Due Within 4 Hours
HIGHER EDUCATION LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 8
A Career Path in Higher Education Leadership and Management
Student's Name:
Institution:
Date:
A Career Path in Higher Education Leadership and Management
Currently working in higher education as a student loan coordinator and having no prior degrees in education, I thought that a doctorate in higher education leadership and management would be a good start and a vessel to help me reach my career goals. The degree program offers an in-depth understanding of the organization dimensions and interrelated societal of higher education, in preparation for management, policy development, and administrative posts in universities and colleges, as well as government foundations and agencies. Additionally, the program prepares students for careers in research and teaching. The course is made up of a balance of assignments such as case studies and discussion questions to enable the student to develop an excellent command in debating key issues, refine their decision-making and critical thinking skills to assist them in their development as scholarly writers. According to Altbach & Knight (2007), leading the future of education requires a commitment to research, leadership, scholarship as well as meaningful social change. At the end of the course, the students can successfully focus in areas of administration and education, organizational culture and change, international and comparative higher education, and most importantly, academic profession.
Networking on formal as well as informal level, electronically and personally is critical for any academic with the objective of developing their career. The first strategy for building such a network with colleagues is defining the purpose of networking. Ideally, this involves figuring out future challenges and principles including getting stakeholders for the colleagues, according to Elfring & Hulsink (2007). For this strategy to work, however, it is necessary to create a list of the reasons, putting them in order of their importance. The purpose of networking could be to find meet other experts, scholars or contacts or to maintain and build the existing relations. It could also be to benefit from support organizations as a staff association, academics, and university organizations, among other reasons. The second method I will use is to work out the contacts I need. Most successful individuals maintain a contact base of the specialists, introducers, and friends they have known for years. While it is advisable to identify the people to network with, the number needs to be tracked down to only the best contacts. The strategy means even meeting the people required to develop a better relationship with as well as listing the type of learning organizations that can lead to real networking. The policies would support professional collaboration in acquiring academic profession leads. Using the contacts I make and meeting people will open the door for research opportunities. Additionally, the strategies will help open up career opportunities. Abele & Spurk (2009) argues that networking is the most efficient way to land a new job. The reason is that professional networking exposes individuals to even jobs that are not posted in newspapers or online. Again, the above strategies help identify best administrative practices that are the reason for professional networking. Learning from what other professionals or learning institutions do is a critical strategy for a successful career as a higher education leadership and management administrator.
Of the years I have been working in higher education, I have noted one problem in the innovation and administration of higher learning institutions. The challenge is that certain inevitable environmental changes hinder strategic planning and innovation in educational institutions. But with knowledge in higher education leadership and management, I am confident of to address any issue concerning strategic planning successfully. Using my degree perspective that advocates for thinking strategically, and guided by organization's values, mission, and vision, I would employ many things to solve the challenge of environmental changes that impact strategic planning. As Knight Tait & Yorke (2006) comments, Strategic thinking backed up by consequent action and aligned with a clear vision of the future are a solution to the inevitable environmental changes hindering strategic planning. My professional knowledge would help in consensus building; promoting collaboration, participation, and communication. It helps provide a structured channel for airing conflicts, negotiating the meaning and purpose of the learning institutions as well as dealing with inevitable political struggles. Though a real consensus about all problems among all the stakeholders may be unrealistic, engaging everyone through focus groups, open forums, surveys, interviews and the like is critical. I would use integration to implement specific and measurable objectives at all departmental levels. Another method to address the problem is tying resource allocation and decision-making to the work plan, which is helpful in making the planning part of the company's daily life. Fundamentally, to achieve this, a plan must guide all the defining structures of the institution, including but not limited to budgets, development, and recruitment, curricula, among others. I would ensure that the integrated plan moves the teaching, non-teaching staff and the top management in the same general direction. People united with a common goal tend to be more successful than those without a clear guide to achieving organization's aims, and objectives, Alexander (2008) argues.
My professional goal that I value most is increasing my performance metrics. In the education sector, institutions use performance metrics to evaluate a worker's performance, effectiveness as well as productivity levels. Metric numbers measure things such as organization performance, cost management, employee competence and customer satisfaction. With a career goal to improve metrics, it will help show the value that I bring as a hire to the organization that I work. As I continue on my degree path, this goal will keep me moving in that I will be able to compare my performance in different periods determine my strengths and weaknesses. And, after that, I would improve on my weaknesses and maintain my strengths. My professional goal informs that the results are as good as implementing successful strategies.
My personal goal is to become a president of a higher learning institution. As the boss of a school, I would be mandated to strategically plan all the projects of the organization as well as encourage innovation. In today's society, whose development depends on knowledge, scholars contribute to one of the most vital assets called to confront this problem, to guarantee modernization and on-going productivity of the endeavors committed to a total capitalization of the human potential. Innovation and management in education speak to the principal components in the consummation of a qualitative education act, which serves the economic, demographic, and socio-cultural principles and values. Meek, Teichler & Kearney (2009) highlights that encouraging innovation will not only solve the issue at hand but also solve other different problems affecting institutions of higher learning. The fact that higher education is turning into a first investigation of the move from a stable, benign and non-competitive environment to a dynamic and unpredictable one calls for institutions to gain competitive advantage through innovation.
References
Abele, A. E., & Spurk, D. (2009). The longitudinal impact of self-efficacy and career goals on objective and subjective career success. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74(1), 53-62.
Alexander, B. (2008). Social networking in higher education. The Tower and the Cloud, 197-201.
Altbach, P. G., & Knight, J. (2007). The internationalization of higher education: Motivations and realities. Journal of studies in international education, 11(3-4), 290-305.
Elfring, T., & Hulsink, W. (2007). Networking by entrepreneurs: Patterns of tie—Formation in emerging organizations. Organization Studies, 28(12), 1849-1872.
Knight, P., Tait, J., & Yorke, M. (2006). The professional learning of teachers in higher education. Studies in higher education, 31(03), 319-339.
Meek, L. V., Teichler, U., & Kearney, M. L. (2009). Higher education, research and innovation, changing dynamics: report on the UNESCO forum on higher education research and knowledge, 2001-2009. International Centre for Higher Education Research Kassel (INCHER).
