Education Commons^™

How Exemplary Female Executive Leaders In Higher Education Use Five Principles Of Grit—Courage, Conscientiousness, Long-Term Goals, Resilience, And Excellence Versus Perfection—To Accomplish Extraordinary Results In Their Organizations, Julie Pettitt

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe how exemplary female leaders who hold executive roles in higher education use five principles associated with grit (courage, conscientiousness, long-term goals, resilience, and excellence versus perfection) to accomplish extraordinary results in their organizations. It challenges the notion that academic credentials and intelligence alone drive leadership success, emphasizing the role of grit in extraordinary leadership. This study delves into the barriers women encounter in reaching executive roles, their strategies for overcoming challenges, and how they leverage gritty qualities to facilitate and sustain transformative change. Methodology: A phenomenological design was …

Community College Executive Leaders And Emotional Intelligence: A Phenomenological Study Exploring How Community College Executive Leaders Utilize Emotional Intelligence (Ei) To Lead Their Organizations, Seblewongel Ayalew

Dissertations

Purpose: This phenomenological research aimed to identify and describe the lived practices of California community college executive leaders who lead their institutions using Emotional Intelligence (EI) through the lens of Goleman’s four EI domains.

Methodology: This study used phenomenological research that identified and explained California community college executive leaders’ lived practices associated with the leaders using EI in the workplace to determine their EI skills and emotional awareness. The community college executive leaders participated in interviews in formal and informal settings to identify and describe their lived experiences.

Findings: Examination of the qualitative data from 15 community college executive leaders …

A Phenomenological Study On The Informal Learning Experiences Of Female Mid-Level Administrators, Kathryn L. Curameng

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study is to identify and describe the informal leadership development experiences of female mid-level administrators in private nonprofit higher education.

Methodology: This phenomenological study identifies and describes the informal leadership development experiences of female mid-level administrators in private nonprofit higher education institutions in California. Respondents were selected based on specific criteria and recommendations of a sponsor. The researcher collected data through semi-structured interviews and observations of participants.

Findings: Examination of the qualitative data from interviews with 16 female mid-level administrators working in private nonprofit higher education yielded nine major findings. These included 2 unexpected …

Female African American Deans’ Rise To Success: Navigating And Conquering Self-Sabotaging Behaviors By Taking Back Their Power, Davina Bailey

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory mixed-method study was to identify and describe self-sabotaging behaviors experienced by female African American Deans in higher education and to explore the impact these behaviors had on their career development. A secondary purpose of this study was to identify strategies employed by female African American Deans in higher education to overcome self-sabotaging behaviors.

Methodology: This sequential explanatory mixed-method study explored the lived experiences of nine female African American deans who acknowledged they had experienced self-sabotaging behaviors throughout their careers. The researcher distributed an electronic Likert scale survey to the participants to identify the most …

Leadership Styles And Effective Leadership Among Higher Education Leaders In The North American Division Of Seventh-Day Adventists, Patrice A. Wright

Dissertations

Problem

Leadership has been shown to be crucial in the success of organizations, especially in higher education. However, little research has been done about leadership styles and effectiveness in North American Division (NAD) of Seventh-Day Adventists (SDA) higher education institutions. My study examined transformational, transactional, and passive avoidant leadership styles and leadership effectiveness in these higher education institutions.

Method

To examine leadership in Adventist colleges, I used the online MLQ-5X short form. I secured participation from 12 colleges and after repeated emails secured 168 responses. I analyzed the relationship between leadership styles, several leader characteristics and leader effectiveness, using SEM, …

Organizational Stressors As Predictors Of Burnout, Kristen Albritton

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine if organizational stress, measured by role conflict and role ambiguity, predicts burnout among employees. A review of the related literature identified variables that demonstrate a relationship with burnout, supported by the Maslach (1998) theory of burnout and Katz and Kahn’s (1966) organizational role theory. The researcher also examined whether organizational level and demographic variables (gender, education level, and job tenure) moderate the relationships between role conflict, role ambiguity, and burnout.

The study follows a non-experimental, cross-sectional design using data collected from a survey. Results of linear regression analyses reveal role conflict and …

Racial Battle Fatigue And Black Male Higher Education Administrators, Joshua Walehwa

Dissertations

Racial Battle Fatigue was first coined by Dr. William A. Smith as a theory describing the burnout of African Americans in higher education institutions. While much of the current research focuses on the faculty and student experiences, in various formats, this provides an autoethnography capturing the various phases of a Black Male higher education administrators experience with experiencing and coping through Racial Battle Fatigue. The belief behind this approach focuses on the value of storytelling and autoethnography in particular in research, the interconnected nature of life experiences that impact professional life as well as the reverse, and a call to …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy And First-Generation Latinx Student Sense Of Belonging, Rachel Abel

Dissertations

This qualitative research study assessed the impact of culturally relevant pedagogy on first-generation Latinx student sense of belonging at an emerging Hispanic serving institution (HSI). This study adds to current literature around culturally relevant pedagogy, which focused on the close, meaningful relationships between faculty and students in the classroom (Ladson-Billings, Gay, Wlodkowski, & Ginsberg, Stembridge, et al.). The link to sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997) demonstrated the importance of academic and non-academic setting connections that led to other social and academic outcomes, which include student satisfaction, motivation to study, and perseverance in completion of a post-secondary. A transformative …

Efforts And Courage Are Not Enough Without Purpose And Direction: A Phenomenological Study On How Mid-Level Administrators Learn And Acquire Leadership Skills In Higher Education, Melissa Brunson

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe the lived experiences of mid-level administrators as it relates to leadership development in Private Non-Profit Higher Education in both formal and informal settings.

Methodology: This study was a phenomenological study that identified and described the lived experiences of mid-level administrators as it relates to the leadership development for 18 mid-level administrators in both formal and informal settings in Private Non-Profit higher education.

Findings: Examination of the qualitative data from 18 mid-level administrators who work in Nonprofit Private higher education yielded 10 major findings. The findings were divided into …

An Analysis Of African-American Faculty Experiences During The Tenure Process, Katrina M. Hubbard

Dissertations

Abstract

How faculty allocate their time among research, teaching, and service, and the perceived quality of that work determines whether faculty obtain tenure or are released from the university (Bellas & Toutkoushian, 1999; Link, Swann, & Bozeman, 2008; Price & Cotten, 2006). Prior research indicated that African-American faculty comprised 4.5% of the faculty at high-activity research institutions and 3.5% of faculty at very-high-activity research institutions (The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac 2016-2017, 2016).

The purpose of this study was to 1) document African-American faculty experiences during their tenure probationary period at PWI research institutions; 2) compare faculty experiences during the …

Career Decision-Making Of Higher Education Professionals Of Philippine Descent: The Untold Stories Of An Asian Pacific Islander Community, Grace Abenoja Bagunu

Dissertations

Using a critical race theory (CRT) framework and a narrative and phenomenological methodology, this study explored the career decision-making of professionals of Philippine descent along the higher education career pipeline in the United States. The stories of these professionals create a counter-narrative to the stereotypes of Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs) in higher education. The career pipeline in higher education has remained relatively homogeneous, especially at executive levels of administration. Statistics show that APIs make up less than 1% of all college presidents, of that 1%, less than a handful identify as Filipinx.

This statistic alone does not completely tell …

A Mixed-Methods Study: Self-Efficacy And Barriers To Participation In Workplace Wellness Programs, Massiel Perez-Calhoon

Dissertations

America needs a healthy workforce to sustain the country. The scourge of obesity continues to plague Americans despite government initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act and wellness programs in the workplace to combat this epidemic. However, despite initiatives to make America healthy, barriers continued to impede the nation’s health. Lack of awareness and sensitivity to what motivates individual participants versus group participants built formidable barriers to accessing all workplace employees equitably. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the intent of this study was to explore the relationship between self-efficacy and the impact on participation and engagement when …

Tales From The Field: A Phenomenological Study On The Unique Challenges Iraq/Afghanistan Ptsd Veterans Experience While Attending A Community College In Southern California, Nick N. Arman

Dissertations

With the downsizing of U.S. military personnel and increased educational benefits offered by the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, many Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans will enroll in a community college for education and training opportunities (Vacchi, 2012). A review of literature revealed the majority of OIF/OEF combat veterans in higher education suffered from symptoms consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Ackerman, DiRamio, & Garza Mitchell, 2009; American Council on Education, 2009; Cate, 2014). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the unique challenges experienced by OIF/OEF veterans diagnosed with PTSD when attending community college …

To Be Or Not To Be Satisfied: Examining Job Satisfaction Of Entry-Level Residence Life Professionals At Historically Black Colleges And Universities, Evingerlean D. Blakney

Dissertations

Research on historically Black college and universities (HBCUs) as institutions of higher education is limited. There is even less scholarship that brings forth an understanding of student affairs at these institutions. A gap in the higher education, student affairs, residence life, and job satisfaction literature suggested a need for research on residence life professionals at HBCUs. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine job satisfaction of entry-level residence life professionals at HBCUs. For this study, the researcher looked for factors that contributed to overall job satisfaction and further examined the roles of both gender and public or private …

Developmental Education At The Community College: An Exploration Of Instructional Best Practices And The Relationship Between Integration, Student Involvement And Rates Of Completion, Beverly Gayle Strickland Lewis

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the developmental education process within the community college system in Mississippi. Tinto’s (1993) Integration Theory and Astin’s (1993) Theory of Student Involvement were employed as a framework to assess and understand the relationship between academic integration, social integration, student involvement, and rates of completion.

This concurrent mixed method study identified best practices related to the successful completion of developmental education courses from the vantage point of the faulty and administration at the community college. A total of ten faculty and administrators from five of the community colleges in Mississippi were given a …