Education Commons^™

Examining A Dynamic Leadership Approach That Influences Job Satisfaction In Dynamic And Stable Environments, Francois Kammoe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Effectively managing the turnover of qualified staff has become a major challenge for managers. In this dynamic business era, companies in various industries experience an annual staff turnover rate of at least 10%. Scholars have linked employee turnover to job dissatisfaction and inadequate leadership styles. A quantitative non-experimental correlation study was conducted to examine the relationship between servant, transactional, and transformational leadership styles and employee job satisfaction as well as the moderating and mediating mechanisms in which this relationship occurs. The theoretical framework for this study included Harber and McMaster's dynamic leadership approach, the adaptable emphasis leadership model by Staats, …

Perspectives Of Colombian Higher Education Deans And Faculty Directors On Transformational Leadership, Darling Viviana Delgado Alban

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leadership emerges as a powerful force in the effort toward achieving quality education. The transformational leadership style inspires leaders to work toward a common goal to create change. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore higher education deans’ and faculty directors’ perspectives on their practice of transformational leadership in higher education institutions in Colombia. Transformational leadership theory served as the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected from semi structured interviews with 6 higher education deans and 6 faculty directors. Findings from coding analysis revealed 7 themes: leadership commitment, shared vision, idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual …

Registered Nurses’ Assessment Of Clinical Leadership Knowledge And Competence, Valerie D. Wright

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As a prevalent component of the health care workforce, clinical nurse leaders play a vital role in reducing costs and promoting quality patient outcomes. The purpose of his project was to assess clinical leadership skill of nurses at a 160-bed rehabilitation hospital in a metropolitan city in the southeast United States. Guided by the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses model (AMSN), the practice-focused question explored the extent to which nurses perceived that they held clinical leadership knowledge and leadership competencies which impact positively on the nurse workforce and patient care. Thirty clinical registered nurses (RN) participated. According to the clinical leadership …

Nonprofit Women Rising In Leadership: Strategies For Identifying Barriers, Ellen Hegge

Leadership Education Capstones

The purpose of the study is to examine the barriers that women may encounter in striving to advance to nonprofit leadership roles.

High School Principals' Instructional Leadership Practices To Reduce School Violence, Linda Hunt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the constant increase of school violence, there is a need to prepare leaders how to best protect the school. However, high school principals may be inconsistently implementing instructional leadership practices that have been shown to reduce school violence. The purpose of this basic qualitative research design was to examine how high school principals were implementing instructional leadership practices to reduce school violence. The conceptual framework was Bandura's social learning theory, which posits that people can learn by observing the behavior of others, and Hallinger's and Murphy's theory of instructional leadership regarding andragogy. A purposive sampling was used to select …

What Does A Successful 24 Year Old Look Like?: Reflections From The State Board Of Education, Jim Porter

Educational Considerations

“What does a successful 24 year old look like?” This is a critical question that must be successfully addressed if Kansas is to “Lead the World in the Success of EACH Student.”

For many decades we have attempted to fit the student in to the system and many students have been successful, however, many have not. What would happen if the system were built around the individual student? What would happen if student’s interests, passions and talents were controlling when determining the best educational plan for each student?

By developing Individual Plans of Study based on student interests, abilities and …

The Experiences Of Minority Female Leaders In Educational Leadership: A Generic Qualitative Study, Gale Denise Beasley

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the underrepresentation of female minority leaders in the field of educational leadership, the scientific literature lacked evidence in understanding the experiences of those who, despite adversity, successfully secured administrative roles. The experiences of minority women who pursued and secured principal and/or assistant principalship appointments were examined using a generic qualitative approach.

The analysis of the data presented the challenges, barriers, and constraints that minority women were confronted with during the development and establishment of their careers as educational leaders. As a result of the complex intersectionality of race and gender, these leaders found themselves as the subjects of …

Diversity In School Leadership: Re-Conceptualizing The Narrative Of Black Male School Principals And Assistant Principals For Recruitment And Retention, James Avery

Theses and Dissertations

Educational leadership is one of the most vastly explored topics in education. School principals and assistant principals make up a substantial portion of those in leadership positions. Experiences in educational leadership have been chronicled for a number of years; however, the diversity in the recorded lived experiences is lacking. To that end, the purpose of this study was to contribute to the literature by developing an understanding of and recording the essence of Black males’ experiences working in K-12 school leadership positions.

The intersection of race and gender has been proven to create dynamics which impact the enactment of leadership …

Designing Leadership: Using Design Thinking To Create, Practices, And Implement A Formal Leadership Development Program, Jon Samuel Wedding

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine what happens when design thinking is used to create a leadership development program, increase leadership competencies, and participants perceptions of design thinking. This study uses action research to examine the experiences and design thinking to create a leadership program in a formal hierarchical. This study collected data during a two-cycle action research process. The findings from this study revealed that design thinking can be used to create a formal leadership development program. The ability to use design thinking’s human centered design can also help increase the leadership competencies of trust and collaborations. …

Shaking The Ceiling: First Leadership Role Attainment For Collegiate Women, Elizabeth J. Siecinski

Masters Theses

Using qualitative research methodology, factors and barriers influence leadership role attainment for collegiate women were explored and examined. The study used semi-structured interviews with four participants to look at factors influencing leadership attainment and why women decide to lead. The researcher identified factor before and after college that impacted a women’s decisions to lead, and her ability to attain a role. Challenges and barriers that women face in their leadership role attainment were also found. Overall, the research found that due to barriers and challenges women struggle to lead authentically, and that they see leadership as way to contribute to …

Books Or Food? Food Insecurity And The Rise Of Campus Food Pantries, Sonya Sharififard

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a quantitative study of campus food pantries located in public four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The research aims to explain relationships among campus food pantries and surrounding neighborhood characteristics affecting local food environments. There are two parts to the study: (a) the quantitative analysis through responses from a participant questionnaire; and (b) a case study analysis to accompany the quantitative analysis. The researcher identified three metropolitan counties within U.S. census tracts, to determine the relationship between neighborhood demographics, the local food environment, and the impact on campus communities. The researcher explored food accessibility within …

Leader Launch: A Needs Assessment And Intervention For Effective Leadership Development In Healthcare, Candice Freeman

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This case study examines how a rural healthcare system implemented LeaderLaunch, a leadership development program specifically supporting all front-line to director-level leaders employed within the organization’s facilities. John DeJoria, the healthcare system’s Director of Organizational Development, is a seasoned instructional designer and Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) who was charged with the opportunity of determining the system’s leadership development needs and responding with aligned performance improvement interventions, intended to build competency and capacity in current, new, and emerging leadership. This case explains how John and his team designed, conducted, and utilized a three phase needs assessment to select …

Straight From The Source: Black College Presidents Tell Their Stories, Steven Purcell

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Students on college and university campuses across the United States are becoming more racially diverse. However, leadership on college campuses is not trending toward more diversity, particularly in higher administrative posts such as the presidency. To better understand this stagnate trend of college president diversity, this critical narrative study examined the lived experiences and insights of six current or former college presidents who identify as Black. The participants in this study are a unique cohort of individuals who have served as presidents/chancellors at institutions where Black students are not the majority ethnic/racial group on campus.

More specifically, this study sought …

Best Leadership Practices Of Female Film Directors, Sara Carraway

Theses and Dissertations

Female film directors are highly underrepresented within the U.S. film industry, especially within narrative film (S.L. Smith, Pieper, & Choueiti, 2013). In 2019, only 12% of directors in the top 100 grossing films were female (Lauzen, 2020). There are several obstacles female directors face in their careers. Financing is more difficult to obtain for female directors due to stereotypes of women as risky investments (P. Smith et al., 2013). Closely tied to financing, gendered networks and homophily can prevent women from making relationships with gatekeepers and accessing the same opportunities as men (Jones & Pringle, 2015; Wing-Fai et al., 2015). …

Managing The Affective Responses Of Employees During Organizational Change In Higher Education, Brad Kennington

Theses and Dissertations

Higher education is facing a period of continual change driven by numerous external and internal forces. Consequently, higher education leaders are faced with the frequent and daunting task of planning and managing organizational change in higher education institutions, which are both complex and dynamic in nature. Adding difficulty to this task is the fact that employees often react to change with emotional responses that are both challenging to understand and complicated and to manage. Managing affective dimensions of change can be overwhelming to leaders, which can lead to failed organizational change efforts. This study explored and answered (a) how a …

Self-Actualized Leadership: Exploring The Intersection Of Inclusive Leadership And Workplace Spirituality At A Faith-Based Institution Of Higher Education, Kerri Cissna

Theses and Dissertations

Today’s leaders are facing complex business problems that require a moral compass and more than one person to solve. Bill Gates extols that organizations must innovate or die (Lee, 2013) and it is becoming widely accepted that diversity and inclusion are key factors in cultivating the innovative workplace (Kurschner & Schmidt, 2017). Although religion has been relegated to the margins of organizational leadership studies, a new era of globalization has ushered in opportunities for spirituality to become a conduit for self-actualization and inclusive leadership. Therefore, inclusive leadership and workplace spirituality are needed to address some of these pressing matters.

This …

A Quantitative Descriptive Study Of The Self-Perception Of Southern Oregon Entrepreneurial Leaders, Rebecca Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The study helped to identify what are the leadership styles of adult entrepreneurs, and what if any factors contribute to an entrepreneurs' leadership style. The study focused on entrepreneurial leaders, over the age of 18, who own and started their own business. These entrepreneurs are a member of one of the following Southern Oregon-based business networking groups: Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc. (SOREDI), and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) of Southern Oregon. The study explored the self-perceived leadership styles of entrepreneurs in Southern Oregon through a quantitative descriptive survey method that utilized a 45-question, Likert scale from the …

A Case Study: The Role Of Compassionate Cities, Healthy Cities, And Un Sustainable Development Goals In City Leadership And Planning, Lisa A. Berkley

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This research is a case study examining the relevance of three holistic city frameworks—Compassionate Cities, Healthy Cities, and UN Sustainable Development Goals—to the intentional or tacit thinking of city leaders, community leaders, and activists of Marina, California. Beginning with a discussion of the origin and development of the three frameworks, the study occurred in three phases: Phase I involved interviewing the five elected leaders, city manager, community development leaders, and two planners; Phase II consisted of a survey of appointed city leaders and community organizers and activists; and Phase III was an analysis of relevant public discourse, drawing from local …

Culturally Collaborative Teaching: A Path Toward Black Student Learning, J. Love Benton

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Inservice teachers’ influence and power are vital components for academic success among Black children. Previous research has shown that when teacher/student interactions are culturally responsive, engaging, and equitable, student learning is positively impacted (Banks, 2001; Gay, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 2011; Sleeter, 2000; Warren, 2018). However, equity gaps between Black and White k-12 students continue to exist within classroom settings (Grant & Sleeter, 2012; Ladson-Billings, 2018). Using a mixed-method approach that includes Repertory Grid Technique underpinned by Personal Construct theory to identify the teaching perceptions of inservice teachers, I gathered data that indicate how k-12 teachers understand what enables Black students to …

Being Scrappy: Charter School Leaders And The Transition To The Principalship At Title I Schools, Kalin Balcomb

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

While the experiences and challenges of principals at Title I schools has been studied, this research builds on those studies with the added dimension of exploring the perspectives of charter school principals who are new to the role and are working in the landscape of Title I schools in Los Angeles. This dissertation examines the history of charter schools and provides a contextual overview of charter schools and charter school accountability measures in the United States and in Los Angeles, with the added political context of the charter school landscape in Los Angeles after the historic Los Angeles teacher union …

The Role Of Leadership In Establishing A Positive Staff Culture In A Secondary School, Julia E. Morris, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Graeme Lock, Catherine Ferguson, Susan Hill, Annette Nykiel

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This Australian case study explored the implementation of strategies to support the development of a positive school culture among whole school staff. A participatory action research approach was used to involve leadership staff in the development of a mixed method assessment of the school organisation. Baseline data from the School Organisational Health Questionnaire (n = 28) and qualitative data from focus groups (n = 15) were collected and presented to the leadership team who identified four foci for the study: appraisal and recognition, participative decision-making, professional growth and supportive leadership. After a range of interventions, findings from both …