At a Crossroads

The Educational Leadership Professoriate in the 21st Century

By:
Donald G. Hackmann, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Martha M. McCarthy, Indiana University

A volume in the series: UCEA Leadership Series. Editor(s): Mónica Byrne-Jiménez. Michael O'Malley, Texas State University.

Published 2011

This volume presents the results of a comprehensive study of educational leadership faculty and the departments and programs in which they work. It reports the characteristics, activities, and attitudes of educational leadership faculty members involved in university-based educational leadership preparation programs in 2008 and provides longitudinal comparisons with data from studies conducted since 1972. The findings are compared by type of institution and with respondents grouped by sex, race, administrative experience, type of appointment (tenure-line or clinical), length of time in the professoriate, and affiliation with the University Council for Educational Administration and the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration. Findings indicate that while the number of university-based leadership preparation programs continues to grow, the average faculty size has declined. Among major trends are an increase in female faculty members from 2% of the faculty in 1972 to 45% in 2008 and the reduction in gender differences in activities and attitudes since the mid-1980s. Also, over the past few decades, there has been a significant increase in faculty occupying non-tenure-line positions, having administrative experience, and focusing on leadership in general in contrast to a content specialization. These and other developments have significant implications for leadership preparation programs and for knowledge production in our field.

CONTENTS
Foreword Preface 1. Overview of Research on the Educational Leadership Professoriate and Design of the Study 2. Educational Leadership Unit Characteristics 3. Characteristics of Educational Leadership Faculty 4. Professional Activities of Educational Leadership Faculty Members 5. Values, Attitudes, and Satisfaction of Educational Leadership Faculty 6. Profiles of Novice, Intermediate, and Veteran Faculty 7. Characteristics, Activities, and Attitudes of Clinical Faculty 8. Themes, Trends, Recommendations, and Concluding Thoughts References Appendices A. Population of Universities With Educational Leadership Degree Programs in 2008 B. 2007–08 Department/Program Head Questionnaire C. 2007–08 Educational Leadership Faculty Member Questionnaire About the Authors.