Leadership, Communication and Religiosity in Higher Education Administration: Distinctions That Make a Difference

This project investigated the communicative and religious components of transformational leadership and job satisfaction in the context of higher education. Specifically, 224 CAO members of the Council of Independent Colleges completed a survey assessing their own leadership style, communication behavior, and religiosity. A stepwise multiple regression procedure revealed seven significant predictors of transformational leadership. The most important variables included attentiveness, openness, role negotiation, and intrinsic religious orientation. Additionally, a t-test compared a subset of CAOs from institutions affiliated with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities with CAOs in non-affiliated institutions. Results revealed statistically significant differences in attentiveness, information support, exercise of transformational leadership, and religious identity, practice, and orientation. Lastly, a second stepwise regression procedure revealed five significant predictors of CAO job satisfaction including availability of emotional support, level of commitment to the job, and amount of religious activity. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for conducting higher education administration in ways that best reflect religious ideals