Leadership attributes of deans of education as perceived by deans of education

The purposes of this quantitative, descriptive study were to determine which leader attributes were most essential and least essential for deans of education as judged by current deans of education and to develop a profile of leader attributes perceived by these deans as essential for effective leadership. The researcher identified participants in this study from the 1998 membership directory of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. The researcher mailed 363 surveys to individuals identified in the directory as dean of the college, school, division, or graduate school of education. Of the 363 individuals identified, 195 (53%) responded to the survey; 182 (50%) of the surveys were usable. The 182 deans in this study are from institutions in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The survey used in this study was adapted from the Leader Attributes Inventory Rating-by-Observer Form (LAI) developed by Jerome Moss in 1989 and revised in 1993. The survey consists of five parts: Part I, Institutional Demographics: Part II, Leader Attributes Ratings; Part III, Absolutely Essential and Least Essential Attribute Rankings; and Part IV, Personal Demographics. The deans rated 37 leader attributes using a Likert-type scale that measured perceptions from Very Undescriptive to Very Descriptive. In addition, deans were instructed to select from the 37 leader attributes, five attributes perceived as Most essential and five attributes perceived as Least essential for effective deans of education, and rank them in highest order of priority. For clarity, the survey categorized attributes under four heading---Internal, Interpersonal, Moral, and Management leader attributes. Using quantitative methodology, this study examined the relationships between gender, deans at land-grant and nonland-grant institutions, public and private institutions, and small, medium, and large institutions. All 37 of the leader attributes were perceived as at least descriptive of an effective dean of education, and five leader attributes were revealed to be most essential for effective leadership. In addition, deans agreed on which leader attributes generalized a profile of effective deans of education.