Effective Academic Leadership Research Articles

Academic leaders navigating change: a comprehensive bibliometric review paper of crucial leadership capabilities and managerial competencies

ABSTRACT This paper explores the intertwined yet distinct roles and responsibilities of leadership and management within higher education institutions. The study underscores the importance of identifying key differentiating indicators of academic leadership and management while emphasizing the need to enhance leadership and management development programs to align with the ever-evolving higher education landscape. Our focus centers on crucial leadership capabilities and managerial competencies exhibited by academic leaders, placing particular emphasis on the value of the academic leadership capability framework as a facilitative tool for academic leadership and management development. After establishing the context of the study, we conduct a selective review of relevant research aimed at identifying effective academic leadership qualities. Next, we delve into the academic leadership capability framework, offering comprehensive insights into its applicability. The paper proceeds to introduce the bibliometric methodology employed, explaining how 610 Scopus-indexed publications on academic leadership and management development, spanning 53 years (1970 to mid-July 2023), were systematically analyzed. Presenting the bibliometric results, we engage in a comprehensive discussion concerning the theoretical and practical/societal implications derived from our findings. Finally, the paper concludes by providing recommendations for future research in this vital domain.

Challenges and Required Competencies toward Effective Academic Leadership in Indonesian Theological Institution

Law No. 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System is the ground of conveying a professional and accountable education model system in Indonesia. This also applies to higher theological education institutions (THEI) that want to get recognition and accreditation from the government. The obligation to comply with this regulation presents its own challenges for theological institutions which are generally established as one of the ministry training entities for the church. Therefore, this study was conducted to obtain information related to particular challenges and competencies of an academic leader in THEI in Indonesia. The study employs a qualitative, systematic grounded theory approach to explore leadership challenges and characteristics in Theological institutions. This study found that factors contributing to effective leadership in dealing with legal and accreditation issues are personal, managerial, practical, administrative, and relational skills. This finding shows that in general, leadership at THEI still needs strengthening in various areas.

Effective Academic Leadership: A Breakthrough in Higher Education

Effective Academic Leadership: A Breakthrough in Higher Education

The Importance Of Social And Emotional Competencies For Effective Academic Leadership In Private Higher Education Institutions

This study aims to examine the role of social and emotional competencies for effective leadership in private higher education. We examined the impact of personality, self-confidence, and emotional intelligence (EI) on academic leadership in private higher education institutions. The five-factor model of normal personality as indexed by the Mini-International Personality Item Pool questionnaire, Self- confidence scale, Emotional Skills, and Ohio State teacher efficacy scale were applied to a sample of 157 academic leaders in private higher education institutions (97 men, 60 women, the mean age was 46 years). As predicted, regressions analyses showed a significant impact on academic leaders' competencies on personality, self- confidence, and EI abilities. The results demonstrated unique predictive relations for the three leaders self-efficacy scales: extraversion, conscientiousness, and intellect/imagination. Only efficacy for instructional strategies was related to low neuroticism. Self-confidence significantly affected all teacher self-efficacy components (instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement). Emotional intelligence showed positive effects on all three components of teacher self-efficacy. Perceiving and understanding emotion and managing and regulating emotion significantly predicted all three academic leaders' self-efficacy components, while expressing and labelling emotion was associated with efficacy for instructional strategies and student engagement. The results highlighted the importance of personality, self- confidence, and emotional intelligence in explaining academic leaders' self- efficacy. They showed that these social and emotional competencies accounted uniquely significant percentage of the total score variance in indicators of effective leadership. Keywords: Academic Leadership, Teacher Self-efficacy, Personality, Self-confidence, Emotional Intelligence, Private Higher Education

Principal Investigator’ Perceptions of Effective Academic Leadership in Chinese Research Institutions and Universities

Academic leadership is considered a key factor in university and research institute development. In a competitive environment, the role of academic leadership has become increasingly important. At present, China is committed to building world-class universities and advanced research institutes, while academic leadership is one of the key factors. Thus, what is the ideal academic leadership in China’s institutional environment? What professional qualities should principal investigators have? This study investigates these issues with in-depth interviews of six principal investigators. The finding shows that the definition of academic leadership by principal investigators refers to academic expertise, assigning the team member, setting a direction, academic social skills, managing team member relationships, boosting team morale, and teamwork skills. Furthermore, academic expertise is often supposed to be more important than other abilities. In terms of competence, the definitions of leadership by Chinese principal investigators and the literature on Western academic leadership are similar.

Academic leadership: Perceptions of academic leaders and staff in diverse contexts

Universities have been coping with various challenges and pressures over the last decade. Therefore, capacity building for academic leaders is a critical point for universities to survive in this challenging era. Yet, existing studies suffer from several limitations. Among others, they do not consider the examination of academic staff members’ and leaders’ perceptions from diverse contexts, thus capturing insight into current practices. Using a qualitative study, we explored the perceptions of 18 academic staff members and leaders from eight Chinese and European universities, under which the perceived concept, a profile of effective academic leadership, and the motivators to become academic leaders from cross-cultural perspectives were emphasized. The results demonstrated that academic staff and leaders widely perceive the notion of academic leadership in diverse contexts as a complex concept. In addition, the findings provided several insights into understanding the profile of an effective academic leader who possesses a range of capacities and specific leadership styles. Furthermore, significant motivators that stimulate academic staff and leaders to pursue academic leadership positions were also examined and discussed. The results of this study can serve as a stepping stone for designing the framework used in leadership development programs as well as for collaboration in capacity development for university academic leaders.

Leadership in Academia of Pakistan: Perception of Crisis Situation and Solutions

In current study, aim was to explore effective academic leadership in Pakistani higher education institutes. It was an attempt to understand how people in academia perceive effective academic leadership and what are the qualities expected in an effective academic leader? It was also attempted to explore if academicians feel that there is a crisis of leadership in Pakistani higher education institutes? What are the reasons and solution for this crisis situation? Purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of teachers, students, and psychologists. Three focus groups were conducted one after another. Sample (N = 21) included 13 women and 8 men with age range 21-50 years. Sample was selected from different private and public universities and hospitals of Lahore. Emerging themes were analyzed using bottom up thematic analysis. Results indicated that an effective academic leader should have IQ and EQ, be visionary, and should bring everyone together. The participants mostly agreed that there is leadership crisis in Pakistani higher education institutes. They described various reasons for the crisis situation which mainly implied the responsibility to existing leaders, infrastructure, social decline, and policies.

Adaptability: A Universal Constant of Effective Academic Leadership

The Department ChairVolume 30, Issue 2 p. 9-10 Articles Adaptability: A Universal Constant of Effective Academic Leadership Jeff Youngquist, Jeff YoungquistSearch for more papers by this author Jeff Youngquist, Jeff YoungquistSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 October 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/dch.30282Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume30, Issue2Fall 2019Pages 9-10 RelatedInformation

Academic Leadership: A Critical Literature Review and Implications for Human Resource Development

Leadership has been an important field in human resource development but efforts to understand leadership in academic leadership have been neglected meanwhile higher education have been placed under great pressures to meet the demands of their complex stakeholders. We conduct a literature review with the support of Nvivo software. Several themes are emerged in literature namely changing context of higher education, characteristics of effective academic leadership and factors as well as consequences of academic leadership. We also propose a conceptual framework to further enhance our understanding of academic leadership. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Effective Academic Leadership: Key Aspects of Leader Behavior in Higher Education

Effective Academic Leadership: Key Aspects of Leader Behavior in Higher Education

An investigation of the suitability of a Servant Leadership model for academic Group Leaders at German universities

Due to the many changes that have occurred over the last two decades, especially in connection with the ‘new managerialism’, academia is a complex working environment. Multiple skills are demanded from professors, such as acting as entrepreneurs and mentors with designated leadership competences. This paper investigates the leadership role of academic group leaders in the context of higher education in Germany. It is argued that a servant leadership approach can enable professors to provide effective academic leadership in the current university context. This is due to its strong human orientation and low power distance and its focus on facilitating academic excellence, creativity and innovation. The discussion notes the importance of developing academic group leaders and describes some practical means of implementing servant leadership in higher education.

Effective Academic Leadership of Learning and Teaching in Malaysian Higher Education

This study provides an in-depth look at the practices of leadership in selected Malaysian Universities that have been identified as academic leadership. The findings of this study support the fundamental elements that have been previously identified by researchers and professional organizations, as academic leadership. Specifically, academic leaders focus on learning and teaching for students in relation to instructor development.This study employs a qualitative research approach. Thematic method was used to analyze the data. Data were collected through in-depth interview. Based on the findings of this study leadership works towards the future of the university through the development and involvement of instructors to facilitate teaching and learning at Malaysian universities.Based on the obtained results, Malaysian universities planned through sustained programs of educational development to use principles of learning and teaching effectively in designing learning environments for students. Secondly, academics need a supportive culture to put these principles into practice. To date creating learning culture depends not only on well-educated, well-meaning individual academics, but also on an academic community working together to create a student-centered attitude.

Academic Leadership in a Private University: An Iranian Case Study

<p class="apa">This study explores effective academic leadership as well as hindrances within Iran’s private higher educational institutions. The author employed a qualitative approach that utilized purposive sampling to collect and analyze data. Findings were categorized into three classes comprising the (i) setting of direction, (ii) organizational and (iii) staff development at three administrative levels: central office, branch office and faculty personnel. Obstacles confronting effective academic leadership were identified as (i) centralization of power; (ii) bureaucratic hierarchy; (iii) budgetary restraints; (iv) ineffective interaction including ineffectual communications as well as social, political and cultural interventions; and (v) unqualified staffing policies that eschewed meritocracy. This study reveals that the functional purview of an effective academic leader is to drive an institution’s vision forward towards achievement and define its mission and objectives. Moreover, it signifies an indispensable need for academic leadership development programs that incorporate, protect and support scientific management skills based on sound moral values, mutually established trust, collegial respect, and the application of transactional cum transformational governance methods in teaching, learning and research.</p>

Wanted: Effective Academic Leadership

Wanted: Effective Academic Leadership

Is a political approach to academic leadership the right move to make?

Still, the authors arguefor a more explicit appreciation(and use) of the political perspec-tive, noting particularly that ideasfrom political science are under-utilised in the domain of leadershipin medical education. By lookingthrough a political lens, they say, wecan put a new twist on effectiveacademic leadership for tomorrow.We could not agree more with thesuggestion that politics is everpresent in our lives, but we ponderwhether or not there are downsidesto explicitly introducing a politicalperspective into academic leader-ship as the effects of politicisationin medical universities appear toinclude the capability to detractfrom productivity and the quality ofmedical education.

Competencies, Roles and Effective Academic Leadership in World Class University

How an academic leader can become more effective? This research question is examined in the context of middle level leadership in research universities that includes the Deans and Head of Departments.  It is based on a review of literature that focuses on the investigation of effective academic leadership. In the present situation of globalization, academic excellence is often related to being World Class University. Leadership effectiveness is more related to situational leadership style in research universities and in a global context. Hence situational leadership models such as Hersey and Blanchard and Yetton-Vroom are analyzed. It is suggested that effective academic leaders use the four styles proposed by Hersey and Blanchard that includes “telling, selling, participating and delegating”. These styles should be used in relation to ability and willingness of followers to perform the assigned tasks. The review also indicated that to be effective, academic leaders require certain competencies and perform the necessary roles in order to lead. Effective academic leaders need the skills and abilities to lead research universities towards excellence. Roles of academic leaders are examined in relation to Mintzberg leadership roles. The ten roles identified by Mintzberg are categorized into three major roles of interpersonal contact, information processing and decision making. To summarize, effective academic leaders utilized various leadership styles according to certain situations, possessed the required competencies and assumed certain roles when appointed as Deans and Head of Departments in research universities. As such it is important that a systematic leadership development programs should be developed to ensure academic leadership effectiveness.

Requirements for effective academic leadership in Iran: A Nominal Group Technique exercise

BackgroundDuring the last two decades, medical education in Iran has shifted from elite to mass education, with a considerable increase in number of schools, faculties, and programs. Because of this transformation, it is a good case now to explore academic leadership in a non-western country. The objective of this study was to explore the views on effective academic leadership requirements held by key informants in Iran's medical education system.MethodsA nominal group study was conducted by strategic sampling in which participants were requested to discuss and report on requirements for academic leadership, suggestions and barriers. Written notes from the discussions were transcribed and subjected to content analysis.ResultsSix themes of effective academic leadership emerged: 1)shared vision, goal, and strategy, 2) teaching and research leadership, 3) fair and efficient management, 4) mutual trust and respect, 5) development and recognition, and 6) transformational leadership. Current Iranian academic leadership suffers from lack of meritocracy, conservative leaders, politicization, bureaucracy, and belief in misconceptions.ConclusionThe structure of the Iranian medical university system is not supportive of effective academic leadership. However, participants' views on effective academic leadership are in line with what is also found in the western literature, that is, if the managers could create the premises for a supportive and transformational leadership, they could generate mutual trust and respect in academia and increase scientific production.

Real Work through Real Collegiality: faculty seniors views on the drive to improve learning and research

Throughout the 1990s universities have striven to re‐organise themselves in order to be cost‐effective and client‐conscious, and to provide excellence in teaching and research. Yet, as they have done so, they have also had to face crucial issues that emerged concerning their handling of human resource‐‐their staff. It has become clear that new forms of organisational management depend for their success on the growth of new forms of professionalism amongst university staff. Especially important in achieving this is the role of Deans, who are typically engaged at both executive (policy and planning) and senior management (implementation) levels, and are expected in turn to ensure that all faculty staff are fully committed to implementing change. Interviews with faculty and school leaders have revealed rich data concerning ways in which key terms associated with academic collegiality operate in tension with key terms associated with improving university performance. In conclusion, the paper identifies four guiding principles for effective academic leadership, which succeeds in harmonising collegiality with high performance.