Know
258
74%
24%
2%
AVG
64%
33%
3%
258
72%
25%
3%
AVG
63%
34%
2%
258
71%
27%
1%
AVG
58%
38%
3%
254
57%
40%
3%
AVG
56%
39%
5%
258
56%
41%
4%
AVG
48%
47%
5%
How much do you feel your participation in 4-H or UWExtension youth opportunities or programs has
contributed to your ability to…?
Teamwork
Work cooperatively and collaboratively with others
Inclusiveness/Multicultural
Treat people who are different from yourself with
respect
Communication
Listen carefully to what others say
Planning and Organizing
Plan and organize group activities
Decision Making/Problem Solving
Think critically about the advantages and disadvantages
of decisions
Leadership Skills in Practice
• A youth member of the Fond du Lac County Horse Project Board
talked about how her experiences helped her in her work: “I draw
blood for my job. People are sick and not happy about being there.
It helps me to read body language and do small talk and relate to
the patient. This helps people not to stress out. 4-H experiences
make things like this easier in the real world.”
• Washington County Ambassadors built experience in working across
individual and cultural differences—starting with different ideas and
keeping the focus on helping others learn and have fun. One
member said, “One great thing about 4-H is understanding that we
are all different and coming to an understanding. Using patience
and deciding what works best.”
Leadership Confidence
How much do you feel your participation in 4-H or
UW-Extension youth opportunities or programs has
contributed to your ability to…?
A Great Deal/To
a Great Extent
+
Quite a
Bit/Somewhat
Slightly/Very Little
+
Did Not
Contribute/
Not at All
Don’t Know
74%
24%
2%
66%
30%
4%
60%
34%
6%
67%
27%
5%
67%
29%
4%
68%
29%
3%
64%
29%
6%
54%
43%
2%
65%
31%
3%
Leadership Identity
Accept responsibility for doing a job
Improve your leadership skills
Recognize yourself as a leader
Understand your own leadership strengths
Self-Efficacy
Help a team/group reach its goals
Motivate and inspire others
Stand up/Speak out for what is right
Leadership Confidence in Practice
• Buffalo County youth felt a responsibility to step
into leadership roles: “When I know no one else is
willing to do it helps me make the decision to do it
and also knowing that there is impact on others.”
• Washington County Ambassadors take ownership
of the success and failure of club and county 4-H
activities. One ambassador contrasted 4-H with
some other experiences: “The adults always try
to take control and pipe in. In 4-H – the adults let
the youth run the meetings. Adults step back and
let the youth take the lead.”
Community Connections
How much do you feel your participation in 4-H or UWExtension youth opportunities or programs has …?
A Great Deal/To a
Great Extent
+
Quite a
Bit/Somewhat
Slightly/Very Little
+
Did Not Contribute/
Not at All
Don’t Know
83%
13%
3%
77%
19%
3%
69%
25%
6%
76%
19%
4%
79%
17%
4%
69%
25%
6%
69%
23%
7%
72%
22%
6%
Community Connections
Made you feel more connected to your community
Made you feel more important to your community
Provided you with a better understanding of community
issues
Motivation/Ability for Community Action
Motivated you to work with others to make things
better in your community
Provided you with a better understanding of community
issues
Made you feel a responsibility to work on community
issues
Community Connections in Practice
• Racine County have opportunities to represent the
organization in many community venues and build
their own personal networks through activities that
take them to new places. One youth noted, “You can
talk to new people all the time, you get to see things
you wouldn’t normally be able to.”
• Iowa County Ambassadors perceived the importance of
being an active contributor: “You have to be involved
to get anything out of it;” and “We get things from the
community and we do things for the community.”
Program Practices: Teen
Court/Partnership Council
• Opportunities to make a meaningful
contribution towards addressing authentic
needs and issues
• Youth feel valued and have a real voice in
programming and partnership
• Young people are engaged in significant roles
that aid them in practicing communication,
teamwork, and decision-making skills
Program Practices:
Youth-Teaching Youth --Boomerang!
• Invitation is the First Step
• Recognized as a Leader
• Opportunities for Training & Modeling
• Structure is Responsive to Developmental
Interests
In your experience working with “Youth-Teaching
Youth” programs, have any of these themes been
strong factors of program success?
• Invitation is the First Step
• Recognized as a Leader
• Opportunities for Training & Modeling
• Structure is Responsive to Developmental
Interests
Program Practices:
Ambassador/Council
• Youth/Adult Partnership
– Ambassadors take ownership of the success and failure of club and
county 4-H activities. Youth realize that if they do not step up to make
something happen, it would not happen.
• Expectations and Modeling
– “4-H is run by the youth, other groups at school you have teach and
advisors who usually have all the power and control but in 4-H the
expectations are higher for us, we run the meetings we do the work
we have the power.”
• Teamwork
– They have learned the value of shared leadership rather than having
only a few people do all the work.
Discussion