Perceptions of Nursing Academic Administrators and Faculty Related to the Pursuit of Upper-Level Administrative Careers
Problem. To address the shortage of qualified candidates interested in academic administration, this study explored factors related to recruitment of nursing academic administrators, including leadership practices of current administrators, career aspirations of potential administrators, and perceptions of both groups toward a career in academic administration. Method. Nursing academic administrators and full-time faculty from randomly selected National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission (NLNAC)-accredited nursing programs in private colleges or universities in the United States participated in the study. Administrators completed the Leadership Practices Inventory-Self (LPI-Self) and an investigator-designed Recruitment Questionnaire. Faculty completed the Leadership Practices Inventory-Observer (LPI-Observer) and an investigator-designed Career Aspiration Questionnaire. Faculty response rate was 53.2%, and administrator response rate was 81.5%. Results. The majority of faculty respondents (63%) would not consider moving to a position with greater administrative responsibility. Workload, conflict, and conflict-related issues were identified by both administrators and faculty as most likely to discourage pursuit of an administrative position. Additional challenge/variety of work, opportunity to influence organizational climate for change, opportunity to facilitate faculty growth and development, and mix of administration with teaching were identified by both administrators and faculty as most likely to encourage pursuit of an administrative position, with faculty also identifying salary. Faculty career aspiration toward a position with greater administrative responsibility increased for those who had completed additional course work beyond their highest degree, but was not significantly related to current position held, highest degree completed, program size, LPI-Self category, or the LPI-Self Modeling the Way and Enabling Others to Act subscore categories. Conclusions. Methods to manage or reduce workload and conflict should be identified and implemented. Methods to maximize the factors identified as likely to encourage pursuit of academic administration should be identified and implemented. Leadership development opportunities should be made available for faculty interested in administration. The relationship between the leadership practices of the administrator and the willingness of faculty to hold administrative responsibility should be explored further, as should the relationship between faculty career aspiration and pursuit of additional coursework beyond the highest degree obtained.
Health and Physical Education, Nursing Administration
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations