Leading up perspectives of the heads of departments and schools on their interactions with hierarchy in UK universities.pdf

<p dir="ltr">This study explores the locale of cross-level leadership interactions in universities, where leaders who lead academic units, departments or schools interact with institutional-level leaders. Drawing on interviews with heads of academic units in UK universities, the five-dimensional model of leadership practice was adopted as a framework to analyse the personal, social, structural, and contextual factors that impact the quality and outcome of hierarchical interactions for the unit head. The findings illustrate the heterogeneity of middle leadership experiences due to the manifold factors that influence interactional dynamics and impact practices in situ. A greater concern about responsiveness in university leadership is highlighted because of the embedded nature of middle leadership practices. Concurrently, by providing insights into the areas of interactional tensions for the middle leaders, potential avenues for enhancing leadership responsiveness in the university are advanced.