No abstract available / Dissertation (MA (Research in Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

In this study, I explore how the senior leadership team at an Academy Trust in England understands and operationalizes inclusion, particularly for pupils whose learning profile includes autism. England’s policies regarding inclusion appear to focus on the placement of pupils with disabilities in the mainstream provision; however, the Academy Trust, a specialist provision, suggests their school is inclusive. Gaining insight into the senior leadership team’s understandings and operationalization of inclusion will provide further understandings of inclusion in Multi Academy Trusts that are specialist provisions. In this study, I examine the understandings of eight members of a senior leadership team at a Multi Academy Trust. Participants were recruited through the Director of Research and Development at the Trust during their regularly scheduled meetings. Data were collected and triangulated though interviews, document reviews, and a focus group. Data was analyzed through qualitative thematic analysis. This study highlights the importance of strategic planning, Trust structure, pupil placement, curriculum, and evaluation systems in operationalizing inclusions for pupils with disabilities including autism. The findings also suggest inclusion, for senior leaders at the Multi Academy Trust, means meeting the individual needs of pupils, facilitating pupil voice, facilitating a sense of belonging, promoting independence, and maximizing pupil potential.

Thesis advisor: Karen Arnold / Student affairs models exist on every United States college and university campus and serve as an integral part of the undergraduate student experience. However, very little research has been conducted on students in Higher Education Administration doctoral programs and the preparation of Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs) for leadership in student affairs. This study investigated the perceptions of mentoring relationships between faculty mentors and doctoral student protégés and the socialization of these students into becoming senior leaders in student affairs. Kram's (1985) theory, which identifies the psychosocial and career aspects of mentoring in organizational development, serves as the lens to examine these relationships. The participants in this study consisted of five faculty mentors and eight of their former students who are now current Senior Student Affairs Officers. Results included four major themes, identified by both the mentors and the SSAOs, comprising the major aspects of the mentoring relationships. In addition, the faculty mentors felt that they did not particularly prepare students for these senior level positions, as there were no specific or intentional discussions about the role itself. However, the former students believed their doctoral mentoring was good preparation for the SSAO role, as they learned about university structures, governance, political climates and other aspects of senior leadership. Given these findings, it is recommended that there be a stronger emphasis be placed upon the SSAO socialization component of the doctoral program. Recommendations such as the addition of "mentors of practice," a student apprenticeship component similar to Arts & Sciences doctoral programs, and an increased faculty awareness of their impact upon students as mentors are suggested to enhance the doctoral student experience. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

This study examined the critical competencies and challenges evidenced by women in senior leadership roles, particularly women occupying chief executive officer (CEO) roles. Their differences from other women in senior leadership is also explored. Prior studies have indicated that there is an under-representation of women in top leadership positions especially at a chief executive level (also known as the C-Suite). In this phenomenological study, I engaged with participants at a subjective level to inquire into and explore their unique feelings and considerations in order to gain a better understanding of and provide an all-inclusive perspective on the critical competencies women in such leadership roles are required to have and the challenges they experience. I explored the narratives of 23 participants who had risen to the highest levels in their career trajectories; of these participants, 14 were women (five of whom were chief executive officers) and nine were men. The information the executive women provided during the interviews was evidence of their success, efficacy and tenacity. The inclusion of male participants in this qualitative study ensured that dense and rich data could be obtained given the fact that most leadership positions in organisations are still occupied by men. My findings confirmed the findings of research scholars that women of today occupying leading positions in organisations still face the challenge of having to cope with hindrances such as stereotyping, cultural perceptions, political barriers, gender bias, work-life balance, remuneration partiality, glass ceilings and inadequate support structures. However, contrary to the existing literature, which focuses on prevailing competencies that are best suited to leadership, my research paid particular attention to competencies exclusive to women in senior leadership positions. My study also explored significant facets of competencies at chief executive level in respect of three dimensions, namely, business capability, relationships and traits. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

As education evolves, leadership processes change. The concept of a single senior leader, with siloed divisions often providing direction, is transforming into a team-based culture. While there is substantive research on school-site leadership, research is limited on how the central organization impacts the system. It identified individual leadership characteristics but had not adequately addressed impact of a senior leadership team. This study addresses the concept of senior leadership teams with divisions and executives working collaboratively. It identifies characteristics of effective leadership teams to explore how they can be successfully created and sustained; and it investigates the senior leader’s role in, and what factors and methods can be replicated to sustain, team effectiveness. Four organizations participated: one school district, one government agency and two for-profit organizations. Twenty-five senior leaders and team members completed a DiSC and Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team assessment; a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis; and a hiring values survey. All were interviewed individually and as a group, and the structured and semi-structured instruments were chosen to explore group characteristics in such a way that the data would point to replicable information. Study elements, coupled with my expertise in team development and leadership, allowed me to critically consider data and identify three emerging themes. While aspects of these themes have been previously identified, they have not been linked as a pathway to creating and sustaining effective teams as a route to organizational excellence leading to student achievement. First, there is a strong relation between the factors of team culture, membership, and expectations and engagement as a foundation of an effective team. Second, crucial team management and engagement methods were identified as key to long-term sustainability. Third, the senior leader’s impact is significant to team success based on team leadership style and methodology. A paradigm emerged changing traditional leadership hierarchy to a new dynamic of leading from the center. The research indicates that deliberately designing teams may have greater potential for success and long-term effectiveness. Further research is encouraged to address issues relating to virtual teams and identify successful strategies in team building and implementation. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

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According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 125,485 Black women earned a bachelor’s degree in 2019 in comparison to 70,909 in 1999. As the number of Black women on college campuses have increased, the number of Black women in senior leadership roles have remained stagnant. It is important for higher education institutions to find ways to increase the number of Black women in senior leadership roles because diverse staff and faculty not only increases students’ success but the institutions’ success. One of the ways in which colleges and universities can support the career advancement of Black women is to support mentorship for Black women. The purpose of this basic qualitative study guided by Black feminist thought was to examine effective methods of mentoring that facilitate the career advancement of Black women who aspire to senior leadership roles in colleges and universities. Through semi-structured interviews, five Black women senior leaders who work in public or private colleges and universities throughout the United States shared their lived experiences with mentorship, effective methods of mentoring, and what resources they felt higher education institutions could provide to help facilitate the career advancement of Black women. The five findings identified in this study were: institutional support, types of mentors, infusion of Black Girl Magic, the mentoring experience and the development of mentoring relationships. These findings provide institutions of higher education with ways to support Black women through mentorship programs designed specifically for Black women and ways to intentionally recruit and hire more Black women. This study will contribute to current scholarship by identifying key mentoring strategies colleges and universities can implement to support aspiring Black women leaders in higher education.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Municipalities are entrusted with the responsibility of providing sustainable social services to local communities. Issues of capacity to facilitate the delivery of such services feature prominently in these municipalities where a number of communities have expressed their frustration and even anger at the slow pace of delivery of services, or the absence of such service delivery. The reported failure by senior municipal managers to facilitate the delivery of the needed services to communities motivated this investigation. In particular, the possible contribution of leadership learning in the developmental needs of senior managers in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality was focused upon. The main knowledge claim in this study is that the proven lack of competencies and skills of senior municipal managers have much to do with the weak delivery of acceptable services to communities. Consequently, the study indicated the need to identify the developmental needs of senior municipal managers from a leadership learning perspective and to implement developmental interventions to possibly address such needs. The study was conducted in four phases. First, a number of pre-planning leadership learning questions were formulated, which were determined through document analyses and developing theoretical perspectives from review of relevant literature. Next, a needs assessment among senior managers was conducted. This phase was followed by the implementation of a planned intervention based on leadership learning principles. Finally, the potential success of the intervention was evaluated. The study revealed that although the municipality of Bushbuckridge has an acceptable policy framework that supports leadership learning, the leadership competencies and skills required for senior managers to facilitate delivery of municipal services to communities were lacking. The leadership intervention in this study had limited success due to systemic instabilities within the particular municipal system. The study showed that systemic stability appears to be essential for productive leadership development. It also showed that financial investment in leadership development or developmental interventions may contribute less to enhancing the performance of senior managers if a municipality lacks systemic stability. Given the reported large-scale systemic instability within local municipalities countrywide in South Africa, the results of this study indicate that capacity development initiatives are destined for failure if systemic issues are not addressed first. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Munisipaliteite is daarvoor verantwoordelik om volhoubare maatskaplike dienste aan plaaslike gemeenskappe te verskaf. Kwessies rakende die vermoë om sulke dienste te fasiliteer speel ʼn belangrike rol in munisipaliteite waar ʼn aantal gemeenskappe uitdrukking gegee het aan hul frustrasie en selfs woede oor die stadige pas waarteen dienste gelewer word of die afwesigheid van sulke dienslewering. Die gerapporteerde onvermoë van senior munisipale bestuurders om die vereiste dienste aan gemeenskappe te lewer het hierdie ondersoek gemotiveer. In die besonder is die kollig geplaas op die moontlike bydrae van leierskapleer in die ontwikkelingsbehoeftes van seniorbestuurders in die plaaslike munisipaliteit van Bosbokrand. Die belangrikste kennisaanspraak in hierdie studie is dat die bewese gebrek aan bevoegdhede en vaardighede van senior munisipale bestuurders grootliks toegeskryf kan word aan die swak lewering van aanvaarbare dienste aan gemeenskappe. Die studie het aangetoon dat daar ʼn behoefte bestaan om die ontwikkelingsbehoeftes van senior munisipale bestuurders vanuit die perspektief van leierskapsleer te identifiseer en om ontwikkelingsintervensies te implementeer om moontlik sulke behoeftes aan te spreek. Die studie is in vier fases uitgevoer. Eerstens is ʼn aantal voorafbeplanningsvrae rakende leierskapsleer geformuleer. Hierdie vrae is deur dokumentanalise en die ontwikkeling van teoretiese perspektiewe van ʼn tersaaklike literatuuroorsig gegenereer. Daarna is ʼn behoeftebepaling onder seniorbestuurders gedoen. Hierdie fase is gevolg deur die implementering van ʼn beplande intervensie gebaseer op leierskapsleerbeginsels. Laastens is die potensiële sukses van die intervensie geëvalueer. Die studie het aan die lig gebring dat alhoewel die munisipaliteit van Bosbokrand ʼn aanvaarbare beleidsraamwerk het wat leierskapsleer ondersteun, die vereiste leierskapsbevoegdehede en -vaardighede vir seniorbestuurders om die lewering van munisipale dienste aan gemeenskappe te fasiliteer ontbreek het. Die sukses van die leierskapsintervensie in hierdie studie was beperk vanweë sistemiese onstabiliteit in die besondere munisipale stelsel. In die studie is daar aangetoon dat sistemiese stabiliteit noodsaaklik is vir produktiewe leierskapsontwikkeling en verder dat geldelike investering in leierskapsontwikkeling of ontwikkelingsintervensies waarskynlik minder tot die verbetering van senior bestuurders se prestasie sal bydra as sistemiese stabiliteit in ʼn munisipaliteit ontbreek. In die lig van die gerapporteerde grootskaalse sistemiese onstabiliteit in plaaslike munisipaliteite in Suid-Afrika dui die bevindinge van hierdie studie aan dat inisiatiewe vir die ontwikkeling van kapasiteit sal misluk as sistemiese vraagstukke nie eers aangepak word nie.

In recent years, more women have entered positions of leadership, and their alpha personalities have compelled them to strive for higher positions of authority. With this influx, it has become necessary to better understand the influences of this type of female leader and to expand narrow conceptualizations. Previous studies examined alpha female leaders of high school and college-age, but studies have yet to explore this type of leader beyond college. This phenomenological study sought to examine the influence of the minority identity, life experience, and leadership duration on veteran alpha female leaders. It was grounded in social-role and ethnic-identity theory. During semistructured interviews, 12 veteran alpha female leaders of various ethnicities explained their experiences. The data were analyzed using the Colaizzi method; 409 significant statements were extracted and then clustered into 8 themes. The findings indicated that although alpha qualities can emerge early, most attributes take time to develop. Seeking opportunities and ongoing mentoring influenced leader experiences and contributed to success and leadership duration. Through exploration of the minority identity status (e.g. gender, ethnicity, culture, etc.) increased motivational influences were found as a direct result of the minority identity, these findings indicated that leaders of color were particularly susceptible to more than one motivational influence. Increased understanding of veteran alpha women could help to improve leadership practices and enhance working relationships, which better support the personalities of this valuable but sometimes challenging leadership type. The general acceptance of alpha women in leadership roles promotes positive social change by helping to facilitate growth in female leadership representation.

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