Abstract
The success of schools depends on effective recruitment and selection of school leaders. The present study sought to understand the processes of recruiting and selecting public school leaders in Saudi Arabia from their perspectives. Interview data were collected from 39 high school leaders in the Eastern province in Saudi Arabia. The results of the study indicated that the school leadership recruitment and selection processes in Saudi Arabia consist of few linear steps where the ministry engages in an effort to attract candidates from internal resources, followed by initial screening, and a formal interview to select the candidate from the pool. The analysis also revealed several challenges involved in the recruitment and selection processes of prospective candidates. Based on the findings of this study, schools are currently struggling to recruit qualified candidates that commensurate the mission and the needs of our schools. Therefore, we recommend providing appropriate budget, resources, and training to human resource staff to effectively communicate with prospective candidates, identify the type of candidates and design recruitment and selection strategy accordingly.
 
 Keywords: Recruitment, selection, school leaders, human resources, Saudi Arabia.
Highlights
The recruitment and selection of effective school leaders are among the major priorities of educational policy in Saudi Arabia (Al-Ati and Al-khuthlan, 2018)
We recommend providing appropriate budget, resources, and training to human resource staff to effectively communicate with prospective candidates, identify the type of candidates and design recruitment and selection strategy
Our qualitative data analysis revealed in more detail on the pages that follow (a) the participants’ perceptions related to the recruitment and selection processes in Saudi Arabia; and (b) the challenges associated with recruiting and selecting public school leaders
Summary
The recruitment and selection of effective school leaders are among the major priorities of educational policy in Saudi Arabia (Al-Ati and Al-khuthlan, 2018). Effective recruitment and selection of school administrators is important to improve the efficiency of schooling (Al-Mahdy et al, 2015). Despite the crucial importance of these practices, there has been little research on how leaders are recruited and selected. The present study was conducted to fill a gap in the educational leadership and management research in Saudi Arabia. This study corresponds to the efforts of the Saudi Ministry of Education (MoE) to improve recruitment and selection of public-school leaders.
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