Exploring the lived experiences of female community college presidents during the COVID-19 pandemic PDF Download

Author: Amanda E. Sbriscia
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges for community college presidents as they balanced delivering on a complex mission with keeping their communities safe. With more than 40% of female community college presidents expected to retire between 2023 and 2027 and women representing one-third of current community college presidents, understanding how these institutional leaders navigated this period of time is critical for the preparedness of the next wave of institutional leaders. This study explored the lived experiences of female community college presidents who led their institutions during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was used for this qualitative inquiry, and the study was guided by Bolman and Deal’s (2013) mental mapping as a theoretical framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 female community college presidents, representing 11 states in rural, urban, and suburban regions across the United States. Three overarching questions guided the study: 1) How do female community college presidents describe their experiences in the role amid the COVID-19 pandemic? 2) What leadership and personal characteristics defined this time for each president? 3) What shifts in leadership expectations and approach have these community college presidents experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic? Findings were categorized into five distinct themes: managing uncertainty; shifts in communication; emotional objectivity; vulnerability, honesty, and trust; leadership style changes. Findings contribute to an understanding of how the role of community college president has evolved in recent years and will provide female leaders aspiring to the role with a greater understanding of the skills and competencies required post-pandemic.

Author: Breonna Collins
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : African American college presidents
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
According to the American College President Survey of 2017, 30% of college presidents across the country are female, and only 5% of that population is represented by women of color (Gagliardi et al., 2017). Diversity in leadership positions, more specifically in the higher education sector, is a critical need as higher education institutions continue to develop sustainability strategies in response to impending demographic changes (Virick & Greer, 2012). The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative research study was to describe the lived experiences, pathways, and successful strategies used during career trajectory by former or current African American female college presidents in the United States. Framed by intersectionality and Black feminist thought, a phenomenological qualitative research study utilized data from six African American women who were serving, or had served, as college presidents in the United States. The findings revealed that while African American female college president had an overall positive experience during their pathway to presidency, remnants of racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and the Queen Bee Syndrome had an impact on their career trajectory. Despite these roadblocks, it was determined that internal confidence, mentorships and professional development opportunities, specialized skill sets, and a community of support led to them to achieving college presidency. The findings of this study can be utilized by aspiring African American female college presidents, current university governing bodies or boards, and university human resource professionals within the United States higher education system to identify and implement strategies that better support aspirant college presidents. Keywords: African American female college presidents, higher education, mentorship, intersectionality, Black Feminist Thought

Author: Tykesha K. Reed
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In February 2020, the United States faced an unexpected crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. Without warning, community colleges and universities were mandated to close their facilities and move to online classes and services. With little to no knowledge about how to address the pandemic, community colleges' middle and senior-level leaders developed strategies, including adopting requisite changes and technology adoptions required to transform college operations into remote work environments. Moreover, these leaders helped employees navigate change during the initial and ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of middle and senior-level leaders to understand the leadership strategies they used, navigated, and supported their teams' transformation into a remote environment. Change and adapting to change emerged as the main theme in this study. With the college closing and employees working remotely, some employees had changes in responsibilities, technology, and communication. The three main findings of this study are servant leadership, mental health and well-being, and technology adoption. Each of the themes captures servant leaders in the study. Some leaders had to change their leadership style and strategies to help their team navigate the change due to the COVID-19 crisis. All employees had to adjust to the change of transitioning to a remote work environment. The intended audience for this study is administrators, managers, supervisors, and human resource and leadership development professionals. The administrators, managers, and supervisors can gain knowledge from this study about how leaders can help employees to remain productive while working remotely during a crisis or change. The leaders' experience and strategies can be implemented when developing leadership courses for new, aspiring, and seasoned leaders. Professionals can use the leadership strategies in this study as a leadership framework and training resource for leaders.

Author: Victoria McDermott
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1666917036
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
Women Educators’ Experiences During COVID-19: On the Front Lines examines the gendered experiences, challenges, and rapid changes faced by women in higher education during COVID-19. The book’s chapters cover lived experiences ranging from graduate students navigating the pandemic to those grappling with balancing motherhood and the academy. Through these diverse perspectives, this edited collection explores the impact of the diversity and nuances of the feminine identity on navigating higher education during an international health crisis. Ultimately, contributors provide recommendations for best practices and suggestions for change for administrators, faculty, and policymakers to dismantle the academy as a male-dominated institution. Scholars of communication, gender studies, and higher education will find this book of particular interest.

Author: Jennifer Marie LaDue
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Author: Amanda Doyle Herwatic
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781339769646
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of female presidents in Arkansas community colleges. This was accomplished by collecting data through one-on-one interviews to examine how these women have navigated the labyrinth of leadership to reach the presidency of a community college. Using the conceptual framework of the labyrinth, as purported by Eagly and Carli (2007), this study focused on these lived experiences of these women and examined the life choices made, career paths, educational background, and obstacles these women have faced in navigating the labyrinth of leadership to reach the presidency. Through an inductive and deductive analysis of the data collected, the researcher was able to determine that the labyrinth concept is overwhelmingly applicable to the female community college president experience. The balance of family and employment was central to the journey of these women. Reoccurring instances of building social capital and blending agency with communion were also present in the journeys of these women. However, despite a close adherence to the labyrinth, the women in this study did not overwhelmingly face prejudices and resistance, a central idea of the labyrinth concept.

Author: Lisa Mednick Takami
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1394150245
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
Explore how women have succeeded in higher education administration through the collective wisdom of diverse college and university leaders As the percentage of women college and university presidents continues to increase, more and more women are considering academic administration as a viable career. Current and future leaders who aspire to rise to the top ranks of a college or university need a path to help them navigate the various issues they might encounter in today’s academic institutions. Women in the Higher Education C-Suite: Diverse Executive Profiles explores the personal narratives of a diverse group of women CEOs and senior executives serving in two- and four-year public and private colleges and universities in the United States. Emphasizing real-world leadership, this book focuses on the remarkable women who continue to break barriers and inspire the next generation of leaders. Author Lisa Mednick Takami, Ed.D. draws from extended qualitative interviews with successful higher education CEOs and senior leaders to highlight their lived experiences, career trajectories, leadership lessons, and much more. Throughout the book, the leaders discuss common obstacles and offer recommendations to help you overcome them in your professional journey. Those profiled include: Dr. Mildred García, President, American Association of State Colleges & Universities Dr. Linda Oubré, President, Whittier College Dr. Dena P. Maloney, Retired Superintendent/President, El Camino Community College District Dr. Katrice Albert, Vice President Office of Institutional Diversity, University of Kentucky Dr. Jane Conoley, President, California State University, Long Beach Dr. Sandra Boham, President, Salish Kootenai Community College Dr. Judy P. Sakaki, President Emeritus, Sonoma State University Dr. Becky Petitt, Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, University of California, San Diego Dr. Erika Endrijonas, Superintendent/President, Pasadena Community College District Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston, Norfolk State University Dr. Joanne Li, Chancellor, University of Nebraska, Omaha Focuses on the real experiences and formative development of current women leaders Discusses topics such as work-life balance, career change, and professional legacy Addresses how women leaders navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements Designed to provide inspiration and guidance for future women leaders, Women in the Higher Education C-Suite: Diverse Executive Profiles is a must-read for educators, researchers, administrators, pre-service teachers, students in leadership courses, and women executives from other fields interested in pursuing senior-level college and university administration positions.

Author: Lori L. Hunke
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Although campus crises have been an ever-present aspect of college life, they have been increasing in number and intensity. While disasters prompted many colleges to prepare crisis plans, the COVID-19 pandemic presented unique challenges. Effective and timely crisis leadership can affect the crisis outcome. By understanding the leadership styles and behaviors used in a crisis, it can inform best practices for handling future campus crises. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore how the COVID 19 pandemic affected leadership styles and behaviors of Midwestern community college presidents. The study is primarily driven by one question, what are Midwestern community college presidents' perceptions of how their leadership and decisions had changed in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Study data were collected through semi-structured interviews and artifacts. The interviews were analyzed using thematic coding looking for common patterns and themes. The data were examined using a theoretical framework of interpretivism and symbolic interactionism. The conceptual framework incorporated crisis leadership styles, effective leadership competencies, and crisis leadership competencies within the context of community college governance and the COVID-19 crisis. The conceptual framework was to further understand how community college president's leadership style and behaviors had changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Community college presidents navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the study results, there are five recommendations for practice. The five recommendations are: prioritize safety of faculty, staff, students and the community; develop broad-based crisis management programs, encourage leaders to include mental health services in crisis planning, leverage crisis communications, and understand the criticality of connections.

Author: Lydia B Camara
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education, Higher
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
While women may occupy the majority of administrative roles on college campuses, the glass ceiling persists as an obstacle for female leaders aspiring to the presidency (Warner et al., 2018). The American Council on Education (ACE, 2017a) reports that as of 2016, women represented 30% of college presidents in the United States. Although the number of female presidents has increased slightly over 10% in as many decades, these data show that the increase is largely reflected in associate-granting and special-focus institutions (ACE, 2017a). Given the dearth of female college presidents, this phenomenological study explored the lived experience of female college presidents and their perceptions of the glass ceiling along their pathway to the presidency. Recognizing that society traditionally views leadership traits as male oriented, (Ekine, 2018; Enloe, 2017), the conceptual frameworks of Role Congruity Theory (RCT) and Social Identity Theory (SIT) informed the design of the study and interpretation of the findings to address this dissonance. Thus, the following overarching research question guided this study: What is the lived experience of female college presidents regarding their journey to becoming a college president? Primary participants comprised retired female college presidents (N=9) with varying years of experience as a president, who represented two-year or four-year institutions within the Northeast. Content experts (N=2) provided context for the study. Reflective questionnaires followed each presidential interview (N=5), and analysis of extant documents (N=75-100) supplemented primary data sources. Moustakas’ (1994) analysis strategy was applied to interview data; content analysis (Krippendorff & Bock, 2008) was applied to all extant documents. A researcher-generated essence statement of the lived experience of female college presidents was grounded in the data. Four themes emerged from the data: 1) The Curved Path, 2) You. Need. Friends!, 3) Watch Out for Landmines, and 4) Better, But Still No Piece of Cake! Campus stakeholders may benefit from learning how to support female presidents in their roles, as well as promote gender parity within their institutions. Furthermore, findings may inform the governing boards regarding the policies needed to dismantle structural barriers to female advancement in the academy.

Author: Markisha D. Venzant Sampson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Career development
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Purpose The purpose of this qualitative study was two-fold: (a) to determine the barriers women encounter as they pursue becoming a community college president; and (b) to identify the supports and career paths that are described as assisting women in obtaining the position of community college president. More specifically, emergent themes regarding the career paths, barriers and obstacles related to female presidents’ professional roles and responsibilities, and their strategies for success were sought in this study. This study is informative and inspirational to other women within the community college system who aspire to presidency positions as well as those who serve in leadership roles in all types of institutions. It is believed that the information that is gathered and shared will be used to inspire and assist women to continue along the path to become community college presidents. Method A phenomenological research design was used to explore participants’ experiences in Texas. The process was meant to explore the phenomenon related to the experiences of female presidents. Data were collected through individual face-to face and phone interviews. A qualitative method of analysis was used to analyze the data collected around the experiences of the presidents as described to the researcher by the participants. Findings from this study were explanations of experiences of community college presidents as they related to their own unique career pathways. Results included barriers and supports that the women encountered along the way, as well as the career paths they followed. Although every woman who participated in this study had a unique journey to and experience in the presidency, several similarities or themes were identified that bind these women together. Aspiring women presidents need to be more open minded about relocating, sometimes out of state, to move into a college presidency. Although not always easy for some women, particularly those women who are part of dual career marriages, or who have children who have not yet graduated from high school, more women need to become open minded about the possibility of relocating if they are to attain the office of presidency. The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible from http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11875/2312