This article addresses two gaps in the literature related to science department chairs: the axiological relationship between the chair and science, the subject, and the perceptions of the chair with respect to teaching and learning within their departments. In this work, axiology is used to understand how the chair's values toward the subject…

Working from a historical perspective indicates that there are four periods over the last 170 years through which the role of the science chair has developed. This evolution has progressed from the administrative need to implement the agenda of the newly professionalised science of the nineteenth century, to a greater emphasis on the role of the…

A considerable body of research exists on women in leadership and likewise, on women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields. However, the intersection of the two is terra incognita: women in leadership in STEM. At the most fundamental level, we do not even have a solid idea of how many women hold leadership positions in…

The aim of this paper is to share a case study from Brunel University London's Department of Life Sciences, where a change project was established to manage a significant increase in undergraduate student numbers. It gives an insight into the key factors behind the successful implementation of change, in particular focusing on how the project…

There is a severe shortage of Black scientists in the United States. Amid the recent national movement to dismantle systemic racism and racial injustices, many scientists publicly highlighted the prevalence of racist learning environments in STEM, contributing to the underrepresentation of Black students in STEM fields. Acknowledging this…

In this article, we have considered the role of the chair in leading the learning necessary for a department to become effective in the teaching and learning of science from a reformed perspective. We conceptualize the phrase "leading learning" to mean the chair's constitution of influence, power, and authority to intentionally impact…

This naturalistic study focused on the perceptions of leadership and student performance in science from campus leaders in three purposefully selected secondary campuses of ninth through twelfth grades. Each school had experienced an improvement in student passing rates on the science TAKS test that exceeded the state's percent improvement in…

Using the insights of the French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, this article considers the role of the science department chair in the reform of school science education. Using Bourdieu's "thinking tools" of "field", "habitus" and "capital", we case study the work of two teachers who both actively pursue the teaching and learning of science as…

The purpose of this study was to compare the science achievement and high school completion rates of students in a large high school implementing professional learning community concepts and practices with two large high schools not participating in professional learning community concepts and practices. The primary methodology employed was a…

In surveys, research university faculty often report that they value teaching more than their departments do. This incongruence holds implications for job satisfaction, stress, time spent on teaching, organizational continuity, and even student evaluations. Using an interactionist view of organizations, Mary C. Wright examines the reasons for this…

In the current climate of accountability, action research is one way for teachers to evaluate instructional changes designed to improve assessment results. It may become increasingly common for administrators to mandate teacher involvement in action research, yet few studies have been conducted in such settings. This article focuses on one middle…