Academic leadership in the era of curricular and quality transition toward excellence: Frameworks that guide actions needed for facilitating and sustaining change

Abstract

Leadership literature indicates that focus has shifted from “top-down hierarchical” to “leadership everywhere” approach within organizations and this also applies to academic leadership. The context in which the new eco-leadership discourse has emerged, is presented as it is important for academic leaders to be aware that they need to tailor their leadership style and approach to be ready for the 21st century challenges arising from “triple disruptions due to digital and technology revolution, environmental emergency, and rising societal iniquity.” The framework of “leading from within” that has emerged from research on leadership in higher education has been found to be relevant and resonates well with academic leaders in India and so is presented in greater detail. Understanding of different academic leadership frameworks has been used to generate guidelines for academic leaders to use for implementing the changes that they would be expected to make to improve quality and make faculty future-ready.

Keywords

• academic leadership
• appreciative inquiry
• change management
• dean leadership
• eco-leadership
• institutional excellence
• leadership frameworks