Managing early childhood education (ECE) programs is intricate, with directors facing challenges in organizational leadership, business management, and meeting pedagogical standards. Early childhood education directors are vital as they play a crucial role in ensuring quality education and care. Despite the importance, research on leadership and management, especially through a gender lens, is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to explore the leadership and management challenges Los Angeles County based, private-for-profit, single-center early childhood education directors experience in their leadership and management roles. Six participants who self-identified as ECE directors completed semi-structured interviews over Zoom. These interviews were then restoried into narratives and coded into themes using a coding software. Two major themes were developed: leadership and management challenges and strategies. The findings suggest that ECE directors need leadership and management academic and professional preparation before beginning a director’s position. All directors emphasized the need for mentorship for support and guidance. While this study adds to the existing knowledge, further extensive research is required to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges ECE directors experience and the support they need to lead and manage their programs successfully and effectively.
","abstract_html":"<p>Managing early childhood education (ECE) programs is intricate, with directors facing challenges in organizational leadership, business management, and meeting pedagogical standards. Early childhood education directors are vital as they play a crucial role in ensuring quality education and care. Despite the importance, research on leadership and management, especially through a gender lens, is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to explore the leadership and management challenges Los Angeles County based, private-for-profit, single-center early childhood education directors experience in their leadership and management roles. Six participants who self-identified as ECE directors completed semi-structured interviews over Zoom. These interviews were then restoried into narratives and coded into themes using a coding software. Two major themes were developed: leadership and management challenges and strategies. The findings suggest that ECE directors need leadership and management academic and professional preparation before beginning a director’s position. All directors emphasized the need for mentorship for support and guidance. While this study adds to the existing knowledge, further extensive research is required to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges ECE directors experience and the support they need to lead and manage their programs successfully and effectively.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Portillo-Lemus, Yeni"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ian A. Menchini","Alaina A. Desjardin"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:21:42Z","subjects":["early childhood education","early childhood education director","ECE","ethics of care","the whole leadership framework","Education","Educational Leadership"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dune.une.edu/edu_diss/26","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ian A. Menchini","Alaina A. Desjardin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Portillo-Lemus, Yeni"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["early childhood education","early childhood education director","ECE","ethics of care","the whole leadership framework","Education","Educational Leadership"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dune.une.edu/edu_diss/26"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Managing early childhood education (ECE) programs is intricate, with directors facing challenges in organizational leadership, business management, and meeting pedagogical standards. Early childhood education directors are vital as they play a crucial role in ensuring quality education and care. Despite the importance, research on leadership and management, especially through a gender lens, is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to explore the leadership and management challenges Los Angeles County based, private-for-profit, single-center early childhood education directors experience in their leadership and management roles. Six participants who self-identified as ECE directors completed semi-structured interviews over Zoom. These interviews were then restoried into narratives and coded into themes using a coding software. Two major themes were developed: leadership and management challenges and strategies. The findings suggest that ECE directors need leadership and management academic and professional preparation before beginning a director’s position. All directors emphasized the need for mentorship for support and guidance. While this study adds to the existing knowledge, further extensive research is required to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges ECE directors experience and the support they need to lead and manage their programs successfully and effectively.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Exploration Of Leadership And Management Challenges Among Center-Based Early Childhood Education Directors"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ian A. Menchini","Alaina A. Desjardin"],"dc:creator":["Portillo-Lemus, Yeni"],"dc:description.abstract":["Managing early childhood education (ECE) programs is intricate, with directors facing challenges in organizational leadership, business management, and meeting pedagogical standards. Early childhood education directors are vital as they play a crucial role in ensuring quality education and care. Despite the importance, research on leadership and management, especially through a gender lens, is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to explore the leadership and management challenges Los Angeles County based, private-for-profit, single-center early childhood education directors experience in their leadership and management roles. Six participants who self-identified as ECE directors completed semi-structured interviews over Zoom. These interviews were then restoried into narratives and coded into themes using a coding software. Two major themes were developed: leadership and management challenges and strategies. The findings suggest that ECE directors need leadership and management academic and professional preparation before beginning a director’s position. All directors emphasized the need for mentorship for support and guidance. While this study adds to the existing knowledge, further extensive research is required to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges ECE directors experience and the support they need to lead and manage their programs successfully and effectively.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dune.une.edu/edu_diss/26"],"dc:subject":["early childhood education","early childhood education director","ECE","ethics of care","the whole leadership framework","Education","Educational Leadership"],"dc:title":["An Exploration Of Leadership And Management Challenges Among Center-Based Early Childhood Education Directors"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:21:42Z"}