FEMALE COMMUNITY-COLLEGE PRESIDENTS: EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP PATTERNS AND BEHAVIORS

Abstract

ABSTRACT Drawing from the theory of transformational leadership and community-college literature, the purpose of this study was to determine the leadership patterns and behaviors of female chief executive officers (CEOs) in the community-college system in rural, suburban, urban, and inner-city settings. This study further investigated whether there was a significant relationship between the leadership patterns and behaviors of female chief executive officers and other factors such as the race/ethnicity of the CEO, the educational level of the CEO, the experience of the CEO, and enrollment. Specifically, the participants included female community-college presidents whose colleges were members of the American Association of Community Colleges. The participants were asked to rate 30 items on a 10-point scale on the 5 patterns of actions identified by the Leadership Practices Inventory by Kouzes and Posner, 2003. Participants were also asked to fill out a questionnaire, which was developed by the researcher. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used to analyze the data in this study. With a response rate of 72%, 126 of 175 CEOs responded. There were no significant differences found between rural, suburban, urban, and inner-city presidents and the 5 leadership patterns. The results indicated female community-college presidents differed in their leadership patterns according to race/ethnicity, experience, and education. Findings also indicated there were significant differences between leadership patterns and the percentage of fulltime students enrolled.