Academic Leadership During a Pandemic: Department Heads Leading With a Focus on Equity

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis with momentous challenges for higher education institutions. Academic leaders have been charged with restructuring their systems, ensuring instructional quality while operating with significantly diminished resources. For department heads of units with leadership preparation programs, the complexity of this crisis is layered upon fundamental scholarship about leadership, which reports the effectiveness of leadership as a collective incorporating the shared and diverse talents of faculty, students, and program stakeholders. This work of educational leadership rests on a public and democratic ethic promoting social justice and equity as the practices and outcomes for schooling at any level. In this article, three department heads of educational leadership units in major research universities use dialogic inquiry to reflect on our responses to complex demands brought forth by the pandemic. We share insights into our decision making, as we have led with a focus on equity. We address dilemmas and conflicts that we have addressed as departmental leaders during this critical period of institutional challenges, changing institutional policies and practices, and declining resources, as we have worked to ensure equitable access and distribution of resources for students, faculty, and staff. We conclude with implications for department heads who strive to maintain a focus on equity during times of sweeping organizational change.

Higher education leadership and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…At the same time, leadership must ensure fair access and distribution of resources to students, faculty, and staff. They must adhere to a public ethical procedure that promotes social justice and equality in any part of the university (Kruse et al, 2020). Justice is a sensitive issue because the impact of the pandemic has increased inequality (Directorate General of Higher Education, 2020; Marshall et al, 2020).…”

“…However, uncertain condition in pandemic or postpandemic will probably continue to arise (Directorate General of Higher Education, 2020; Kruse et al, 2020). Pandemics always trigger new medical findings that are constantly being anticipated.…”

“…The impact of the pandemic on higher education activities is a major concern around the world. The impact is very significant, including the closure of educational institutions, fundamental management changes, shifting organizational culture, impact on the lives of students (Khan et al, 2021;Sá & Serpa, 2020), and budgeting disorders in the university (Kruse et al, 2020). Educational activities also conform to health protocols, namely maintaining distance, preventing crowds, and reducing physical activity.…”

The Phenomenon of Leading without Guidebook: Educational Leadership Practices of Philippine School Principals in Virulent COVID-19 Times

“…However, despite such efforts to assist school principals lead education during difficult times, educational leadership at present is fraught with many challenges. School principals often encounter problems such as budget shortage and social divides (Kruse et al, 2020) to which they may not necessarily know the best solution. As Harris (2020) said, there is no neat guidebook for educational leadership in such difficult times.…”

“…see Cahapay, 2020;Henaku, 2020;Rahiem, 2020;Joshi et al, 2020;Karakaya et al, 2020;Said et al, 2020;Cahapay, 2021). A few conceptual papers have also been written by other scholars from the perspective of the school principals and their educational leadership practices (Kaul et al, 2020;Kruse et al, 2020;Marshall et al, 2020). Studies closely exploring the lived experience of the school principals and their practices amid a virulent crisis, however, are rarely represented in the current body of research.…”