Date of Award

7-1-2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. C. Elliott Ostler

Abstract

Multi-stakeholder collaborative networks (MSCNs) centered around innovative problem solving have become increasingly popular. These collaborations seek to pool the resources of the various stakeholders in order to address their common issue. The importance of the collaboration members’ awareness of one another’s resources is the basis for this study. This study developed a new analytical method in which to quantify the resource awareness of members of an MSCN and how that relates to features of the network. The MSCN that was the focal organization for this study was as STEM Ecosystem. A perceptual framework was built upon literature from diverse areas including community asset mapping, collaborative innovation management, knowledge transfer, and social capital. The following variables were explored: the resource awareness of the members of a STEM ecosystem; the relationship between the resource awareness and the relational social capital of the ecosystem members; and the relationship between the resource awareness and the structural social capital of the ecosystem network. Quantitative data were collected using an electronic survey that was completed by 86 members of the STEM ecosystem. Data from the survey was analyzed using both traditional statistical methods as well as social network analysis methods. Analysis of the data demonstrated some significant findings and directions for further research are included.

Comments

A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education. Copyright 2018 Tracie Evans Reding.

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