Papers by Pat Maslin-Ostrowski
ASHE, 2024
This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of ten administrative middle managers ... more This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of ten administrative middle managers in higher education who experienced a psychological contract violation. Research expanded understanding of leadership wounds, meaning-making, and leadership perceptions. Participants cited service to students and work as central to their processing the violation experience.
ASHE, 2024
College and university presidents in the United States serve important societal roles imbued with... more College and university presidents in the United States serve important societal roles imbued with power and status in the field of higher education and in their communities; they are also predominately white men . While women constitute 58% of undergraduate college enrollment in the U.S. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023), just 8% of doctorate-granting universities are led by women and according to the American Council on Education's college president survey, they comprise 32.8% of all public college presidencies . Table (See Appendix A) shows the percentage of higher education institutions, public and private, led by women. Moreover, 17% of college presidents overall are racial minorities and only 5% of presidents are women of color, while the boards that lead the presidential selection process are predominantly composed of men and often lack diversity . Women are considered "minority members crossing into university leadership" (Reis & Grady, 2020, p.37) and due to their relative scarcity (Ely & Rhode, 2010), women university presidents are highly visible which exacerbates their vulnerability. In addition to their leadership roles, women university presidents also contribute to scholarship in their research fields. As both leaders and scholars, women university presidents' lived experiences and the challenges they encounter as women are important to uncover. The problem addressed in
Leadership and Policy in Schools, May 29, 2024
Frontiers in Education, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic, bringing to the forefront and catalyzing long-unconfronted racial and econ... more The COVID-19 pandemic, bringing to the forefront and catalyzing long-unconfronted racial and economic inequities, in addition to economic collapse and deep political divisions - which all impact students and schools – has resulted in a compound crisis requiring a novel conceptualization of school leadership during times of crisis. This qualitative study captures the leadership experience of principals during the apocalyptic crisis _ the COVID-19 pandemic - beginning from the time schools were closing in March 2020 to the end of the school year in June. Crisis leadership, transformative leadership and social capital constitute the overarching framework for this study. The purpose of this case study was to discover how principals engaged in their thinking and practice to handle the compound crisis, in order to generate a rich description and gain an understanding of school leadership during the first phase of the COVID 19 pandemic. Our research questions were: What were the challenges...
The COVID-19 pandemic, bringing to the forefront and catalyzing long-unconfronted racial and econ... more The COVID-19 pandemic, bringing to the forefront and catalyzing long-unconfronted racial and economic inequities, in addition to economic collapse and deep political divisions-which all impact students and schools-has resulted in a compound crisis requiring a novel conceptualization of school leadership during times of crisis. This qualitative study captures the leadership experience of principals during the apocalyptic crisis _ the COVID-19 pandemic-beginning from the time schools were closing in March 2020 to the end of the school year in June. Crisis leadership, transformative leadership and social capital constitute the overarching framework for this study. The purpose of this case study was to discover how principals engaged in their thinking and practice to handle the compound crisis, in order to generate a rich description and gain an understanding of school leadership during the first phase of the COVID 19 pandemic. Our research questions were: What were the challenges and complications of leading during the initial phase of the compound crisis from the perspective of principals? How did principals respond? What were the emergent leadership practices? For this case study, we used a purposeful, maximum variation sample of nine principals in Florida. We sought balance in gender, race and ethnicity, and grade level. Indepth interviews were conducted using a structured protocol. Analysis treated each principal as an individual case, then cross-case thematic analysis was employed to uncover common patterns and themes. Three findings emerged. First, participants drew upon their individual reservoirs of shared leader qualities, including personalized and pragmatic communicator; leading with flexibility, creativity and care; bending rules and shifting priorities; and showing resilience under pressure. Second, they tapped into their schools' strengths, including school context and in-house expertise. Third, they made inter-school connections. The first phase of the compound crisis pushed principals to prioritize care, safety, and wellbeing of students, teachers, and communities above accountability measures and systemic institutional constraints. A call to action for equity is the next logical step for system consideration, and was echoed by participating principals, as well as a realization that going back to old ways is no longer an option.
This interview and survey study investigated how 74 practicing educational leaders who have compl... more This interview and survey study investigated how 74 practicing educational leaders who have completed or are enrolled in a university leadership preparation program identify and cope with various and multiple challenges in their leadership practice. Challenges named were dominated by compliance and accountability issues and how to motivate people to produce more with inadequate economic resources. Leaders incorporated adult development and learning into their approach to dealing with challenges. We found that the technical and adaptive (Heifetz) aspects of leadership are important, especially when one considers the phases and components of how leaders respond to challenges they face. An understanding of technical vs. adaptive work and knowledge of adult development and learning are recommended to be an integral part of leadership preparation and development.
Teachers College Record, 2017
Background/Context: Worldwide, principals face enormous challenges while translating policies and... more Background/Context: Worldwide, principals face enormous challenges while translating policies and mandates for which they are accountable into their mission and practice. While some of these school-level challenges are technical, many are adaptive (Heifetz), requiring leaders and those in their care to grow their cognitive and affective (emotional) capacities so that they can manage change. Principals are under pressure to decipher problems quickly and create conditions to build capacity at ground level. Purpose/Research Question: This research examined how principals framed pressing challenges they confronted in leadership practice (technical, adaptive, or mixed), and in what ways, if any, learning was part of their response. A pressing challenge is defined as a difficult problem named by leaders that they-themselves-identified as one they are currently facing or have recently faced. We explored how they helped other adults (e.g., teachers and staff) and themselves to manage change associated with meeting these challenges. Additionally, we queried how prior and new learning helped them lead while overcoming pressing challenges. Setting: We recruited principals working in urban K-12 public schools in the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and Bermuda, sites focused on educational reform. Participants: A purposeful sample of 13 principals (eight male, five female) representing primary, middle, and secondary levels was used. State department leaders and educational leadership faculty recommended principals who they perceived were "effective"-in other words, based on their knowledge and by reputation, these were successful school leaders. Research Design: This qualitative study used in-depth interviews to explore the experience and perceptions of principals leading through challenges. Data Collection and Analysis: Principals participated in in-depth semistructured interviews. After member checking, interview transcripts were coded and categories developed to capture themes and patterns.
Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 2016
Historically, community colleges have played a vital role in career and vocational preparation fo... more Historically, community colleges have played a vital role in career and vocational preparation for students. In today's complex and everchanging work environment, professionalism issues are at the forefront of employers' concerns related to millennials and other young students and recent graduates. This issue is aggravated by the rise of social media and other trends that pose challenges related to, for example, professionalism in communication. The community college community is an excellent site for a movement towards structured professionalism training and research that is process-centered and that emphasizes lifelong learning. Drawn upon the literature review and our own experiences in career counseling, we expand on the perspectives of professionalism at the individual and group levels. And we present on how community colleges' offices, instructors, and administrators can use the Model of Wisdom Development to understand whether and how are students developing professionalism.
Handbook of Research on Teaching and Learning in K-20 Education
The authors interviewed and surveyed principals from Bermuda and four regions of the US about wha... more The authors interviewed and surveyed principals from Bermuda and four regions of the US about what they name as their more pressing challenges and how they manage them. The challenges they named are composed of both adaptive and technical work (Heifetz, 1994), which required leaders, teachers, and community members to change. More specifically, regardless of how principals interpreted their challenges, i.e., technical, adaptive, or mixed, a common part of their response was to foster professional growth and development—or learning—as part of the solution. Leaders typically focused on caring for the learning of others, yet at times they needed to stretch their own learning curves. Leaders supported faculty and staff by developing informational, transformational, and mixed learning experiences as tools to help faculty and staff work through their part of these complex challenges. Leadership preparation programs are encouraged to address managing phases of adaptive, technical, and mixe...
International Journal of Adult Vocational Education and Technology, 2013
This article examines the views of graduate students who are aspiring or practicing school leader... more This article examines the views of graduate students who are aspiring or practicing school leaders and faculty from two university degree granting leadership preparation programs. Drawn from a larger mixed methods study, the authors focus here on survey results that show how these groups rated the effectiveness of 14 potential curricular dimensions drawn from traditional leadership content (e.g., budget/finance, legal compliance) and more recent (contemporary) additions to leadership curricula (e.g., reflective practice, adult learning and development, social-emotional capacity). Both traditional and contemporary areas received high ratings for effectiveness and importance to professional growth and development. Implications of this research point to the joint importance and feasibility of a more integrated approach to leadership education that includes contemporary and traditional dimensions. These finding may have important implications for other settings as well.
International Journal of Leadership in Education, 2007
Help: about the FAC B Database The Food Additives and Contaminants - Surveillance Database is a s... more Help: about the FAC B Database The Food Additives and Contaminants - Surveillance Database is a searchable database containing all the surveillance data published in Food Additives and Contaminants Part B (FAC B) since its launch in June 2008. Search results may be ...
Educational Administration Quarterly, 2010
Purpose: This study describes how an educational leadership department transformed its regional i... more Purpose: This study describes how an educational leadership department transformed its regional identity and localized practices over a ten-year period (1997-2007) to become internationalized in terms of research, teaching, and service. Research Methods/Approach (e.g., Setting, Participants, Research Design, Data Collection and Analysis): A basic qualitative approach (written narratives, interviews and document analysis) was used. All faculty holding tenured, tenure earning, and clinical, non-tenured positions were invited to participate. Fifteen out of 18 department faculty chose to participate. Findings: We found that the success of internationalization rests not only with individual faculty champions and flexible opportunism, but also with collective actions. In one decade, the department shifted from individual, isolated pursuits in the international arena, to a department having an integral, international dimension across research, teaching, and service. Many factors contribute...
Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 2010
Community college presidential leadership is more taxing than ever; leaders face unprecedented ec... more Community college presidential leadership is more taxing than ever; leaders face unprecedented economic declines, increased expectations, and the immediacy of media reporting. The smallest of rumors can escalate into campaigns for good or ill within minutes via the Internet, social ...
Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 2012
An online survey (using forced-choice and open-ended questions) of faculty at two university-situ... more An online survey (using forced-choice and open-ended questions) of faculty at two university-situated degree-granting leadership preparation programs revealed that the faculty describe critical connections for developing leadership capacity: theory-practice nexus, university-based learning and “real-life” experience, and nurturing deeper faculty-to-student and faculty-to-faculty relationships. The faculty perceive that accreditation, certification, and licensure requirements have more influence over curriculum than legislative or local regulation; they voiced concerns about future impacts, although they did not identify current negative repercussions. The faculty reported doing reasonably well addressing contemporary domains of adult learning and development and social-emotional dimensions of leadership. Institutional supports are needed for furthering connections, holistic preparation, and practice.
Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 2018
Background/Context Worldwide, principals face enormous challenges while translating policies and ... more Background/Context Worldwide, principals face enormous challenges while translating policies and mandates for which they are accountable into their mission and practice. While some of these school-level challenges are technical, many are adaptive (Heifetz), requiring leaders and those in their care to grow their cognitive and affective (emotional) capacities so that they can manage change. Principals are under pressure to decipher problems quickly and create conditions to build capacity at ground level. Purpose/Research Question This research examined how principals framed pressing challenges they confronted in leadership practice (technical, adaptive, or mixed), and in what ways, if any, learning was part of their response. A pressing challenge is defined as a difficult problem named by leaders that they—themselves—identified as one they are currently facing or have recently faced. We explored how they helped other adults (e.g., teachers and staff) and themselves to manage change a...
Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 2013
We interviewed eight principals from Bermuda and Florida about how they identify and manage their... more We interviewed eight principals from Bermuda and Florida about how they identify and manage their most pressing challenges. Their challenges are composed of both adaptive and technical work, requiring leaders to learn to diagnose and manage them. Challenges focused on change and were traced to accountability contexts, yet accountability was not the driving force for all principals. Neither external demands nor principals themselves dictated whether the problem was technical or adaptive; instead, it was the nature of the problem itself. Leadership preparation programs are encouraged to provide a framework to address managing phases of adaptive, technical, and mixed challenges.
Educational Leadership, 2004
A wizened and wise school leader shared the following observation on the eve of a long-deserved r... more A wizened and wise school leader shared the following observation on the eve of a long-deserved retirement: A good school must learn to bend itself around the strengths and vulnerabilities of its leader. Part of this assertion affirms enduring, conventional wisdom about leadership: ...
Help: about the FAC B Database The Food Additives and Contaminants - Surveillance Database is a s... more Help: about the FAC B Database The Food Additives and Contaminants - Surveillance Database is a searchable database containing all the surveillance data published in Food Additives and Contaminants Part B (FAC B) since its launch in June 2008. Search results may be ...
Crisis can challenge school leaders; it can also seriously wound them. Real leadership means lear... more Crisis can challenge school leaders; it can also seriously wound them. Real leadership means learning and growing from the experience. A wizened and wise school leader shared the following observation on the eve of a long-deserved retirement: “A good school must learn to bend itself around the strengths and vulnerabilities of its leader. ” Part of this assertion affirms enduring, conventional wisdom about leadership: that effective leadership in schools requires strength, power, and competence. Yet the notion that schools also need to acknowledge the vulnerability of their leaders and the potential of learning from this vulnerability seems far less acceptable. This paradox nevertheless represents a most hopeful understanding: Although the need for strong leadership in our schools persists, most school leaders recognize that their own leadership is a daily exercise in vulnerability. The landscape of education leadership in the 21st century offers an astounding range of emotional chal...
This study's purpose was to understand further "how" significant leadership crises ... more This study's purpose was to understand further "how" significant leadership crises create a very particular context for telling stories and, specifically, "how" the lives of school leaders are affected by the stories they tell. The study presents the stories of seven private and public school leaders who have experienced a serious conflict, dilemma, or critical event in their leadership practice that has in some way profoundly affected or "wounded" them. The study focused on school leader's "narrative identity" to determine "who" in each case the person had become in the story, "how" their story helped them to become that person and "why." The methodology was ethnographic in that it required retrospective interviewing and narrative analysis. Findings suggest that the difficult experiences evoked stories that could be tentatively grouped by common themes. The storytellers chose a restitution story of how th...
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Papers by Pat Maslin-Ostrowski