California Community College Chief Executive Officer Turnover: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the turnover causes of chief executive officers (CEOs) within the California community college system. The central research question was, “What are the lived experiences California community college CEOs experience that led to CEO departure?” The theory guiding this study is Ryan and Deci’s (2017) self-determination theory, which helps to explain the relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic factors of basic psychological needs. The research design was a transcendental phenomenology study, which is a form of qualitative design. Three methods of data collection were used. This study focused on participants who are district-level CEOs, and the participants and settings were limited to 10 out of the 73 college districts within the California community college system. Semi-structured individual interviews, focus group interviews, and document analysis were conducted on the board meeting minutes to triangulate the data. Once each of the three methods of data collection were completed, they were synthesized together using qualitative data analysis software and arranged into four themes, 18 subthemes, and 17 nested subthemes. The findings identified the district CEO’s biggest sources of challenges and stress, what makes them want to stay in or leave their positions, describes their relationships with stakeholders, their advice or warnings for the next generation of leaders, and explained the ramifications of short district CEO tenure. The study concluded there are personal factors, like preparedness that determine success but also institutional factors such as the board of trustees they work for or the personnel constituency groups they work with, including academic senates and unions, that can be barriers for district CEOs to maximize their sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.