The Dynamics of Formal Leadership Practice at the Departmental Level in UK universities

Middle leadership in UK higher education (HE) represents a crucial locale of operations where discrete concerns relating to the academic discipline, the university as a HE institution, normative and utilitarian responsibilities, to name a few matters, converge. As such, the multifaceted and multilevel nature of leadership practice at this level constitutes an important component in the operative efficacy of the university. However, given the complexity of concerns, middle leadership is noted to entail a series of dynamic tensions between the aforementioned salient discourses that affects the leadership practice of the formal leaders to varying degrees. Thus, this thesis presents a qualitive study into the operational dynamics that characterise middle leadership practice in UK HE by exploring the experiences of formal leaders at the department / school level who belong to Russell Group and Post 92 universities. By adopting a relational perspective on leadership as the theoretical framework, the experiences and perspectives of middle leaders are delineated to inform firstly, the faceted nature of the leadership role identity as the department / school head within distinct relational nexuses of the academic unit and the institution; and secondly, the dynamics that define the interactions with hierarchy (senior leaders at the institutional level) for the department / school head. A qualitative study approach was employed to interview twelve Russell Group and ten Post 1992 leaders at the department and /or school level. Analysis of the data demonstrates the varying values ascribed namely that of autonomy and equity by RG leaders versus efficacy and performance by Post 92 leaders, to the role of leading ‘within’ the academic unit that entails varying approaches to middle leadership in the two university types. Furthermore, developing interpersonal congruency between leadership stakeholders at the departmental and institutional level is observed to be a salient factor that can mitigate the dynamic tensions during cross level interactions with senior leaders. Additionally, analysis of experiences of leading ‘without’ the academic unit indicates that the degree of influence exerted by the middle leader during cross level interactions with senior leaders is contingent on the circumstances of the discipline; where the leaders of disciplines that are flourishing (computer science units) exert more influence than leaders of disciplines that are in apparent decline (ancient history and culture unit). Overall, this thesis addresses the call from leadership scholars for a closer integration of context in leadership enquiries by delineating the ‘practice sites’ that frames and embeds the practice of leadership for middle leaders in UK universities. In conclusion, the salient and the nuanced findings are synthesised to offer recommendations for future research.