Dissertation Abstract

Responsibilities and leadership styles of radiologic technology program directors: Implications for leadership development

Leaders in higher education serve in a variety of roles and many times have very little administrative experience for the positions in which they serve. Radiologic technology program directors are the types of leaders who need strong leadership skills to meet the challenges of their role as program chairs. This study examined the responsibilities of program directors and their satisfaction with their leadership skills in relation to the responsibilities. In addition, the leadership styles of program directors were investigated to determine how those styles are related to the responsibilities and their satisfaction with their leadership skills. This study utilized a mixed methods approach in order to gain a better understanding of the responsibilities of program directors in radiologic technology and their level of satisfaction with their leadership skills as related to the responsibilities. An explanatory design was employed for this study in which qualitative data were used to expand the understanding of the quantitative data. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was administered in order to determine the leadership style, and the Leadership Matrix was used to measure the level of importance of responsibilities and the level of satisfaction with leadership skills in relation to the responsibilities of program directors. The quantitative data were collected by surveys which were mailed to 590 program directors in Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) accredited programs. Two hundred and eighty four program directors responded for a 48% response rate. Interviews were conducted with 13 program directors who responded to the quantitative portion of the study. Multiple regression and two-way ANOVA procedures were used to analyze the quantitative data, and themes and patterns were identified in the qualitative data.

The findings of this study identified two responsibilities of program directors for professional development: budget and resources and faculty affairs. Additionally, relationships between program directors' ratings of the level of importance of the responsibilities and leadership style, institution type, and program type were discerned. Finally, relationships between program directors' levels of satisfaction with their leadership skills in relation to the responsibilities and leadership style, years of experience, and highest degree completed were established.

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