Correctional leadership, especially by women, has been under examined by researchers and scholars. Some researchers have suggested that women may be more likely to exhibit transformational leadership styles, which may be effective for addressing the uniquely stressful corrections work environment and improving working conditions, yet women in corrections have remained relatively excluded from correctional leadership. Increasing women's participation in correctional leadership may involve transformational leadership and training in leadership skills, as well as gender bias relating to the correctional profession. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between transformational leadership, leadership training, and traditional gender biases and the position held by women. Interpreted through gender bias and gender-leadership theory, the central research questions involved the relationships among transformational leadership, leadership training, and traditional gender biases and the position held by women in corrections. Utilizing an online survey, a random sample was collected of 71 female members of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice and the Federal Prisons Retiree Association. A multinomial logistic regression was used to determine that transformational leadership (p = .001) was a significant predictor of job positions held by women in corrections, but leadership training (p = .065) and gender biases (p = .087) were not significant predictors. This study may lead to positive social change by providing women in corrections an avenue for increasing their job positions in corrections through cultivation of transformational leadership style.

Correctional leadership faces staffing challenges that potentially compromise safety and security and cause stress for remaining prison staff. Leadership is especially crucial in prisons due to threats of danger and stress. Leaders exhibiting emotional intelligence control their own emotions and manage interactions with others. Staffing shortfalls and the significance of prison leadership motivated a quantitative investigation of the relationship between leader emotional intelligence and employee job satisfaction. The researcher disseminated electronic surveys to prison staff in 5 southern states, which resulted in 1,174 surveys for analysis. Participants completed a survey that included the Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory and the Job Satisfaction Survey. Results from a hierarchical linear regression revealed that both select demographic factors of prison employees and employee perception of their supervisor’s emotional intelligence are significantly predictive of prison employee job satisfaction. Findings provide both practical and theoretical implications for correctional leaders and support further research in the area of correctional leadership. / Doctor of Philosophy