Academic leaders: In-role perceptions and developmental approaches

Abstract

Academic excellence is brought about by effective leadership, which may encompass the concept of distributed leadership, which signifies a collective engagement. However, leadership positions within higher education are frequently filled with scholars lacking leadership skills and experience, which can be detrimental both to their performance and well-being. To address this, we explored via interviews with academic leaders how academic leadership is defined and conceptualised and what their developmental needs are. Participants ( N = 23) came from junior, middle and senior management levels. Findings suggest that their notions of leadership as well as any developmental needs/activities perceived useful, differ according to their leadership level. Although junior leaders were more concerned with procedural elements of leading, senior leaders focused on mentoring, social expectations and knowledge of academia. These findings have important implications for a wider theoretical conceptualisation of academic leadership, which are typically focused on individual senior leaders. Further, our findings inform leadership development programmes, as universities’ dealings with academic leaders tend not to consider the differing requirements of junior, middle and senior academic leaders.

Gender-based differences in the representation and lived experiences of academic leaders in medicine and dentistry: a mixed method study from Pakistan

“…Historically, surgery is considered a masculine eld, and women are scarce in leadership positions across the globe, even in developed countries like the USA (30) Based on the insights from the qualitative arm of this study, the rst central theme of the study, "leadership attributes," resonates with the emerging concept of distributed leadership, suggesting that academic leadership should be a collective and team-based process involving multiple stakeholders, rather than one individual taking on all responsibilities (31,32). This approach is often preferred by academic leaders at the top and mid-senior level positions (33).…”