Despite recent evidence linking top management power with firm performance, our understanding about the interaction effect between power and personal characteristics of the top manager is still very limited. Building on and extending the Upper Echelons and Power literature, we address the empirical question: How, i.e. UK Vice-Chancellors' (VC)…

The notion that educators are committed to effective facilitation of racial integration in secondary schools has become the keystone in developing a socially just schooling system in South Africa. This paper sets out to determine the role educators play in the transformation of schools towards racial integration, as well as their nature and…

Academic middle leaders play a critical role in facilitating the leadership of learning and teaching in universities. Previous research has reported the undervaluing and under-resourcing of these academic middle leadership roles. To promote a greater understanding of academic middle leaders, middle leading and middle leadership of learning and…

This article considers the contribution of the governance professional to the governing of further education colleges in the United Kingdom and arises from a wider study of the ways in which college boards develop and implement college strategy. This is the first observational study to focus on what the governance professional does within the…

The focus of this small-scale self-evaluation is the implementation of a new middle-management role in a post-92 UK university. A realist appreciative inquiry was undertaken with five women who had been promoted to a middle-management role 18 months prior to the inquiry. This evaluation for knowledge offered an opportunity to reflect on…

There is a dissonance between the formal role of head of academic department represented in institutional discourses and the reality of heads' working practices. This paper provides insight, from the perspective of heads, about how the role is experienced and enacted in one institution. Data are derived from 20 semi-structured interviews with…

This paper has as its focus the life and thinking of the educational theorist and schoolmaster J. H. Simpson (1883-1959), who was not only a reforming teacher at Rugby School but was also the first headmaster of the progressive Rendcomb College. His ideas around education were outlined in a number of books. At the heart of his thinking lay…

The quality of provision in the further education sector in the United Kingdom has long been contested. An ongoing issue in further education colleges has been the focus upon minimum competence in qualifications. Yet, there are examples of high standards in teaching and learning. Drawing on interview data with 24 WorldSkills Training Managers…

Over the past two years, four research-intensive universities in the UK have appointed senior academic leaders from academic development backgrounds, a new phenomenon in this sector of UK higher education that may suggest a changing pattern. This study interviewed these four leaders to explore what the appointment means for their academic…

Theoretical literature on institutions emphasizes the importance of logics -- shared rationalizations -- in determining many aspects of organizations. In this literature, universities are often discussed as an example of an institution with a particularly strong and cohesive logic, one rooted in notions of academic excellence and the pursuit of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact competency frameworks as standardisation can have on the employee engagement of academic staff within higher education (HE) through their employment as managerial tools. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review is conducted from which the conditions for effective competency…

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, low-skilled workers have continued to move around the labour market. Working from home presents a new set of challenges for employees and managers alike. Our new research with the Chartered Management Institute looks at the role of managers in supporting low-skilled workers to thrive in their new workplaces…

Power is an essential component of leadership and has many complex forms. The article explores how a sample of higher education leaders in the United Kingdom engages with and uses power. It examines how we might understand leaders' orientation to power in an environment where many disapprove of its use. The analysis suggests leaders habitually use…

The role and number of Associate Dean posts in UK universities has grown considerably in recent years. Despite this, relatively little is known about the reasons why individuals take on such roles and how it fits into their career trajectories. The purpose of this article is to explore these issues by drawing on data from the first national study…

This paper reports a study of permanent secretaries who served at the Department for Education (DfE) from 1975 to 2011. Located within a context of theories that explain how government bureaucracies operate, it focuses on Michael Bichard. Appointed in July 1995 when attempts were being made to open Whitehall to non-career civil servants, he…