Abstract
Traditionally, higher education has relied on recruiting executive leaders based largely on scholarly credibility, expecting leadership competency to develop with “on the job” experience. This approach is risky to organizational success. Building upon research about how institutional leaders identify, select, develop, and support those in succession, this study aims (1) to explore how senior academic leaders in engineering perceive their leadership roles, specifically the importance they attribute to various leadership skills and their self-confidence in exercising those skills, and (2) to discern the prevalence of mentoring and sponsorship practices those leaders use as part of their leadership portfolio. Results of a national survey, distributed in collaboration with the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) to leaders in academic engineering in North America, confirm the importance of select leadership skills, including practices related to the mentoring and sponsorship of emerging leaders. However, the reported prevalence of those practices was relatively low in this sample. The authors recommend holding leaders accountable for developing future leaders and present an instrument for self- and organizational assessment of such practices for use in implementing more intentional approaches to leadership development in higher education.
Highlights
Global corporations are tackling organizational challenges through systems that identify and develop internal potential leaders (Korn Ferry Institute 2015); academia has been slower to adopt what has been called “one of the best attributes of business culture: Its tradition of developing leadership through succession planning” (Blumenstyk 2005)
The aims of this national survey study were (1) to learn more about how senior academic leaders in engineering perceive their leadership roles, the importance they attribute to various leadership skills and their self-confidence in exercising those skills; and (2) to discern the prevalence of mentoring and sponsorship practices these leaders use as part of their leadership portfolio
Membership highlight the importance of a set of leadership skills and practices, including mentoring and sponsorship, that apply to academic leaders and that are used in leadership development programs, such as ELAM at Drexel® (Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine, Philadelphia, U.S.A) and ELATE at Drexel® (Executive Leadership in Academic Technology and Engineering, Philadelphia)
Summary
Global corporations are tackling organizational challenges through systems that identify and develop internal potential leaders (Korn Ferry Institute 2015); academia has been slower to adopt what has been called “one of the best attributes of business culture: Its tradition of developing leadership through succession planning” (Blumenstyk 2005). Academic leadership positions have historically been time-limited appointments, after which the leader returns to teaching and research. This tradition can lead to a conservative approach to organizational change, with leaders trying to avoid creating relational and political conflict (Rowley and Sherman 2003; Gmelch 2004).
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