Leadership and power in higher education
Leadership and power in higher education
Power is an essential component of leadership and has many complex forms. The article explores how a sample of higher education leaders in the United Kingdom engages with and uses power. It examines how we might understand leaders’ orientation to power in an environment where many disapprove of its use. The analysis suggests leaders habitually use varying forms of power, though often this is denied or obscured by a range of strategies. The purpose of this positioning in relation to power is suggested to be not mere impression management but an adaptation that enables leaders to function effectively in an environment often hostile to leadership. Nevertheless, leaders, and those responsible for their appointment and development, need to encourage greater self-awareness in order that ethical choices can be made about the use of power. Rational, psychodynamic and political perspectives are suggested to be useful tools to develop deeper reflection.
administration, Leadership, managerialism, power, social identity
1-11
Abstract
Power is an essential component of leadership and has many complex forms. The article explores how a sample of higher education leaders in the United Kingdom engages with and uses power. It examines how we might understand leaders’ orientation to power in an environment where many disapprove of its use. The analysis suggests leaders habitually use varying forms of power, though often this is denied or obscured by a range of strategies. The purpose of this positioning in relation to power is suggested to be not mere impression management but an adaptation that enables leaders to function effectively in an environment often hostile to leadership. Nevertheless, leaders, and those responsible for their appointment and development, need to encourage greater self-awareness in order that ethical choices can be made about the use of power. Rational, psychodynamic and political perspectives are suggested to be useful tools to develop deeper reflection.
Text
Power and leadership in higher education full version
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 17 March 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 2 April 2018
Keywords:
administration, Leadership, managerialism, power, social identity
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 420026
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/420026
ISSN: 0307-5079
PURE UUID: 7e65b838-5e11-40c8-988b-62414d536f44
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 25 Apr 2018 16:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:29
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Jacky Lumby
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics