Leadership styles of executive female administrators in Tennessee community colleges
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to study leadership in Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) community colleges to determine if leadership styles of executive female administrators in student affairs differed from executive female administrators in academic affairs. There were 204 female respondents with a 76% return rate. Deans, department heads, budget heads, directors, managers, coordinators, and vice presidents from 13 TBR community colleges participated in this study. The Kouzes and Posner's (2003) Leadership Practices Inventory was self administered to measure components of five leadership behaviors: (a) Challenging the Process, (b) Inspiring a Shared Vision , (c) Enabling Others to Act, (d) Modeling the Way, and (e) Encouraging the Heart. The five hypotheses were retained. The results from the independent t tests showed no statistically significant differences among leadership styles of the executive female administrators in student affairs with the executive female administrators in academic affairs. A survey provided demographic profile of executive female administrators in TBR Community Colleges. Demographic data gathered included age, marital status, number of children, ethnicity, degree, unit, rank, years worked at the institution, years as a faculty member, academic department, and area of specialization. A majority of participants were Caucasian, held a Master's degree, were between 40 and 50 years old, and had been employed between 11 to 20 years at their current institution. The variables of age, degree earned, ethnicity, number of children, and formal leadership training were shown to be indicators of strong leadership skill areas, Caucasian and African American ethnicity categories were significant with Area 5, Encouraging the Heart. The recommendations included that formal leadership training was beneficial to executive female administrators and therefore should be made available to mentor and train upcoming future female administrators. The implications for the profession included recommendations for the TBR to encourage degree obtainment, increase diversity, and to support or provide leadership training for executive female administrators.
Subject Area
Higher education|Educational administration|Womens studies|Higher Education Administration|Community college education
Recommended Citation
Sherry Aaker,
"Leadership styles of executive female administrators in Tennessee community colleges"
(2003).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3116144.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3116144