The relationship between the president's leadership style(s) at Tennessee's public four -year institutions and the job satisfaction of their chief academic leaders

Will P Pritchett, Tennessee State University

Abstract

This study examined whether the use of one or more of four Bolman and Deal leadership styles by the president or chancellor at Tennessee's four year public institutions (six TBR and three UT institutions) had a significant relationship with the intrinsic, extrinsic and overall job satisfaction of their chief academic leaders. The relationship between these variables and the selected demographics of age, gender, experience, length in position of service, terminal degree and higher education system of the chief academic leader was examined. Bolman and Deal's Leadership Orientations (Other) leadership survey instrument, the Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job Satisfaction Scale, and certain demographic questions were sent to all of the chief academic leaders of Tennessee's two higher education systems. The total population was 135. Seventy four responses were returned, yielding a total return rate of 57%. From the LOO survey responses, 28.4% of the respondents perceived their president or chancellor to have a single frame leadership style. The single frame leadership style selected most frequently was the structural and political frames. Approximately 34% of the academic leaders perceived their president or chancellor to be a paired frame leader. The most frequent paired frame leadership style was the human resource/symbolic leadership style. Finally, 35.1% of academic leaders perceived their president or chancellor as a multi-framed leader and most often selected the human resource/political/symbolic leadership style. A significant relationship occurred between the academic leader's extrinsic and overall job satisfaction when the president or chancellor used a paired frame leadership style. The chief academic leaders from Tennessee's four year public institutions expressed high levels of intrinsic, extrinsic, and overall job satisfaction when their MCMJSS survey responses were compared with their respective president or chancellor's single, paired, or multi-frame leadership style. The age of the academic leaders should cause both higher education systems to increase their recruitment efforts as a severe leadership void may emerge in the near future.

Subject Area

Higher education|School administration

Recommended Citation

Will P Pritchett, "The relationship between the president's leadership style(s) at Tennessee's public four -year institutions and the job satisfaction of their chief academic leaders" (2006). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI3211920.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3211920

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