Mid-level Positions Research Articles

In the Meantime: RE/UN/DIScover Heuristic for Small-Scale Antioppressive Action within Systems and Organizations.

The dehumanizing effects of neoliberal, white dominant regulations, laws, policies, and cultural assumptions seep into the everyday practice of social workers in frontline and mid-level positions. Many social workers are learning various antioppressive practices and becoming aware of how microaggressions and other oppressive dynamics can manifest in workplaces but lack models to guide efforts for small-scale action. This article describes how the RE/UN/DIScover heuristic can be used to interrupt and shift oppressive processes during everyday moments of practice within organizations and systems by social workers and their interested colleagues who have some awareness of oppressive and antioppressive dynamics. The RE/UN/DIScover heuristic is an iterative set of three practices: (1) tend to self with compassionate REcover practices; (2) engage in curious, critical reflection to UNcover full understandings of the power dynamics, impacts, and meanings of specific challenges; and (3) DIScover and try out just, humanizing responses with creative courage, individually and with other colleagues. The heuristic uses a dual focus on self and situation with an ad hoc group of other colleagues to raise awareness; cultivate humanizing spaces; and implement antioppressive, relational responses. The article describes the heuristic practices and how to apply the heuristic with two composite practice applications.

Career development: A balance of opportunities and choices.

Career development: A balance of opportunities and choices.

Changing Definitions of Leadership or Same old “Hero” Leader?

Objective/Research Question: The urgency to replace retiring community college leaders has been a topic of research and discussion for the past two decades. Concurrently, expansive definitions of leadership and collaborative approaches to leading have emerged. The central research question for this study was: How do sitting community college leaders define leadership? The sub-questions included: Do definitions of leadership differ by gender? Do definitions of leadership differ by position? Methods: Coding of survey data from approximately 770 sitting leaders occurred based on responses to the prompt: How do you define leadership? Descriptive statistical analysis occurred based on demographics and on position related to the coded responses. Results: This study found three prevalent ways of defining leadership: leader-focused (leader’s abilities mentioned); other-focused (leader included others, collaboration mentioned); institution-focused (leader focused on institutional needs/mission). About half of both women and men used leader-focused definitions, with slightly more men than women in the tallies. More women than men used other-focused definitions, whereas men used definitions more institutionally focused compared to women (not statistically significant). Leader-focused definitions were also most prevalent by position, with mid-level leaders using this definition slightly more than top-level leaders. Top-level leaders used a combination of institution-focused definitions more so than mid-level leaders, however (not statistically significant). Conclusions: A shift to more other-focused ways of leading is emerging. Those in mid-level positions hold onto leader-focused definitions of leadership, and this points to the need to reconceptualize mid-level leadership and ideas of leading that include others and connect to institutional missions and initiatives. The complex nature of today’s organizations requires broader conceptions of leadership.

Perceived corporate social responsibility and knowledge sharing: mediating roles of employees’ eudaimonic and hedonic well-being

PurposeThis study aims to develop a series of hypotheses that are tested based on a survey design methodology. Data collected from 281 knowledge workers operating in mid-level positions within knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) operating in the information and communication technology (ICT) Tunisian sector was analysed through the partial-least square-structural equation modelling (method.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the social identity and the social exchange theories, this study aims to examine the link between perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) and knowledge sharing (KS) and the mediating effects of eudaimonic well-being (EWB) and hedonic well-being in this relationship.FindingsResults indicate that perceived CSR among employees exerts a positive direct impact on KS, EWB and hedonic well-being. These two types of well-being are found to be key factors improving the willingness of employees to share their knowledge within the organization. Findings also revealed that EWB partially mediates the link between perceived CSR and KS.Originality/valueThis research pioneers the investigation of the mediating effects of eudaimonic and hedonic well-being between perceived CSR and KS that have never been examined. The results of this study provide practical insights for managers of KIFs regarding the CSR practices that may have a strong influence on employees’ hedonic and EWB and KS behaviour.

An Investigation of the Ethical Reasoning Skills of Accountants and Career Experiences

Since the myriad of financial debacles in the early 21st century, a focused interest on accountants’ ethical reasoning skills has been unsuccessful in resolving future financial crimes in the United States (Palazzo & Rethel, 2008). Unfortunately, a Price Waterhouse Cooper’s (2016) survey concluded fraud at the executive level increased by 4%. A review of the research infers inconclusive evidence of a relationship between higher ranked accounting positions and lower ethical reasoning skills when examining CPAs in the postSarbanes-Oxley (SOX) era, as the majority of research stems from the pre-SOX timeframe. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to examine various organizational levels of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and their ethical and social responsibility perceptions. Participants were recruited via an accounting research panel and used Singhapakdi's (1996) Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility Scale (PRESOR) to measure CPAs’ perceptions of the importance of ethics and social responsibility to an organization's overall effectiveness. The researchers’ findings indicate CPAs at midlevel positions encompass significantly different ethical and socially responsible perspectives when compared to CPAs at lower level and high-level positions within firms. Shafer (2015), using the PRESOR, found a significant relationship between accountants’ ethical perceptions and organizational ethics in a convenience study of Chinese accountants, and called for more studies using the PRESOR on accountants. This research extends the literature on accountants’ ethics and builds on Shafer’s study by employing a random sample of CPAs in the United States.

“Leading from the middle”: Exploring stories of women working for change in PK-12 Schools

Despite recent improvements for women within education, marginalizing policies and climates are still very present in our schools. Activism by teachers and administrators can provide potent instruments for change in PK-12 schools. This study examines how women leaders within PK-12 are working for change in their schools. We employed a qualitive research design, influenced by narrative inquiry, to examine change efforts by women leaders in PK-12 schools. Women leaders shared stories of their experiences with institutional sexism, mentoring other women, and how they are working to change institutional policies and improve educational climates. Our research provided insights on ways to lead from mid-level positions and how to navigate institutional sexism to promote gender equity within education. Keywords: activism; social change; women leaders; institutional sexism

Preparing to Fill the Leadership Gap: The Challenges Facing Women Leaders in Mid-Level Positions at Urban Community Colleges

Community college presidents are currently retiring at rapid rates, and this turnover in leadership is expected to continue. As these important post-secondary institutions face the loss of senior-level leaders, women in mid-career positions are preparing to fill the gap in the leadership pipeline. Although previous studies have examined the leadership challenges faced by women leaders, the focus has been on presidents and vice presidents. This study fills a gap in the literature by examining the leadership experiences of women in mid-level positions - specifically deans and directors - and to identify their unique employment mobility challenges. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to examine women leaders in mid-level positions and their perceptions of the personal, professional, and organizational challenges unique to them as leaders in urban community colleges. This study provides community college leaders and practitioners a better understanding of the importance of more effective navigational tools, better leadership training and development, and inclusive and intentional leadership funnels and hiring practices for women mid-level leaders. Ten participants from three community colleges discussed perceived challenges through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, and they described how they have attempted to navigate these challenges. Five major themes were identified: (a) leadership progression, (b) work-life balance, (c) mentorship and professional development, (d) communication, and (e) institutional climate and organizational structure. Recommendations for leaders include: providing opportunities and support for mentorship for women in mid-career positions; creating and funding professional development opportunities; and assisting women leaders with doctoral degree completion.

Social representation of PR activism: Perceptions of early career public relations professionals in South Africa

A critical, socio-cultural turn in the public relations research agenda has shifted attention away from a predominately organisational focus to include the individual practitioner, and their symbolic power relationships (Curtin & Gaither, 2005). This has resulted in critical interrogation of issues such as dissent, power and activism in professional role enactment with an emergent, activist stance that actively questions and resists existing power structures and normative practices (Holtzhausen, 2012). This turn requires PR as well as in a diverse range of other disciplines to find new forms of addressing some of the wicked problems of our time, such as the social and cultural influences that public relations practitioners are subject to in enacting culturally sensitive public relations roles in their practice. The positioning of the critical-cultural and postmodern paradigms lends itself to the application of social representation theory (SRT) as a framework for analysis and understanding (Bauer & Gaskell, 2008; p. 351). However, to date limited research has been conducted on the social influences public relations practitioners are subject to in enacting culturally sensitive public relations roles in their practice, especially in respect of public relations practitioners who occupy junior to mid-level positions in formal employment contexts. In particular, individual influence and agency of entry level or early career public relations practitioners in South Africa has been under researched. It is against this background that this study aims to determine the perceptions of early-mid career South African PRPs on how they socially represent their activism in a poly-contextual and diverse cultural context. This is especially important in a context where PRPs are required to justify the value their actions have in achieving social change. The findings suggest that South African activist public relations practitioner (PRP) role enactment may not only entail promoting the interests of those who are marginalised and excluded from social contexts, but also requires advocating for the legitimacy of their own activist role in their contexts of practice.

Sexual Harassment of Women Leaders

Sexual harassment is more prevalent for women supervisors than for women employees. This pattern holds in the three countries we studied – the United States, Japan, and Sweden – where women supervisors are between 30 to 100 percent more likely to have been sexually harassed in the last twelve months. Among supervisors, the risk is larger in lower- and mid-level positions of leadership and when subordinates are mostly male. We also find that harassment of women supervisors happens despite their greater likelihood of taking action against the abuser, and that supervisors face more professional and social retaliation after their harassment experience. We conclude that sexual harassment is a workplace hazard that raises the costs for women to pursue leadership ambitions and, in turn, reinforces gender gaps in income, status, and voice.

Statistical Procedures for Assessing the Need for an Affirmative Action Plan: A Reanalysis of Shea v. Kerry

In the 1980s, reports from Congress and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) presented statistical evidence showing that employees in the Foreign Service were overwhelmingly White male, especially in the higher positions. To remedy this historical discrimination, the State Department instituted an affirmative action plan during 1990–1992 that allowed females and race-ethnic minorities to apply directly for mid-level positions. A White male employee claimed that he had been disadvantaged by the plan. The appellate court unanimously held that the manifest statistical imbalance supported the Department’s instituting the plan. One judge identified two statistical issues in the analysis of the data that neither party brought up. This article provides an empirical guideline for sample size and a one-sided Hotelling’s T2 test to answer these problems. First, an approximate rule is developed for the minimum number of expected minority appointments needed for a meaningful statistical analysis of under-representation. To avoid the multiple comparison issue when several protected groups are involved, a modification of Hotelling’s T2 test is developed for testing the null hypothesis of fair representation against a one-sided alternative of under-representation in at least one minority group. The test yields p-values less than 1 in 10,000 indicating that minorities were substantially under-represented. Excluding secretarial and clerical jobs led to even larger disparities.Supplemental materials for this article are available online.

Constrained leader autonomy: You are the stoker in hell—No matter what you do, you are wrong!

This study explores how formal leaders at various levels experience and respond to exercising their own autonomy in relationships with superiors and staff in a knowledge-dominated healthcare organization. Proposing the notion of constrained autonomy, the study suggests a way of understanding how formal leaders in mid-level positions work within autonomy–authority tensions. Based on interviews with formal leaders, I argue that formal leaders are highly aware of and deal with the autonomy tensions that occur in contradictions between structural requirements, ability to lead, and decision-making power in such complex ways that tensions are upheld and left more ambiguous than they first appeared. Thereby, the study develops literature on autonomy tensions and leadership. It also contrasts research suggesting that formal leaders sometimes deny tensions, are unaware of them, or seek to control or eliminate them and questions the sharp division between autonomy and authority often found in literature. The notion of constrained autonomy may also assist formal leaders navigate daily workplace tensions in knowledge-dominated healthcare contexts.

Are the ideal worker and ideal parent norms about to change? The acceptance of part-time and parental leave at German workplaces

ABSTRACTThis study examines the extent to which the use of part-time work and parental leave is accepted at German workplaces. Is there evidence for a weakening of ideal worker and ideal parent norms? Interviews were conducted with 95 employees in different status positions in hospitals, police stations and industrial companies. The results indicate that even though ideal worker norms and ideal parent norms still prevail, especially in higher-status positions and typical male professions, they have shifted partially for some employees. Partial change can be observed for mothers in high-status positions (part-time) and for men up to mid-level positions (parental leave). There is greater acceptance of fathers’ parental leave, mainly due to the reform of the German parental leave legislation. Part-time for women in upper-level positions has become more accepted due to work-life balance policies at the company level. Norm changes, however, have stalled at the halfway mark. Fathers are still expected to prioritize their career and to schedule parental leave according to their organization’s business needs. Part-time working mothers in high-status positions are expected to deliver performance similar to that of full-time workers. Moreover, norm changes are hindered by economic constraints, mainly staff shortages.

Gender and professional trajectories: management life stories

PropósitoEl propósito de esta investigación es delimitar los aspectos de género que se relatan cómo relevantes en la trayectoria profesional de la mujer, así como las situaciones o elementos que se narran como una experiencia de éxito o fracaso en su desarrollo profesional.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueMediante un abordaje próximo a las historias de vida y a través de una perspectiva de análisis fenomenológica-longitudinal, nos aproximamos a las experiencias, vivencias y sentimientos de nueve mujeres que en 1998 ocupaban posiciones de mando medio.ContribuciónLos relatos nos presentan una lectura de la trayectoria a tres planos: el entorno laboral, la experiencia vivida y los principios de acción desarrollados a lo largo de su carrera. Estos relatos, muestran y demuestran que el género y la subjetividad se entrelazan, promulgan y reproducen en el entorno laboral.Limitaciones/Implicaciones de la investigaciónA pesar de recoger información en dos momentos, lo que ha permitido reconstruir sus trayectorias y aislar de este conjunto los aspectos de género, no se trata de una investigación puramente longitudinal sino con cierta perspectiva fenomenológica-longitudinal.Originalidad/valorLos relatos han permitido tejer las vivencias y sentimientos de más de una década de desarrollo profesional y han evidenciado cómo la subjetividad se compromete con un mundo de prescripciones y proscripciones que confiere diferencias para aplicar a ambos sexos. Donde ser mujer explica ciertas formas de entender e interpretar los roles femeninos, en relación a ellas mismas y a su entorno.

Mapping the global health employment market: an analysis of global health jobs

BackgroundThe number of university global health training programs has grown in recent years. However, there is little research on the needs of the global health profession. We therefore set out to characterize the global health employment market by analyzing global health job vacancies.MethodsWe collected data from advertised, paid positions posted to web-based job boards, email listservs, and global health organization websites from November 2015 to May 2016. Data on requirements for education, language proficiency, technical expertise, physical location, and experience level were analyzed for all vacancies. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the aforementioned job characteristics. Associations between technical specialty area and requirements for non-English language proficiency and overseas experience were calculated using Chi-square statistics. A qualitative thematic analysis was performed on a subset of vacancies.ResultsWe analyzed the data from 1007 global health job vacancies from 127 employers. Among private and non-profit sector vacancies, 40% (n = 354) were for technical or subject matter experts, 20% (n = 177) for program directors, and 16% (n = 139) for managers, compared to 9.8% (n = 87) for entry-level and 13.6% (n = 120) for mid-level positions. The most common technical focus area was program or project management, followed by HIV/AIDS and quantitative analysis. Thematic analysis demonstrated a common emphasis on program operations, relations, design and planning, communication, and management.ConclusionsOur analysis shows a demand for candidates with several years of experience with global health programs, particularly program managers/directors and technical experts, with very few entry-level positions accessible to recent graduates of global health training programs. It is unlikely that global health training programs equip graduates to be competitive for the majority of positions that are currently available in this field.

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

The canonization of Jane Jacobs continues. Increasingly, for those occupying midlevel positions on the spectrum of urban gentrification—between the original tenement poor and the eventual investment banker—the community activist Jacobs has taken on an increasingly important role as a sort of Mother Courage of urban pioneerism. This was not always the case. Despite her intractable (and ultimately career-ending) battles with the New York City planner Robert Moses, Jacobs did not rate a mention in Robert Caro's monumental 1974 Moses biography, The Power Broker. Studies by Roberta Brandes Gratz and Anthony Flint have subsequently gone some way in righting that wrong. Foundations have been established in her honor; awards are given in her name. An opera, Joshua Frankel's A Marvellous Order (2016), has been written about Moses's and Jacobs's entanglements. We can now add to this list the documentary Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, directed by Matt Tyrnauer and funded largely by the Rockefeller Foundation (longtime custodians of Jacobs's work and legacy).

Goleman\u2019s Leadership styles at different hierarchical levels in medical education

BackgroundWith current emphasis on leadership in medicine, this study explores Goleman’s leadership styles of medical education leaders at different hierarchical levels and gain insight into factors that contribute to the appropriateness of practices.MethodsForty two leaders (28 first-level with limited formal authority, eight middle-level with wider program responsibility and six senior- level with higher organizational authority) rank ordered their preferred Goleman’s styles and provided comments. Eight additional senior leaders were interviewed in-depth. Differences in ranked styles within groups were determined by Friedman tests and Wilcoxon tests. Based upon style descriptions, confirmatory template analysis was used to identify Goleman’s styles for each interviewed participant. Content analysis was used to identify themes that affected leadership styles.ResultsThere were differences in the repertoire and preferred styles at different leadership levels. As a group, first-level leaders preferred democratic, middle-level used coaching while the senior leaders did not have one preferred style and used multiple styles. Women and men preferred democratic and coaching styles respectively. The varied use of styles reflected leadership conceptualizations, leader accountabilities, contextual adaptations, the situation and its evolution, leaders’ awareness of how they themselves were situated, and personal preferences and discomfort with styles. The not uncommon use of pace-setting and commanding styles by senior leaders, who were interviewed, was linked to working with physicians and delivering quickly on outcomes.ConclusionsLeaders at different levels in medical education draw from a repertoire of styles. Leadership development should incorporate learning of different leadership styles, especially at first- and mid-level positions.

AAU Library Directors Prefer Collaborative Decision Making with Senior Administrative Team Members

A Review of:
 Meier, J. J. (2016). The future of academic libraries: Conversations with today’s leaders about tomorrow. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 16(2), 263-288. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu/article/613842
 
 Abstract
 
 Objective – To understand academic library leaders’ decision making methods, priorities, and support of succession planning, as well as to understand the nature, extent, and drivers of organizational change.
 
 Design – Survey and interview. 
 
 Setting – Academic libraries with membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) in the United States of America and Canada.
 
 Subjects – 62 top administrators of AAU academic libraries.
 
 Methods – Content analysis performed to identify most frequent responses. An initial survey written to align with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) 2014-2015 salary survey was distributed prior to or during structured in-person interviews to gather information about gender, race/ethnicity, age, time since terminal degree, time in position, temporary or permanent status, and current job title. 7-question interview guides asked about decision processes, strategic goals, perceived impacts of strategic plan and vision, planned changes within the next 3-5 years, use of mentors for organizational change, and succession planning activities. Transcripts were analyzed to identify themes, beginning with a preliminary set of codes that were expanded during analysis to provide clarification.
 
 Main results – 44 top academic library administrators of the 62 contacted (71% response rate) responded to the survey and interview. Compared to the 2010 ARL Survey, respondents were slightly more likely to be female (55%; ARL: 58%) and non-white (5%; ARL: 11%). Approximately 66% of both were aged 60 and older, while slightly fewer were 50-59 (27% compared to 31% for ARL), and almost none were aged 40-49 compared to 7% for the ARL survey. Years of experience averaged 33, slightly less than the reported ARL average of 35. Requested on the survey, but not reported, were time since terminal degree and in position, temporary or permanent status, and current job title.
 
 Hypothesis 1, that most library leaders base decisions on budget concerns rather than upon library and external administration strategic planning, was refuted. Hypothesis 2, that changes to the academic structure are incremental rather than global (e.g., alterations to job titles and responsibilities), was supported by responses. Major organizational changes in the next three to five years were predicted, led by role changes, addition of new positions, and unit consolidation. Most participants agreed that while there are sufficient personnel to replace top level library administrators, there will be a crisis for mid-level positions as retirements occur. A priority focus emerging from interview responses was preparing for next-generation administrators. There was disagreement among respondents about whether a crisis exists in the availability of new leaders to replace those who are retiring.
 
 Conclusion – Decisions are primarily made in collaboration with senior leadership teams, and based on strategic planning and goals as well as university strategic plans in order to effect incremental change as opposed to wholesale structural change.

The Elastic Ceiling: Gender and Professional Career in Chinese Courts

Since the 1990s, the number of women in Chinese courts has been increasing steadily. Many women judges have risen to mid-level leadership positions, such as division chiefs and vice-chiefs, in the judicial bureaucracy. However, it remains difficult for women to be promoted to high-level leadership positions, such as vice-presidents and presidents. What explains the stratified patterns of career mobility for women in Chinese courts? In this article, we argue that two social processes are at work in shaping the structural patterns of gender inequality: dual-track promotion and reverse attrition. Dual-track promotion is dominated by a masculine and corrupt judicial culture on the political track that prevents women from obtaining high-level promotions, but still allows them to rise to mid-level leadership positions on the professional track based on their expertise and work performance. Reverse attrition enables women to take vacant mid-level positions left by men who exit the judiciary to pursue other careers. Taken together, the vertical and horizontal mobility of judges in their career development presents a processual logic to gender inequality and shapes women's structural positions in Chinese courts, a phenomenon that we term the “elastic ceiling.”

A Decade of a Student Affairs Preconference Program: Perceptions and Characteristics of African American Women's Summit Participants

Research related to professional development in student affairs has found that few attendees benefit from participating in preconference programs. The African American Women's Summit (AAWS) is a preconference program created by and for African American women in student affairs and serves as a professional counterspace for this significantly underrepresented population of higher education administrators. This article presents 10 years of data (2005-2015) related to participants' perceptions of the quality and relevance of the AAWS. An in-depth demographic profile of participants is included to describe the personal, professional, and educational characteristics of the African American women student affairs professionals who participated in the study. The majority of participants were 26-30 years old, employed at the director/dean level and below, had earned master's degrees, responded positively about the value of this preconference program, and noted that the AAWS represented a safe space where they were encouraged personally and professionally. These findings suggest that preconference programs, like the AAWS, developed as professional counterspaces are especially valued by minority student affairs professionals who are employed in paraprofessional, and entry- and mid-level positions.

Factors influencing motivation and job satisfaction among supervisors of community health workers in marginalized communities in South Africa.

BackgroundManagement and supervision of community health workers are factors that are critical to the success of community health worker programmes. Yet few studies have explored the perspectives of supervisors in these programmes. This study explored factors influencing motivations of supervisors in community health worker programmes.MethodsWe conducted qualitative interviews with 26 programme staff providing supervision to community health workers in eight community-based organizations in marginalized communities in the greater Durban area of South Africa from July 2010 to September 2011.ResultsFindings show that all the supervisors had previous experience working in the health or social services sectors and most started out as unpaid community health workers. Most of the participants were poor women from marginalized communities. Supervisors’ activities include the management and supply of material resources, mentoring and training of community health workers, record keeping and report writing. Supervisors were motivated by intrinsic factors like making a difference and community appreciation and non-monetary incentives such as promotion to supervisory positions; acquisition of management skills; participation in capacity building and the development of programmes; and support for educational advancement like salary, bonuses and medical benefits. Hygiene factors that serve to prevent dissatisfaction are salaries and financial, medical and educational benefits attached to the supervisory position. Demotivating factors identified are patients’ non-adherence to health advice and alienation from decision-making. Dissatisfiers include working in crime-prevalent communities, remuneration for community health workers (CHWs), problems with material and logistical resources, job insecurity, work-related stressors and navigating the interface between CHWs and management. While participants were dissatisfied with their low remuneration, they were not demotivated but continued to be motivated by intrinsic factors. Our findings suggest that CHWs’ quest for remuneration and a career path continues even after they assume supervisory positions. Supervisors continue to be motivated to work in mid-level positions within the health and social services sectors.ConclusionsGlobal efforts to develop and increase the sustainability of CHW programmes will benefit immensely from insights gained from an exploration of supervisors’ perspectives. Further, national CHW programmes should be conceptualized with the dual purpose of building the capacity of CHWs to strengthen health systems and reducing unemployment especially in marginalized communities with high unemployment and low-skilled labour force.