Evaluation of the temporal impact of a leadership development program in higher education

ABSTRACT

The primary purpose of this study is to map the temporal impact of a transformational leadership development intervention on leaders’ awareness in the two public universities. Deans and heads from the two universities were involved in a six-week-long intervention. To study the short-term impact, an evaluation was conducted three months after the initial intervention with leaders of University A, and one year later, the next evaluation was conducted with leaders from University B to study the long-term impact. Semi-structured interviews and a case study method were adopted for data collection, and content analysis was carried out to identify indicators of awareness levels in leadership behaviours. Compared to the immediate post-intervention evaluation results, awareness levels decreased, but the results were still sufficiently robust compared to the baseline awareness levels measured in a control group. Implications and recommendations for future research will be discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Transformational leadership
• leadership development
• intervention
• awareness
• temporal impact

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Asia Zulfqar

Asia Zulfqar Zulfqar is working as Associate Professor in the Department of Education, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. Her research interest includes, innovations in higher education, leadership and teachers’ professional development.

Martin Valcke

Martin Valcke Prof. Valcke, is working as a Chairperson in the Department of Education, Ghent University, Belgium. His research area includes, innovations in higher education, teacher education, ICT in higher education.

Bashir Hussain

Bashir Hussain Dr. Hussain is working as Associate Professor in the Department of Education, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. His research interest includes, quality assurance in higher education and teachers’ professional development.

Geert Devos

Geert Devos Dr. Devos is working as Professor in the Department of Education, Ghent University, Belgium. His research area includes educational leadership, school improvement, and educational policy.