<p> The representation of women in the superintendency has fallen short of prevailing values of gender equality (Ess-Korlander, 2010). This study examined the experiences of female superintendents as they compete for, obtain, and retain the superintendent position in a sampling of public school districts. Three research questions guided the study: (1) What are the experiences that influence the hiring and retention of female superintendents? (2) How do female superintendents navigate board politics? (3) How does mentoring support the hiring and retention of female superintendents? </p><p> Twelve participants were selected through purposive sampling from 90 women among 354 urban and suburban school superintendents in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. To participate, the women had to have served in the role for at least 2 years. Data were collected through one-on-one semistructured interviews, as well as document review, and were analyzed using the software program NVivo. To ensure trustworthiness, the researcher employed member checks, clarification of personal bias, peer debriefing, and an external audit. </p><p> Results showed that 11 of the 12 participants perceived that they faced gender bias, and four participants perceived that they encountered both racism and gender bias. All had followed the traditional career trajectory from classroom teacher to principal and a central office position before becoming superintendent. Once in the position, all met with board members regularly and kept them informed and involved in committees. Among the major challenges they faced in their position were dealing with budget constraints and decreasing the achievement gap. Mentoring had a significant impact on the participants&rsquo; well-being and all 12 had some form of mentoring in their lives from other superintendents, organizations, their district&rsquo;s cabinets, or their family. </p><p> The challenges faced by female superintendents call for a more effective and inclusive process for succession planning. Specific recommendations are offered for practice and research based on the implications of this study. School districts must invest in our future by giving the women who have studied and prepared for the role of superintendent a chance to lead.</p><p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed on Feb. 8, 2007). PDF text: 143 p. : ill. UMI publication number: AAT 3216415. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2004. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-178).

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to describe the behaviors that exemplary educational services assistant superintendents practice to lead their organizations through conversation as depicted by Groysberg and Slind&rsquo;s (2012b) 4 elements of conversational leadership: intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality. </p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> A qualitative, phenomenological approach was used in this study in order to describe the lived experiences and behaviors of exemplary leaders. The target population was educational services assistant superintendents in Southern California. Participants were selected using a purposeful, nonprobability, convenience sampling. Data gathering took the form of semistructured, in-depth interviews, observations, and artifact collection. Interviews were conducted using a protocol designed by the team of collaborative peer researchers in order to gain insight into leaders&rsquo; perceptions of their conversational leadership experiences. Triangulation with observational notes and artifacts served to increase the validity of interview data. All data were entered into NVivo software to assist in analyzing patterns and predicting themes for coding. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Close analysis of interview notes and transcripts, observations, and artifacts resulted in total of 25 themes and 447 frequencies among the 4 elements of conversational leadership. Ten key findings were identified across the areas of intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> The study supported the 4 elements of conversational leadership proposed by Groysberg and Slind (2012b) and identified specific behaviors that exemplary leaders practice within each. Four conclusions were drawn based on the data and findings. Educational services assistant superintendents who want to become transformational conversational leaders should (a) practice careful listening to create an environment of trust and support intimate communication structures within their organizations, (b)&nbsp;facilitate a variety of collaborative groups using a process for the exchange of ideas to establish dynamically interactive organizations, (c) invite shared leadership opportunities to nurture a climate of inclusivity, and (d) continually focus conversation of the organization&rsquo;s purpose to ensure collective understanding and clarity of direction. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> Further research of private sector leaders and assistant superintendents in regions outside of Southern California should be conducted. In addition, the element of intimacy in the workplace requires more attention in the field of conversational leadership. </p><p>

<p> Considerable research provides clear evidence for the relationship between student achievement and the engagement of parents and community members with their local schools through meaningful involvement of parents, families, and members of the community. The purpose of this mixed-methods research study is to find evidence supporting building principals in communication efforts which engage students&rsquo; families thus contributing to student learning and achievement. The growing expectation that educational leaders use digital communications and social media to engage others has been met with some success by some building administrators and school district leaders. </p><p> This study focuses on the communication skills and behaviors of principals and the resulting effects on public perception and engagement. Qualitative, focus-group interviews were conducted with principals at both the elementary and secondary levels. Survey data was gathered from parents and community members measuring attitude and perspective. Results suggest effective principals are aware of the impact of digital communications and social media and are becoming more strategic in their use of such tools. Participants report increased involvement in school activities as a result of their efforts. Survey results indicate most parents and community members (83%) rank their local school most favorably. Principals effectively using digital communications and social media meaningfully engage a variety of parents and community members knowing their involvement can lead to improved student achievement.</p>

<p> Research Focus. In school systems, educational achievements of students and success of schools is often dependent on teachers and administrators charged with educating students, communicating with parents, along with translating and implementing a multitude of local, district, state, and federal policies (Halawah, 2005). However, recent decades have seen the highest turnover and lowest teacher satisfaction rates. As a result of teacher turnover and decline in teacher satisfaction, the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE, 2012), recommends that states address conditions that cause teachers to leave the profession. </p><p> One of the ways of enhancing teacher (and other employee) satisfaction within their work places is to create open communication climates that value contributions of all employees, promote open exchange of ideas, and create positive work environments (Gonzales, 2014). Local, state and national governing bodies encourage the enhancement of campus communication efforts as a way to increase teacher engagement, perception of school culture, and their right to have open and honest communication (Fagan-Smith, 2013). </p><p> While there is extensive literature on teacher dropout, issues of retention, and the negative impact of closed communication climates (Ahghar, 2008), there is little written on ways in which school leaders create open communication and engage with employees in sharing information and accomplishing organizational goals (Carr, 2007). The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore principals&rsquo; views and actions relating to open communication on K-12 campus environments of a large Texas public school district. This study examined meanings attached to open communication and how those meanings were translated into campus communication culture. By understanding communication from the principal&rsquo;s perspective and by engaging in dialogue about the role of communication, the researcher has provided principal viewpoints that district leaders can utilize as they continue working toward school transformation and student achievement. By studying the perspectives and experiences of these school principals, the research has the potential to impact principal training programs, school district leaders, and campus management initiatives. </p><p> This qualitative study was guided by the following research questions: &bull; What are elementary school leaders&rsquo; perspectives about and experiences with communication and the development of open communication environments? &bull; How may school leaders&rsquo; perspectives about communication impact campus communication culture? </p><p> Research Methods. This study was conducted using a qualitative interpretive approach with qualitative methods for analysis. Walsham (1993) asserts that the purpose of the interpretive approach in information science is to produce an understanding of the context and the process whereby information science influences and is influenced by the context. This approach seeks to understand the meaning people assign to specific problems or social phenomena (Creswell, 2011). I selected a qualitative interpretive methodology for this study because I wanted to capture the perspectives of campus principals as shared through their personal accounts. </p><p> The primary participants were elementary school principals. Elementary school principals were selected as primary participants because they provide a larger participant pool, in comparison to middle school and high school principals. Through snowball and convenience sampling, I selected 10 elementary school administrators to participate in the interviews. Face-to-face interviewing was the primary tool used for data collection. </p><p> As described by Yin (2011), the analysis of qualitative data takes place in 5 phases. The phases include compiling the data, disassembling the data, reassembling the data, interpreting the data, and concluding the study. Data analysis methods were influenced by what participants marked as significant (Bloome, Carter, Christian, Otto, &amp; Shuart-Faris, 2005) for understanding their views about campus communication and the development of communication environments and cultures. Data were obtained through recorded and transcribed interviews. The transcribed documents were imported into the NVIVO software system, where they were disassembled and reassembled. A thematic analysis occurred after the data had been organized and managed using NVIVO. </p><p> Research Results/Findings. Analysis revealed 5 key findings related to the following themes: (a) challenges related to the scope of the role, (b) having mentors, (c) principal&rsquo;s leadership style impact on campus communication culture, (d) methods of communication, and (e) one-on-one communication topics. </p><p> Conclusions from Research. As a result of this research I recommend the following approaches to enhance the academic and professional development of public school elementary school principals: (1) collaboration among school districts and university administrator program faculty, (2) evaluation of university administrator program content and revision, (3) school district formal mentoring programs, (4) professional development related to the communication component for school principals.</p><p>

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2008. / "May, 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-85). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed July 22, 2008). PDF text: 176 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 4 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3291604. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

<p> Managing employees from different cultural and national backgrounds within international business organizations is one of the greatest challenges that mid-level leaders face in the new millennium because of the broad range of communication difficulties that can arise (Cox, 1991; Cupach &amp; Imahori, 1993; Fitzsimmons, 2013; Ietto-Gillies, 2005; Lisak &amp; Erez, 2015; Oliveira, 2013). The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of the communication strategies and tactics of mid-level leaders in one major multinational company with a sizable multinational workforce, Saudi Aramco. The theoretical framework for this study was Communication Accommodation Theory (e.g., Giles, 2014; Giles, Coupland, &amp; Coupland, 1991, 2007). The principal survey instrument employed was the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (Downs &amp; Hazen, 1977). </p><p> Only 7 demographic variables (education, age, gender, nationality match, language match, income, and duration of time with the company) had any significant correlations with the <i>Seven Dimensions Of Communication Satisfaction </i> proposed by Downs and Hazen (1977), but the strength of all those correlations was weak, with the exception of education. The more education the participants had, the more satisfied they were with their job. </p><p> Interestingly, in a culture in which gender differences play such an important role, there were no significant differences by gender in the workforce at Saudi Aramco. It was notable however, that the most satisfied employees were those who had been at the company the longest. National and language differences also played almost no role in employee satisfaction, most likely because the whole workforce is fluent in English. The employees did place some significance on what Suchan (2014) describes as Arabic styles of persuasion, which favor: (a) the use of repetition and paraphrasing to make a point, (b) the use of highly ornate and metaphoric language, and (c) the use of strong emotion. </p><p> Finally, in comparing the employees&rsquo; responses to Goleman&rsquo;s (2000) Six Styles of Leadership, the researcher discovered that the workers at Saudi Aramco relate most of all to Goleman&rsquo;s affiliative, coaching, and democratic leadership styles.</p><p>

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This study compares what we know through academic research about organizational leadership communication and what non-academic sources say about leadership communication. Moreover, this study seeks to understand if academic leadership communication research is effectively being translated to non-academic leadership communication advice and to what degree the advice given in the self-help books or blogs many leaders count on to enhance their leadership communication skills align with the findings from academic studies on leadership. Based on grounded theory, a qualitative thematic content analysis was conducted. Six academic articles, two blog sites, and two self-help books about leadership communication were analyzed individually in an attempt to explore what themes emerged about leadership communication and the qualities of a leader. The five nonacademic themes found in the blogs and self-help books were take care of yourself, embrace uncertainty, know who you are, practice interdependence, and be approachable. The four academic themes were two-way communication, organizational culture, confident leadership, and transformational leadership. The final themes from nonacademic and academic sources were compared to see how they were similar and how they differed among sources.