Date
6-2021
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Rebecca Lunde
Keywords
Enneagram, Personality, Leadership, Higher Education
Disciplines
Educational Leadership | Higher Education
Recommended Citation
Daly, Pamela J., "Connections Between the Enneagram Personality Type of Christian University Presidents and Provosts with Student Enrollment" (2021). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 3034.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/3034
Abstract
Limited research has examined the relationship between the Enneagram personality styles of faith-based university presidents/provosts and the institution’s student enrollment size. While there are many personality theories, the Enneagram is a sophisticated model that exposes the unconscious predispositions, motivations, anxieties, and behavioral tendencies of nine different personality profiles. Ego development is the evolution of personality constructs that integrate experiences into a personal framework of interpreting self and the world. Ego maturity is demonstrated by understanding self and others with the ability and motivation to maximize individual potential. Mature leaders exhibit wisdom, broad empathy towards self and others, tolerance of differing belief systems, and the ability to resolve conflict. These qualities are necessary for leaders to develop healthy and effective organizations. Using the theoretical framework of personality and leadership theories, the Enneagram personality styles scale is applied to leader effectiveness. This predictive, correlational study utilized a population segment of faith-based university presidents to complete Wagner's Enneagram Personality Style Scale (WEPSS) to determine if specific personality styles predict student enrollment size. A logistic regression analysis was used to examine the predictability of the Enneagram personality type of 68 faith-based presidents and provosts based on the size of student enrollment. The results showed no significant correlation between personality type and the size of student enrollment. However, the Effective Person (Type Three) occurred 48.5% of the time, which was more than three times the other personality types’ recurrence. These results suggest further research is necessary regarding the Type Three prevalence in faith-based higher education leadership roles and their effects.
