The masters: Creating a new generation of leaders for mass communication education and beyond

This study seeks to better understand why faculty accept or resist seeking academic leadership positions such as dean or director, associate dean, or department chair. It seeks to improve understanding of the attitudes faculty hold about administration, the barriers they see to moving into administrative roles, and the reasons some choose an administrative path. This study reports the results of a national survey of faculty. Respondents are fairly evenly divided between those who would accept a suitable administrative position if offered and those who would not. However, many remain unconvinced the jobs are worth doing. The authors recommend a move toward more systematic development of high quality academic leaders.