Transforming Leadership Practices of Deans in Higher Academics: Asian Women’s Perspective
Keywords:
Asian Women, Dean, Higher Academics, Organizational Culture Theory, Transformational Leadership theoryAbstract
Much research has been done in the genre of academics and leadership; however, the ongoing process of changing leadership roles, transforming higher education structures, shifting cultural dynamics and challenging internal and external matters trigger the researchers to continuously explore the relationship of faculty and administration. Serving in universities as effective deans is challenging at the current time as resources are few but population, expectations and targets are high (Wepner et al., 2008). Different statistical reports reveal still after all these years, women's representation as leaders is not more than 30% worldwide while women were found with more effective leadership skills than men. Asian regions like India and Pakistan are progressing countries where the representation of women in leadership is considered perceptible and appreciable as compared to the previous years. Therefore, the current research aims to investigate the Asian Women’s perspective on leadership practices, deans’ struggles and challenges, and institutional strategies and policies; how do women as deans perceive leadership practices in higher education? and to what extent do deans transform their organizational culture by practicing leadership? The data was collected from women at dean positions in two Pakistani and two Indian universities; Online survey and semi-structured interviews were used to ensure triangulation of the data. Analyzing statistically and discussing results under the theoretical frameworks of transformational leadership theory (Kouzes and Posner, 2017) and organizational culture theory (Cooke and Szumal, 1993), the mixed-method research presents the leadership practices of deans of women in universities. They enjoy transforming major leadership practices by involving and setting sub-skills. However, developing resources for educational institutes is challenging; they, being energetic and optimistic, set goals, targets, plans, vision and workable strategies. Moreover, Asian women as deans identified the clear impact of technology on education, administration and culture; handling social media influence on students and faculty tactfully and peacefully requires effective leadership practices. The present research provides the opportunity to represent the unheard voices from which future research and policies can be drawn.
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