Adding Strength to Leaders’ Agency: Privileging the Relational Space Between Academics

• In Event: Higher Education Leadership Has Its Own Set of Challenges

Short Description

How leaders translate and operationalize institutional change has a significant impact on academic engagement. Two studies within a New Zealand university identified that the quality of the connections between leaders and their staff is crucial for positive outcomes. Privileging the relational practices of leadership is the focus for this presentation.

Detailed Abstract

Academics are experiencing a shifting higher education (HE) terrain, a place where roles and responsibilities are evolving as quickly as their institutions adapt to external influences. What has been viewed and experienced as primarily a place of learning is now positioned within a culture which prioritises productivity, marketability, accountability and self-interest. This changing academic environment has a powerful effect on academic staff, for how academics experience their professional selves (or identity) within the academy is recognised to be greatly influenced by institutional processes and values (Winter 2009). In their work on leadership in the UK, Bolden and colleagues identified a growing disconnect between academics and their institutions as differing expectations result in feelings of “ambivalence”, “dissonance”, “vulnerability” and “exclusion” (Bolden, Gosling, and O’Brien 2014, p. 763). So in what way can institutions and their academic staff work to align their endeavours within this turbulent context? This paper explores this question by nesting it with similar questions that directed two completed, yet unrelated, empirical studies. By taking New Zealand as the context and coordinating the findings of both studies, it becomes possible to present a fresh perspective on leadership, one that privileges the relational spaces around leadership.

New Zealand universities, as part of a strong international trend, have revised their agendas over the last two decades to respond to market-driven imperatives and externally imposed assessment regimes. Reactions have involved reshaping institutional identity to act competitively in the market and increasing managerialism that demands rigorous measurement of deliverables, particularly of research performance and growth, since meeting stringent targets influences institutional funding levels (Nagy, 2011). Seeking to address the external influences, corporate governance practices are frequently employed which concentrate power in the top levels of the university. This expansion of executive leadership tends to reduce opportunities for academic voice and often results in disengagement of academics from these levels of power (Marginson, 2000). Structural changes favoured by executive leaders for providing new mechanisms for controlling work often result in the need for periodic adjustments for academic staff. Such organisational shifts have caused profound changes to academic roles and work (Sutton 2015), increasing relational complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity (Harley, 2002) and risk academic discord between those leading such change and those experiencing it. It is this interpersonal space that provides the focus for this paper, which explores how the relational aspects of academic work are critical for enabling institutional cohesion and staff engagement in the changing environment of HE. The findings of two New Zealand studies inform the paper.

The first research project comprised part of a large international study across five nations (author) and was located within a social constructionist framework. Narrative inquiry framed the data collection from academics who wrote an individual narrative that explored interactions with their formal (appointed) leader within a teaching and learning situation. The narratives were subjected to inductive analysis. While the research objective was to examine how individuals act in relation to a leader, the findings have informed a broader exploration of the significance of interpersonal relations with leaders. The narratives reflected a continuum of positive to negative relational space. Depending on their positioning, academics who were in the role of ‘follower’ portray actions that range from passive to proactive, which subsequently impact on leadership agency. If relationships provide a context for action, then sustainability of those relationships is crucial for leading in HE.

The second project examined how academics experience being a researcher in the ‘measured’ university context (author). The objective was to chronicle the experiences of academic researching staff in a particular university in New Zealand in order to identify how the university’s infrastructure and community supports researcher practice, engagement and satisfaction. An integrated case study approach was employed since the study involved academics’ assessing their own needs, and the conditions and interactions that supported those needs, within a specific context. An online survey and focus groups provided both quantitative and qualitative data. Descriptive analysis of the survey data was undertaken in combination with iterative thematic analysis of the survey open-ended responses and focus group transcripts. While the findings sought to identify the demands placed on researchers and specifics on infrastructural support, they also indicated the importance of collegial relationships between newer and more experienced academics. Further, the survey section on organisational climate provided insight into relationships between academics and their line manager/leader.

In combination, these study findings provide an opportunity to advance an “expanded view of leadership” (Carsten et al., 2010, p. 543). Using the relational space as an analytical lens it is possible to extract the implications of the complex relationships between leaders and their colleagues for productive academic work. If leadership is used as a mechanism for dovetailing the institutional agenda with individual enterprise, then the ‘middle space’ (author) between those involved needs to be balanced, particularly in times of change, uncertainty and possible ambiguity. Kahn contends that in order to enhance self-reliance, a more focused effort to develop “relationships with employees that enable(d) them to feel securely supported while acting autonomously” (p. 242) is more likely to enhance the interactions and relational skills of co-workers.

As higher education institutions seek to align their goals with nationally driven imperatives, members of the institutional community need to work in concert to achieve them. However, there is great complexity in integrating organizational purpose with academic staff aspirations and endeavours, since the parties involved frequently have differing motivations. There are obvious challenges for organizational leadership, particularly as the external and internal context continues to experience change and adjustment. While programmes for professional development of leaders can assist in addressing the challenges that leaders face, the findings of the two empirical studies align more with Kahn’s (2002) recommendation to develop and practise strong relational skills. The ‘middle space’ (author) is where relationships can be positively fostered and leadership can be ‘re-generative’ (Middlehurst, 2010) focusing more on shaping, supporting and inspiring others to adapt to changing circumstances. This is also the space wherein leaders can experience their own leadership development (Kahn, 2002).

Participant

• Jennie Billot, Auckland University of Technology