This study examines the experiences of prominent college and university presidents recognized for leading the successful transformation of their institutions. While "change" and "transformation" are often used interchangeably, the success rate of transformation at the institutional level--of reinventing the organization based…

Research on senior leadership in higher education systems is urgently needed, particularly in the context of system-wide transformations. This study focuses on a critical juncture in Ireland, during which Institutes of Technology (IoTs) collaborated to undergo 'redesignation' as Technological Universities (TUs). Based on interviews with the…

This study explores how college and university presidents strategically negotiate institutional pressures and competing social norms in an attempt to maintain organizational legitimacy. It examines how presidents strategically frame organizational events in ways that help constituents make sense of their actions. Using archival and qualitative…

Over the last four decades, the number of universities in Chile has increased dramatically (from eight to more than 50), along with the total enrollment of students (from 100,000 to 670,000 approximately). University presidents have played an increasingly important and complex role in this process. Meanwhile, understanding what happens at the very…

Leaders must be prepared to communicate during times of crisis in a manner that ensures trust and enables the community college to continue its mission. Community colleges underwent tremendous turmoil during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is considered a landscape crisis. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to discover the crisis…

The purpose of this article is to provide a blueprint to conduct equity case studies in rural community colleges. Informed by our field work experiences applying case study design and equity-minded frameworks, this blueprint involves four distinct steps: (1) identifying rural community colleges in North Carolina; (2) operationalizing equity in…

After reading Chris Lowney's (2003) book, Heroic Leadership, with its concept of "twice born" individuals, the author asked himself what it might mean, as a university administrator, to be "twice born." Yet, he was more curious to consider this concept as a framework for shaping, and perhaps even reshaping, the academy itself.…

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have had a solid and rich legacy of providing Black students educational opportunities since the late 19th century. Having a distinct educational history, HBCUs have a historical purpose linked to providing an educational experience to Black students during an era when higher education…

While women have made great strides in leadership and academia over the last several decades, women continue to lag behind men in executive leadership positions. In universities, women students are vastly underrepresented in executive leadership roles; however, at community colleges the trends are reversed as women are actively taking on executive…

The role of a college president continues to present new and evolving challenges. Cuts to federal and state funding, declining enrollment, rapid changes in technology, and the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, paired with ongoing retirements, have left higher education leaders with a new set of challenges. While women are beginning to…

While women may occupy the majority of administrative roles on college campuses, the glass ceiling persists as an obstacle for female leaders aspiring to the presidency (Warner et al., 2018). The American Council on Education (ACE, 2017a) reports that as of 2016, women represented 30% of college presidents in the United States. Although the number…

Higher educational institutions (HIEDs) are complex organizations at a pivotal moment in history (Bourgeois, 2016; Guskin & Marcy, 2002; McGee, 2015). Their leaders, defined as the chief executive or president, are essential regardless of whether they have traditional academic backgrounds or nontraditional ones (Buller, 2021; Ivory, 2017;…

The ethnic and racial representation disparity gap among college presidents in the United States is 83% White and 17% ethnically/racially diverse (Gagliardi et al., 2017). In this qualitative study, I explored the career pipeline experiences of a cohort of 10 ethnically and racially diverse college presidents in the United States. Critical race…

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the lived experiences of women leaders in higher education, specifically women who served as the first female presidents of colleges and universities. This study identifies ways in which patriarchal constructs of power mediate higher education spaces and how women leaders make meaning of,…

A university president occupies an increasingly symbolic position in today's higher education landscape, yet this aspect of the presidency is not well understood. Expectations for engagement, partnership building, fundraising, and cultivation of a public image continue to increase, while tenure lengths of presidents have fallen. Utilizing data…