Abstract
The concept of inclusive leadership tends to be understood from different perspectives and contexts. However, there is a consensus that inclusive leadership has proven to be one of the effective leadership styles for ensuring sustainable development. Clearly, this is embedded in the leaders’ ability to recognise bias, demonstrate an open mindset, and most importantly have the ability to acknowledge and empower others, especially those at sub-managerial level who are mostly in touch with the realities of policy implementation within an institution. While studies have proven the impactful role of middle-level management towards organisational performance, it was clear that the middle-level management at the universities are those set of leaders that are usually in full engagement with the university community including lecturers and students, thereby making them wholly responsible for the implementation of university policies at micro level. However, this class of leaders seems to be excluded or not fully recognised in deliberating and taking managerial decisions in the university leadership. Consequently, the intention of this paper is to critically conceptualised the six empirically acknowledged concepts of inclusive leaders and leadership framework by Bourke and Dillon which are courage, commitment, cognisance of bias, curiosity, cultural intelligence as well as collaboration and fully contextualised them in higher educational institutions with respect to straightening the relevance of middle-level management in leading universities.
Highlights
Establishing higher education came with numerous advantages and challenges in most the educational societies in the world and this is not unconnected with the divergent objectives of different educational policymakers, economic policies, and the political influence on the education system of a country in the face of diversity in higher education
This diversity in higher education refers to the expansion of physical structure of the institutions, broadening curriculum to capture many disciplines, and sometimes making the education system flexible to fit different needs of the students and the larger societies
Diversity in higher education has been in existence since the establishment of secular education in Nigeria
Summary
Establishing higher education came with numerous advantages and challenges in most the educational societies in the world and this is not unconnected with the divergent objectives of different educational policymakers, economic policies, and the political influence on the education system of a country in the face of diversity in higher education. In other words, this is a way to create harmony among people of various views and backgrounds and to bridge the gaps or cement differences among members of the higher education regardless of their social, economic, political, and religious backgrounds (The College of St. Scholastica, 2016). Considering the academic outcomes of the application of diversity and differentiation in higher education in many countries especially Nigerian counterparts, this research intends to study how the application of diversity and differentiation in higher education can bring positive development in the Nigerian higher educational institutions
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