Higher Education Leadership Purpose Statement
The purpose of higher education leadership is to ensure organizational learning through the induction of most qualified men and women in educational institutions, at the same time keeping pace with rapidly changing educational standards by applying modern teaching and research methodologies, to embrace flexibility and creativity in virtual learning of diversified workforce across the globe. Higher education leadership aims to win the commitment and loyalty of personnel in order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness as well as to encourage change and innovation and lessen stagnation and conventional methods in learning. Since the increasing number of adjunct faculty members is employed for cost cutting, therefore, this study will assess the effectiveness of adjunct faculty in educational institutions through examining particular case scenarios. Given the observation, adjunct faculty is said to be less involved with students. Henceforth, the results will be helpful in determining the pros and cons of adjunct faculty as well as the repercussions arising out of their employment.
Literature Review
Role of leadership is indispensable in every field nowadays. Leadership in higher education strives to widen the horizons for learning, polishing the skills and capabilities of people to learn and be learned. Keeping in mind, the increasing workforce diversity, demanding schedules and workplace commitments, it is crucial for today's leader to address these and many other concerns in order to ensure motivation, satisfaction and loyalty on the part of followers. Leadership is defined as a process where a person influences a group of people to achieve certain goals and objectives. Effective communication, shared vision and a unified sense of direction are prerequisites for leadership (DuBrin, 1998).
An educational institution is no different from other organizations as far as the importance of leadership is concerned. Leaders in education sector can no longer function separately: rather, their actions and decisions must be driven by shared learning. They must be able to develop goals and targets, collaborate with people, act ethically and create sense of unified mission among the organizational members (Kenzer, Carducci & McGavin, 2006). Moreover, leaders in academia must possess strong negotiation skills, since they have to maintain a balance between the needs and demands of staff, students and external stakeholders (Smith & Hughey, 2006).
Leadership in higher education also termed as Academic Leadership has several dimensions. Broadly speaking, academic leadership is based upon teaching, research, strategic vision and networking, collaborative and motivational leadership, fair and efficient management, performance recognition and communication skills (Ramsden, 1998). Bryman (2007) compiled a list of desirable attributes of an academic leader. After interviewing 24 researchers across UK and USA, following attributes were narrowed down. I.e. sense of direction, integrity, credibility, collaboration, communication and decision making ability. The most important attribute of an academic leader is to create a working environment conducive to learning and growth (Bryman, 2007). Callow (2011) applied the transformational leadership model of Bass to higher education. Leader in higher education can practice the components of transformational leadership. I.e. individualized consideration (addressing the followers / teachers / staff / students' problems and concerns personally), inspirational motivation (creating and disseminating a shared vision for the institution), intellectual stimulation (encouraging creativity, learning and research).
Using the model of Academic Leadership by Ramsden (1998), Sathye found out that as compared to the leadership style of business or corporate organizations, academic leadership has a more evolving nature. It further concluded that in order to keep pace with speedy advancements in education, it is inevitable for an academic leader to quickly respond to learning and new developments. The author emphasized that an academic leader must be apolitical and should prioritize performance, goal specification and goal attainment (Sathye, 2004). Unlike business organizations, people in higher education are not prepared for assuming leadership roles, rather their vital concern is accomplishing educational excellence. Thus, they remain oblivious to the underlying problems and discrepancies thriving and perhaps damaging the organization (Hill, 2005).
Another daunting problem being faced by academic leaders today is to balance the education with employment. Mobility of workforce has not only created diversity, but is also responsible for decline in employment opportunities. In such circumstances, it is crucial for leaders in education to deliver not only mere graduates, rather knowledgeable and enlightened workforce.
Apart from the above concerns, another debatable issue in higher education leadership is gender. Previous literature is evident that women do not hold as much leadership positions in higher education as men do. Glass ceilings and certain preconceived notions about female leadership...
Discussing the role of gender in higher education leadership, Morley (2013) suggests that there is a pressing need for
legislation to increase women representation in higher education. Development and
promotion of
women leadership in higher education could also be fruitful. At last, surveys and researches should be conducted exploring the issue across the globe as well as taking into consideration the respective repercussions (Morley, 2013).
Industrial and technological
evolution has intensified the
interdependence of people across the world to embrace novel methodologies in education sector. Hanna (2003) has identified some of the most forceful challenges in the field of higher education. Firstly, it is indispensable for educational institutions to lessen the boundaries and increase information sharing with other organizations. The knowledge web enveloping the globe requires the schools, colleges and universities to be less isolated and build environments conducive to learning based on networking. Hanna (2003) further emphasized the importance of technological growth and competent faculty for higher education leadership. Several researchers stated that adjunct faculty should not be employed since it leads to poor teaching quality. The adjunct faculty is less involved with the organization's overall
culture and values. Since they work temporarily, they cannot develop long-term relationships with students which might compromise their teaching effectiveness. Adjunct faculty leads to decline in teaching quality (Bettinger & Long, 2005). Affiliations and joint programs between organizations can stimulate learning. Furthermore, today's
educational leaders need to be strategic thinkers, who can establish a vision and influence everyone to pursue common goals (Hanna, 2003).
There is a serious lack of higher education leadership training across the world. A survey found out that the least preference is given to leadership training of employees working in educational institutions. Only 33.3% support is dedicated to in-house leadership training programs. Less than 20% educational institutions have coaching or mentoring programs for enhancing the
leadership skills of their faculty and staff (Academic Impressions, 2011). This affects the performance of both adjunct as well as non-adjunct faculty.
The concept of leadership in higher education has come to limelight after the mid twentieth century when nations of the world realized that education plays a vital role in shaping the economic, social, cultural and political norms and values of a
society. Nevertheless, it has been observed that academic leaders can experience stress and burnout. Continuous challenges and advancements in education are further creating obstacles for leaders to cope with the situation (Smith & Hughey, 2006).
Coming towards the performance issues of adjunct faculty members, an exploratory study investigated the preferences and priorities of adjunct faculty. The findings showed that the major problem encountered by adjunct faculty is
compensation. Adjunct faculty members interviewed during the study stated that their pay increases do not cover the annual inflation rates, thus resulting in lessened purchasing power. Second concern mentioned was the
equality of pay scales for adjunct faculty across all the colleges. Furthermore, in order to maintain performance and teaching quality of adjunct faculty, it has been demanded that proper framework should be established to ensure effective and timely promotions of adjunct faculty members. Lastly, fringe benefits like office and parking space, storage facilities for preserving workplace equipment must be provided to the adjunct faculty, so that they work in an comfortable working environment (AAUP, 2008).
Research Questions
Based upon the above literature, following are some research questions that are needed to be addressed to cope with contemporary challenges of higher education leadership.
What skill set an academic leader should possess in order to effectively lead an educational institution?
What leadership style should an academic leader employ?
Which of the conventional methods of teaching should be retained and what new learning techniques should be embraced?
How to improve the performance of adjunct faculty?
What steps can be taken to ensure job involvement of adjunct faculty?
What are the problems of adjunct faculty that can be addressed by in house administration?
Research Design and Methodology
Population and Sample
Crisis in higher education leadership exist all over the globe. However, current study will be conducted in five (population) educational institutions. Data will be collected from a sample of 25 academic leaders to measure higher education leadership. Questionnaires can be floated either in person or via email. However, personal interviews can be held in person, or through telephone/video call. For studying the impact of adjunct faculty on teaching quality and
student performance, students and teachers of both the classes being taught by adjunct and non-adjunct faculty will be observed and interviewed.
Data Collection Methods
Interviews are the most frequently used method to explore what leadership patterns exist in higher education. In almost all the above studies, personal…
