Learning Objective #1: Discuss two factors that would encourage pursuit of an administrative position

Learning Objective #2: Discuss two factors that would discourage pursuit of an administrative position

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To address the shortage of qualified candidates interested in academic administration, this study explored factors related to recruitment of nursing academic administrators, including leadership practices of current administrators, career aspirations of potential administrators, and perceptions of both groups toward a career in academic administration.

Nursing academic administrators and full-time faculty from randomly selected National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission (NLNAC)- or Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)-accredited nursing programs in private colleges or universities in the United States participated in the study. Administrators completed the Leadership Practices Inventory-Self (LPI-Self) and an investigator-designed Recruitment Questionnaire. Faculty completed the Leadership Practices Inventory-Observer (LPI-Observer) and an investigator-designed Career Aspiration Questionnaire. Faculty response rate was 53.2%, and administrator response rate was 81.5%.

The majority of faculty respondents (63%) would not consider moving to a position with greater administrative responsibility. Workload, conflict, and conflict-related issues were identified by both administrators and faculty as most likely to discourage pursuit of an administrative position. Additional challenge/variety of work, opportunity to influence organizational climate for change, opportunity to facilitate faculty growth and development, and mix of administration with teaching were identified by both administrators and faculty as most likely to encourage pursuit of an administrative position, with faculty also identifying salary. Faculty career aspiration toward a position with greater administrative responsibility increased for those who had completed additional course work beyond their highest degree, but was not significantly related to current position held, highest degree completed, program size, LPI-Self category, or the LPI-Self Modeling the Way and Enabling Others to Act subscore categories.

Recommendations for practice include making leadership development opportunities available for faculty interested in administration, exploring methods to manage or reduce workload and conflict, and exploring methods to maximize factors identified as likely to encourage pursuit of academic administration.