HEL research: developed vs. developing?

Content Analysis of Higher Education Leadership (HEL):

Research and trends from 2008 to 2012

SRHE New Researcher Conference, Newport, Wales, United Kingdom, 10 December 2013

Dr. Sally Wai-Yan WAN The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Email: sallywywan@cuhk.edu.hk

Impact factor 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total

Review of Higher Education 1.324 1/17 (5.88%)

1/15 (6.67%)

0/18 (0%)

0/19 (0%)

1/26 (3.85%)

3/95 (3.16%)

Journal of Higher Education 1.150 1/25 (4%)

0/25 (0%)

0/29 (0%)

1/27 (3.70%)

4/32 (12.5%)

6/138 (4.35%)

Higher Education 0.937 0/83 (0%)

2/93 (2.15%)

1/84 (1.19%)

3/89 (3.37%)

2/96 (2.08%)

8/445 (1.80%)

Studies in Higher Education 0.982 0/44 (0%)

0/57 (0%)

1/56 (1.79%)

1/55 (1.82%)

2/59 (3.39%)

4/271 (1.48%)

Research in Higher Education 0.935 1/38 (2.63%)

0/35 (0%)

0/37 (0%)

0/40 (0%)

0/38 (0%)

1/188 (0.53%)

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 0.912 0/53 (0%)

0/55 (0%)

1/56 (1.79%)

0/55 (0%)

0/70 (0%)

1/289 (0.35%)

Higher Education Research & Development 0.901 0/30 (0%)

0/42 (0%)

0/49 (0%)

2/55 (3.64%)

0/57 (0%)

2/233 (0.86%)

Teaching in Higher Education 0.757 0/51 (0%)

0/50 (0%)

0/52 (0%)

0/56 (0%)

0/56 (0%)

0/265 (0%)

Journal of College Student Development 0.678 1/41 (2.44%)

0/37 (0%)

2/48 (4.17%)

1/49 (2.04%)

0/58 (0%)

4/233 (1.72%)

Higher Education Policy Nil* 0/27 (0%)

0/26 (0%)

2/27 (7.41%)

0/26 (0%)

1/25 (4%)

3/131 (2.29%)

0

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2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Impact factor 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total

Academy of Management Learning & Education 4.800 0/30 (0%)

0/11 (0%)

0/4 (0%)

0/14 (0%)

0/38 (0%)

0/97 (0%)

Leadership Quarterly 4.295 0/41 (0%)

0/51 (0%)

0/63 (0%)

0/79 (0%)

0/76 (0%)

0/310 (0%)

Journal of Management Studies 4.255 0/49 (0%)

0/36 (0%)

0/46 (0%)

0/68 (0%)

0/53 (0%)

0/252 (0%)

Management Learning 1.676 0/28 (0%)

0/38 (0%)

0/28 (0%)

0/26 (0%)

1/26 (3.85%)

1/146 (0.68%)

Management Decision 1.302 0/84 (0%)

0/88 (0%)

1/86 (1.16%)

0/90 (0%)

0/97 (0%)

1/445 (0.22%)

Leadership 1.159 0/21 (0%)

5/22 (22.73%)

0/22 (0%)

0/23 (0%)

0/24 (0%)

5/112 (4.46%)

Management Communication Quarterly 0.875 0/18 (0%)

0/24 (0%)

0/22 (0%)

0/28 (0%)

0/35 (0%)

0/127 (0%)

Educational Administration Quarterly 0.745 0/15 (0%)

0/18 (0%)

0/22 (0%)

0/23 (0%)

0/22 (0%)

0/100 (0%)

Educational Management Administration Leadership 0.638 0/39 (0%)

2/38 (5.26%)

0/41 (0%)

2/41 (4.88%)

4/42 (9.52%)

8/201 (3.98%)

Nonprofit Management and Leadership 0.580 0/19 (0%)

0/20 (0%)

0/18 (0%)

0/17 (0%)

0/14 (0%)

0/88 (0%)

0

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2

3

4

5

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9

Background

Higher educational leadership (HEL) • Significant roles of HEL in the context of managerialism and diversity • Definitions of leadership widely ranging from different levels in higher education organizations (i.e. deanship,

academic leadership, distributed leadership, blended leadership, student leadership)

Aim To investigate the research trends in the field of higher education leadership based on the recent 5-year top SSCI journal publications

Research Questions

1. What percentage of articles published in these journals were related to leadership in higher education? 2. What research topics related to leadership in higher education were published in the period 2008-2012? 3. What were the highly cited research articles in the SSCI related to leadership in higher education in these journals? 4. What was the trend of the published articles concerning leadership in higher education in these ten journals in recent years?

Content analysis • Gives a more comprehensive review about research trends (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008) • Provides a means for identifying, organizing, indexing, and retrieving data (Berg, 2001)

Selection criteria for analysing journal publications • SSCI database • High impact factors • Specialism: higher education & leadership and management

Methodology

Findings & Discussion

Characteristics of highly-cited papers (citations /yr.: 1.20-3.80) • Research approach: Quantitative & qualitative • Participants: academic staff vs. students • Topics: Leadership practice in HE sectors Student leadership development Gender issue in HE management

• Journals with high impact factors: interested in HEL? • Variations in preferences of choosing topics in different journals? • Widely-ranged topics for exploration

Implications

Table 1a. Number of articles related to HEL in higher education journals from 2008 to 2012

Table 1b. Number of articles related to higher education leadership in leadership and management journals from 2008 to 2012

List of 6 highly-cited papers: 1. Bolden, Petrov, & Gosling, J. (2009). Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 37(2), 257-277. 2. Macfarlane (2011). Studies in Higher Education, 36(1), 57-73. 3. Dugan, & Komives (2010). Journal of College Student Development, 51(5), 525-549. 4. Collinson, D., & Collinson, M. (2009). Leadership, 5(3), 365-380. 5. Seifert, Goodman, Lindsay, Jorgensen, Wolniak, Pascarella, & Blaich (2008). Research in Higher Education, 49(2), 107-125. 6. Grummell, B., Devine, D., & Lynch, K. (2009). Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 37(3), 329-349.

References Berg, B. L. (2001). An introduction to content analysis. In B. L. Berg (Ed.), Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (pp. 238–267). Boston: Allyn and Bacon Elo, S., & Kyngas, H. (2008). The qualitative content anlysis process. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62(1), 107-115. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x