An interpretation of study programme leaders' mandates in higher education

This article addresses study programme leadership, a still-emerging phenomenon in European higher education (HE). Given its novelty, descriptions and insights into study programme leadership remain sparse. Therefore, this study aims to describe and critically explore health profession study programm...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scandinavian journal of educational research 2024-04, Vol.68 (3), p.558-573
Main Authors: Haugen, Kristin, Tosterud, Randi Beate, Wangensteen, Sigrid, Honerød Hoveid, Marit
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Educational leadership
Exegesis & hermeneutics
Higher education
leadership mandates
Norwegian language
organising modes
qualitative hermeneutical analysis
Study programme leadership
Text analysis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article addresses study programme leadership, a still-emerging phenomenon in European higher education (HE). Given its novelty, descriptions and insights into study programme leadership remain sparse. Therefore, this study aims to describe and critically explore health profession study programme leaders' work tasks and responsibilities as they appear in institutional mandates. A qualitative hermeneutical interpretative text analysis is conducted using data derived from 14 Norwegian HE institutions. This research focuses on expectations of study programme leadership actions as expressed through the verbs used in the sentences of the mandates. Accordingly, we reveal that the verbs reflect diverse directions: controlling, facilitating, coordinating, and advising. To obtain our findings, we draw on a reflexive leadership approach. We demonstrate that diverse study programme leadership actions require different modes of organising. Thus, this study reveals the tensions among the various leadership actions constructed in HE mandates.
ISSN:0031-3831
1470-1170
DOI:10.1080/00313831.2023.2175241