A Profile of Faculty Leadership Behavior at One South Texas Community College

Written by Mowbray, F., Cvetkovic, L., & Westbrook, M. (October 2011). Higher Education Administration; Leadership Behaviors

Summary

Literature lacks documentation on the leadership characteristics of public community college faculty. As higher education institutions begin to prepare for what appears to be a current leadership retirement wave, it is important for community colleges to begin searching for replacements. The research was conducted to explore self-perceived leadership behaviors resulting in a leadership profile of teaching faculty at one south Texas community college. Findings include the extent to which faculty exercise identified behaviors associated with transformational leadership. Analyses of self-reported leadership behavior were performed based on selected demographic variables that included but were not limited to gender, age, race/ethnicity, highest degree, years of teaching experience at the current institution, and general teaching area. Inferential data analysis of faculty leadership behavior found no significant differences across demographic variables except when comparing race/ethnicity. Hispanic faculty scored significantly higher than white faculty in all areas except for Encourage. Overall, faculty perceived personal leadership behavior to be more enabling and less inspiring.