Department chairs play a key role in efforts to diversify higher education, particularly in fields like computer science that face long-standing gender and racial/ethnic gaps. This study considers the role of computer science department chairs in guiding broadening participation efforts and how they make sense of external dynamics that influence…

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…

This article draws together Narrative Positioning Analysis and a Bourdieuian perspective to investigate the relationship between the position of the chair, their disposition towards reforms, and the impact on departmental learning. Our analysis indicates two major conclusions. First, there is a disconnect between chairs' leadership dispositions…

This paper critically explores the opportunity for leadership development in higher education within an interpretative inquiry paradigm from the perspective of middle-level academics transitioning into leadership/management roles in Australian universities. Middle-level academics are described as being at a mid-point in their careers and…

The chair position is essential for implementing progressive changes in higher education institutions. However, the position has been unattractive to many faculties due to its ambiguity and the limited training chairs receive prior to assuming the office. Chairs must balance the dual responsibilities of managing faculty and student affairs who…

This paper relates how leaders of a higher education program, the Wisconsin Collaborative Education Research Network, sparked and managed innovation across communities of scholarship, research, and practice. This paper uses a "design narrative" method to describe how leaders orchestrated organizational change by bringing diverse…

This qualitative case study was proposed to gain understanding into how higher educational leaders perceive the transformation of their leadership roles and responsibilities. Leaders' accountabilities should be properly defined to establish a reliable and responsible association with all stakeholders affiliated with the institution. A lack of…

Although it has been decades since gender inequality in academe was first highlighted, institutions around the world continue to struggle with how best to address the problem. Policies and procedures intended to increase women's representation appear to have had limited impact in many departments, especially those in science, technology,…

Reforms of the scope and scale of those being undertaken by States today require the development of strong leaders at all levels of organizations to manage the change required by these and other initiatives. State education agencies (SEAs) can use this competency framework and accompanying exercise guide to build the skills, knowledge and…

Utilising the labour ideas of Adam Smith and Emile Durkheim as a theoretical basis, the main objective of this study was to investigate the perception that Heads of Physical Education (HoPE) face unique management and leadership challenges. Results showed that HoPE believe that they are overburdened with tasks primarily involving the delegation of…

Deputy Vice Chancellor and Pro Vice Chancellor positions have proliferated in response to the global, corporatised university landscape [Scott, G., S. Bell, H. Coates, and L. Grebennikov. 2010. "Australian Higher Education Leaders in Times of Change: The Role of Pro Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor." "Journal of Higher…

This article describes the Ministry of Education's Inclusive Education Capability Building Project (2013-2014). Project members were tasked with creating resources for professional development that would be used to grow inclusive practice in New Zealand schools. This article also shares the learning journey of some members of the project team as…

A growing body of literature has highlighted the affordances of distributive forms of instructional leadership as a means to broaden and deepen instructional leadership capacity within schools. Yet, specifically how the capabilities of such key leaders as high school department chairs can be fostered to realize enhanced instructional capacity…