University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Academic Department Chairs' Self-Perceived Utilization of Bolman and Deal's Four-Frame Theoretical Model

• Main Author: Clark, Sonya L
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest LLC 2013; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subjects: Administrator Attitudes; Age; Data Analysis; Department Heads; Educational Administration; Educational leadership; Educational tests & measurements; Ethnicity; Experience; Higher education; Higher Education Administration; Instructional Leadership; Leadership Styles; Likert Scales; Preferences; Race; Racial Identification; Research Methodology; Sex; Statistical Analysis; Statistical Significance; Surveys; Universities
• ISBN: 1321121717; 9781321121711

The purpose of this study was to examine the Bolman and Deal leadership orientation preferred by academic department chairs (ADCs) of Educational Leadership or Administration programs at member colleges and universities of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). A secondary purpose of the study was to examine how the preferred frame of the chairs varied according to the ADC's gender, age, racial/ethnic identification, and years of experience in their current chair position. Data were collected through the "Leadership Orientations Survey," a self-reporting questionnaire, of 48 ADCs of 74 UCEA public and private, member institutions. This instrument was created by researchers Bolman and Deal, and includes 24 five-point Likert scale questions relating to Leadership Behaviors, 6 rank-order questions regarding Leadership Style, and 2 questions concerning the overall effectiveness of the respondent as a leader and as a manager. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean scores, percentages, and standard deviations, and inferential statistics, including Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Independent Samples t-tests and Cohen's d to determine the extent of any statistically significant difference, if present. The findings in this study are that: (a) the Human Resource Frame is the preferred leadership orientation among ADCs of Educational Leadership or Administration programs at UCEA member institutions; (b) the second preferred leadership frame is the Structural Frame, and the Symbolic Frame was the third preferred orientation; subsequently, (c) the least preferred frame of the ADCs was the Political Frame, and (d) there were no statistically significant differences in preferred frames based on the gender, age, racial/ethnic identification, or years in current chair position. An additional finding was that all ADCs in this study indicated that they saw themselves, at a minimum, equally balanced as a faculty member and administrator or they perceived themselves as more of an administrator than a faculty member. One of the suggested recommendations for practitioners based on the findings of this study that may help administrators in higher education improve their decision-making pedagogy is to reflect on past situations and how they can be reframed using the least preferred of the four frames, the Political and Symbolic frames, and consciously integrating these frames into their leadership style and behaviors to improve their effectiveness. Conducting a qualitative study giving voice to administrators' reasoning for how and why they chose their orientations and how they manifest their preferred leadership frame through their leadership style and behaviors is among the researcher's recommendations for future research on leadership frames in higher education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]