Abstract Summary:
This presentation will stimulate thoughts and discussion on academic leadership issues facing educational leaders in Kenya and other developing countries with resource-limited resources.
Background to the research:
Nursing education environments and other academic institutions in developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are faced with leadership challenges and shortage of resources both physical and human and this affects Deans and heads of departments in delivering their mandate of leading the functional units of a University. This situation affects them as employees who wish to provide services and leadership that fulfils their moral and ethical desires as professionals. As a result, the situation affects students, educators and graduates who graduate from such institutions who end up in health care facilities that provide services in various contexts.
Universities are in highly competitive environments, needing strong academic leadership. However, some Deans and Heads of Departments are appointed into leadership positions in a school of nursing or health science school after having been in academics for a few years or sometimes months. Persons holding such positions are likely to experience severe challenges leading to role confusion and ambiguity. Effective leadership in any organization is a crucial component of overall organization success. The effective leadership of academic departments and schools is a crucial issue for policy makers, leaders themselves and for University staff because it is a critical factor in sustaining and improving the quality and performance of universities in Kenya and other developing countries in Sub Saharan Africa. There is research evidence that university leadership is fundamentally different from leadership in other contexts and demands additional competencies. Although there has been significant growth both in the number of the universities and students in Kenya, there is no research on the leadership roles of heads of department and Deans of schools in Kenyan Universities. As such there is need to discuss and conduct research on challenges that are faced by Deans and Heads of Departments in Universities in Kenya.
Aims and Objectives: 1. to describe the challenges faced by heads of department and Deans of schools in Universities in Kenya. 2. to make a call to global nurses and faculty to come together to work with those in the developing countries and those in developed countries to develop tools that can be used to support nurse leaders in their leadership roles.
Research Questions:
- What challenges do Deans and heads of departments face in performing their roles?
- What tools and materials are needed to support heads of department and deans in performing their roles
- What role can global nurses and faculty play to support deans and heads of department in developing countries to perform their role?
Hypothesis: Global nurses and faculty can make significant contribution towards improving education leadership in Kenya and other developing countries.
Research design: Qualitative descriptive methods will be used to collect and analyze data.
Population: Deans and heads of departments from the sampled schools.
Sampling and sample size: All heads departments and deans working in the sampled schools.
Data Collection Methods and analysis: In-depth interviews will be used to collect data from all those who will participate in the study.
Results: Findings of the study will be used to develop tools and materials to support heads of department and deans of schools of nursing within universities.
Unique contribution: A contribution to nursing education leadership in Kenya and other developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, improved university leadership and a major contribution to the world at large.
Key Words: Leadership, Universities, Challenge