This article explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic department chairs. Through a survey of 172 department chairs in the United States, the central findings of this research--intensified challenges, a multidirectional leadership pivot, and competing perceptions of higher education reinvention--reinforce the liminality of the…

Women are underrepresented as college and university (school) presidents and currently hold about 30% of school presidencies. In 2014, the American Council on Education (ACE) launched an initiative to achieve gender parity among U.S. school presidencies by 2030. To support this initiative, Dr. Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association…

This study examines the role of deans, department chairs, and diversity officers within the faculty diversity and hiring discourse. Using an embedded case study approach, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 administrative and academic leaders across four academic departments to understand their theories of change to advance faculty…

This article takes Margaret Meek Spencer's 1988 pamphlet "How Texts Teach What Readers Learn" to frame a discussion about the purpose of English Literature in English secondary schools. The primary data informing this article is taken from original interviews with ten Heads of English departments in English secondary schools. Henri…

Although women have made tremendous strides toward gender equity within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields over the past couple of decades, reaching full equity will require the support of faculty colleagues. Department chairs and heads are crucial as the conduit between administration and faculty, yet they are…

Heads of department (HoDs) are commonly made responsible for implementing gender balance change in academia. Research has found that they are often reluctant to take ownership of this problem. Our study found that department heads in Norway did take on a lot of ownership for gender balance change and we divided their leadership approaches with…

In this paper, I highlight several facets of personnel issues that can arise during one's time as a mathematics department chair and recommend communication strategies to address them. The strategies involve situations with individual faculty members, general communication with faculty, and communication with the administration.

Department heads play a critical role in executing school plans, particularly in adopting contemporary instructional methods, integrating technology, assessing student progress, and maintaining high standards of classroom interactions. They facilitate essential interactions within the classroom, spanning teacher-student, student-student, and…

Learning more about the role of the academic department in LACs may improve faculty selection, development, support, and retention. Knowledge based on research about other institution types cannot be assumed to be generalizable to LACs. We know little about departmental contexts of faculty work in liberal arts colleges (LACs). The purpose of this…

Instructional leadership demands educational leaders to become intensely involved in improving teaching and learning. While extensive research found this approach to be beneficial in school settings, it was insufficiently explored in higher education. Therefore, the current study explored how Israeli higher education leaders perceive their…

In competitive organizations, knowledge management is fundamentally considered support towards performance. Therefore, in the 21st century, leaders broadly implement knowledge into organizational settings to earn a competitive advantage. This paper mainly determines to explore the effect of knowledge management practices and leadership styles…

Since the beginning of public education in the United States, there has been a strong tradition of viewing schools as the mechanism for preparing young people for their role as citizens in a democratic society. Moreover, citizenship education has held a foundational place in social studies classrooms. However, despite this central focus of social…

The ability to flourish during a crisis requires a unique skill set focused on emotional, psychological, and social well-being. As COVID-19 swept the nation, academic administrators faced many difficult decisions surrounding emergency remote learning as well as the health and safety of students and faculty. While some leaders found themselves able…

Department chairs in higher education are leaders charged with the daily administrative functions, visioning, and managing academic units and programs. The purpose of this study was to assess the moderating role of transformational leadership in predicting the relationship between department chairs' personal and positional power on faculty job…

STEM leaders, deans and chairs who oversee three or more academic disciplines, tend to leave their posts at a fast pace. This can cause disruptions within an academic unit for both students and faculty. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate the rate of attrition among community college Science, Technology, Engineering and…