Perceived Leadership Practices Across Two Generations of Community College Deans: “Baby Boomers” and Generation Xers”

The purpose of this research study was to examine what Illinois community college academic deans perceive to be important leadership practices to enhance faculty effectiveness. A sequential mixed-method study was performed with academic deans at Illinois community colleges across the state. In Phase I of the study, 70 of the 164 academic deans in Illinois completed an anonymous online survey ranking importance of leadership practices that enhance faculty effectiveness. Eight of the academic deans who are Generation X volunteered to participate in the second phase of the study which consisted of in-depth, one-on-one interviews to identify what leadership practices they employ to enhance faculty effectiveness. The results of the study were generated from analyzing the descriptive data from the surveys and the interviews with each of the non-random purposeful participants. The results of the surveys identified the top five leadership practices: (1) leading employees, (2) straightforwardness and composure, (3) resourcefulness, (4) building and maintaining relationships, and (5) participative management. Descriptive data were gathered from the interviews and analyzed using the constant comparative analysis. The main results of the research included 29 themes that identified leadership practices Generation X academic deans employ to enhance faculty effectiveness