Factors impacting job performance and role attractiveness in Academic Directors and their implications for policy and practice in higher education

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that impacted on the performance and attractiveness of the Academic Director’s role. Academic Directors are responsible for leading and managing an academic qualification. Academic Directors ( $n=101$ ) participating in a leadership development programme were invited to respond to an online $360^\circ $ feedback survey. They invited ( $n=808$ ) Significant Others to provide feedback using the same $360^\circ $ survey. In the main, there was agreement between the two groups on impact factors. The factors impacting strongly on performance were focused on workload points, complexity of the role, knowledge and skills, people skills and others’ expectations. The factors impacting strongly on role attractiveness were around working conditions, autonomy and authority, clarity of work goals and expectations of others. Middle level academic management positions in higher education are poorly researched and the implications of this research with respect to job design, leadership development and recruitment and retention are significant. This is the first study of its kind to investigate factors impacting on the performance of the Academic Director role.     

An Exploratory Study of the Supervision of Ph.D./Research Students’ Theses

Twenty-five faculty members were interviewed to determine how they supervised their Ph.D. students’ thesis preparation. A content analysis of the interview data indicated that the majority of them were task-focused. They supported their students intellectually, emotionally, and structurally. Some academics considered their students as colleagues, and a few developed research teams. Watching the students grow and develop and doing research with them as colleagues were the most enjoyable aspects of the supervision process. The integrated competing values framework (ICVF) was used to illustrate how most of the study participants were task-focused and were not able to deliver paradoxical roles; nor were they able to reflect on their supervisory capabilities and learn from those reflections.

A Preferred Approach to Management Education has a Learner‐Centred and Problem‐based Emphasis

It will be argued that the education of Australian managers needs to emphasise a Learner‐centred/Problem‐based (LC/PB) approach rather than a Teacher‐centred/Discipline‐based one. In the current study management students reported that they preferred such an emphasis. The results indicated that the courses had insufficient Leamer‐centred and Problem‐based elements and that the students would prefer to see more of these features in the curriculum.     

Navigating the turbulent waters of academia: the leadership role of programme managers

The focus of our paper is the leadership role of programme managers in the higher education sector. In particular, we highlight the complex and paradoxical nature of the programme leader’s role, and provide an insight into leadership in this challenging and dynamic environment. We identify cognitive and behavioural complexity as necessary capabilities for programme managers to ensure they can navigate the turbulent river system of academia. The Integrated Competing Values Framework describes some leadership behaviours appropriate for the programme manager’s role. We also argue how critical observation skills, reflection and self-awareness can assist programme managers to provide leadership in this uncertain environment. Our paper concludes with a discussion of areas for future research and important practical implications for universities.     

Leadership provided by non-academic middle-level managers in the Australian higher education sector: the enablers

This study seeks to identify the leadership behaviours displayed by non-academic middle-level managers in the Australian higher education sector. The study also identifies the importance of these leadership behaviours and the leadership effectiveness of these managers. The integrated competing values framework was used to measure leadership behaviours and effectiveness. A total of 75 middle-level managers participated in a 360-degree feedback programme that sought responses from 816 of their work colleagues (line manager, peers and staff). Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyse the data. The results of the analysis found that the managers were reasonably effective, were reflective and learnt new behaviours, displayed all leadership behaviours at a reasonable level and considered all the leadership behaviours to be important. In the main, the managers held similar perceptions to their work colleagues. Future research is needed to identify gender and cultural differences.