Rethinking leadership for dentistry: A critical, exploratory approach

The agenda for leadership in dentistry is growing and is now found throughout national policy, including education. Dentistry is effectively following the path taken in other areas of healthcare where leadership is seen as a solution to a diverse range of problems. Among this talk of leadership in dentistry, a critical voice to surface and challenge the assumptions made about it has been absent and there is a paucity of empirical research to inform a dentistry-specific understanding. This thesis aims to provide an opportunity to rethink leadership for dentistry through four separate but interlinked dimensions: Leadership Theory: to construct a theoretical framework of leadership for dentistry; Leadership Practice: to understand leadership from within dentistry: where, when, how and why leadership takes place; Leadership Research Methodology: to explore the use and value of innovative approaches to qualitative research to make sense of leadership in dentistry; Leadership Education: to explore the needs of leadership education for dentistry, specifically in relation to what leadership development outcomes and approaches are relevant to dentistry. A critical perspective is provided by situating the dentistry related leadership literature within the broader leadership studies literature. Exploratory empirical research then provides an alternative conceptualisation of leadership for dentistry through a ‘practice and contextual’ based theoretical approach using an interpretivist epistemology and qualitative methodology. This is situated within the General Dental Practice context and uses crafted multi-methods: semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observation and collaborative practitioner-academic working groups. A ‘practice and contextual’ rethinking of leadership for dentistry is presented which takes into account the challenges, purposes, values, people and practices involved in dentistry specifically. The findings tell of the lived experiences of leadership in everyday dental practice and demonstrate the value of non-conventional research methodology and methods in making sense of leadership. Education to more meaningfully prepare students for practice is proposed.