Pathways to academic leadership: examining the recruitment and appointment of middle-level leaders in Canadian universities

Leadership recruitment and appointment in Canadian Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences is a vital yet underexamined aspect of academic governance. Middle-level leaders, including deans, associate deans, department heads, and directors, play critical roles in faculty administration, yet pathways into these positions remain inconsistently defined and insufficiently understood. This study examines the pathways, institutional practices, and systemic challenges shaping leadership recruitment and appointment processes. Using a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, the study integrated survey data from 148 middle-level leaders and qualitative interviews with 39 participants. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis. Findings show that competitive selection was the dominant recruitment method (63.5%), followed by senior leadership appointments (24.3%), faculty elections (8.1%), and hybrid approaches (4.1%). Five themes emerged: serendipitous pathways, mentorship influence, rapid career advancement, strategic decision-making, and overcoming initial hesitations. The findings indicate that recruitment and appointment processes are shaped by both formal mechanisms and informal relational dynamics, including mentorship and professional networks, while also revealing systemic barriers affecting equitable access. The study highlights the need for more transparent, structured, and inclusive recruitment and appointment frameworks in higher education.