Cynthia DeanFollow

Date

4-2013

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Donna Joy

Primary Subject Area

Education, General; Education, Community College; Education, Administration; Education, Higher; Gender Studies

Disciplines

Community College Education Administration | Community College Leadership | Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Gender and Sexuality | Sociology

Abstract

The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to compare the effects of gender on the perceptions that members of the boards of trustees of community colleges have of community college presidents. This study was guided by two research questions; the first one comparing the participants' perceptions of the male and female leader with the leader's gender acting as the sole independent variable; the second one examining the interaction effect of the participant's gender and the leader's gender on the participant's perception of the leader. Twelve boards of trustees within the North Carolina Community College System self-selected to participate. Participants read a brief vignette depicting a community college president exhibiting a transformational leadership style then evaluated that leader using the three Outcomes of Leadership subscales of the MLQ - 5X Short: extra effort (EE), effectiveness (EFF), and satisfaction (SAT). Half the boards of trustees received a vignette and survey depicting a male leader and half received a vignette and survey depicting a female leader. One hundred forty-seven surveys were distributed. Ninety-four surveys were returned. Data analyzed using MANOVAs and ANOVA revealed that, while both male and female participants rated the female president lower than the male president on all three subscales, the difference was not statistically significant; resulting in a failure to reject all null hypotheses.

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