Struggling to make a difference against the odds: a synthesis of qualitative research on women leading schools in Zimbabwe

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1577-1594
Author(s):  
Zvisinei Moyo ◽  
Juliet Perumal ◽  
Philip Hallinger
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Research Synthesis ◽  
Female Leadership ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Synthesis Methods ◽  
Broad Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leading Schools ◽  
Research Studies

PurposeThis paper reports on results of a systematic research synthesis of 25 studies on women in educational leadership and management in Zimbabwe. The aim of this systematic review of research was to report conclusions drawn from a synthesis of findings from studies of gender and educational leadership in Zimbabwe.Design/methodology/approachThe review used systematic methods to identify 25 research studies that examined women leading schools in Zimbabwe. Research synthesis methods used for qualitative research studies were employed in order to identify three broad themes and related subthemes across the studies.FindingsThe review identified three themes: (1) barriers to women gaining access to management positions, (2) female ways of leading, (3) context challenges for women leaders. Both barriers to gaining positions and context challenges faced in enactment of the leadership role are described. These consist of an intertwined web of personal, institutional and cultural challenges. Women's ways of leading were characterized as collegial, collaborative and caring.Research limitations/implicationsThree implications are identified. First is a need for better statistical information on gender representation in Zimbabwe and other African countries. Second is a need to design and implement training, mentoring and networking support programs for female leaders in Zimbabwe. Finally, the authors recommend that future research move toward the use of mixed methods research designs capable of achieving complementary research goals of gaining a broad perspective on the effects of female leadership and in-depth understanding of how those are achieved.Originality/valueEmpirical studies of female leadership is especially urgent in Africa where particular features embedded in the cultural context shape female access to leadership role and attitude towards efforts of women to lead.

ERP issues and challenges: a research synthesis

Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal Mahmood ◽  
Abdul Zahid Khan ◽  
Rahat Hussain Bokhari
Keyword(s):  
Enterprise Resource Planning ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Management Training ◽  
Research Synthesis ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Erp Systems ◽  
Erp Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Empowerment ◽  
Research Studies

Purpose Despite more than two decades of experience regarding the adoption and implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in organizations, ERPs success is questionable. Though ERPs success stories are published in past research studies, the failure rate of ERP systems is relatively high. The purpose of this study was to find issues and challenges and assess the degree of criticality of these issues/challenges faced by organizations during ERP implementation. Design/methodology/approach For doing systematic review/research synthesis systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out considering research studies published within the time period, i.e. 1999-2018. Three major steps such as planning, conducting and reporting were followed to proceed further in this study. This study attempted to accomplish a critical review of 53 studies out of 103 studies identified, which were published in reputable journals to synthesize the existing literature in the ERP domain. The studies selected have almost addressed different challenges/issues faced by small and large organizations during ERP implementation. Findings Research synthesis/SLR led to the identification of 31 issues/challenges, which may be termed as most critical based on their occurrence/frequency in past studies included. The topmost ten issues/challenges amongst 31 identified include top management approach, change management, training and development, effective communication, system integration, business process reengineering, consultants/vendors selection, project management, project team formation, team empowerment/skilled people and data conversing/migration. However, other issues/challenges identified such as security risks/data security, cloud awareness, functionality limitations, service level agreements and subscription expenses are more related to cloud ERPs. Originality/value The current study is unique in its kind, focusing on the issues and challenges faced by organization during implementing ERP projects. Moreover, this study contributes to understanding and further analyzing management capabilities for developing remedial measures while planning the implementation of an enterprise system in their organizations prior to the occurrence of different issues and challenges ahead. The study also led to understanding and explaining socio-technical issues and their severity.

Qualitative research and educational leadership

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 798-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Brooks ◽  
Anthony H. Normore
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Collection Strategies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight issues relayed to appropriate design and conduct of qualitative studies in educational leadership. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a conceptual/logical argument that centers around the notion that while scholars in the field have at times paid attention to such dynamics, it is important that issues special to the field are considered by all. Findings – The major findings indicate that researchers/analysts need to determine not only the existence and accessibility of the qualitative research design and its various data collection strategies for leadership studies but also its authenticity and usefulness, taking into account the original purpose, the context in which it is produced and the intended audience. Originality/value – Certain aspects of the paper relate to general issues of sound and generally accepted standards of research practice, but the authors also consider several issues that make educational leadership scholarship unique. The originality of the paper draws attention to certain dynamics that scholars should consider when designing and conducting qualitative research on educational leadership. In doing so, the authors not only draw on the literature but also on their own experience designing, conducting and publishing qualitative research on educational leadership.

Purpose, passion and play

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabre Cherkowski ◽  
Keith Walker
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Human Development ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Organizations ◽  
Leading Schools

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and elaborate on the construct of flourishing in schools as understood through the stories and explanations provided by a small group of public school principals. Framed within a positive organizational perspective, the specific objectives of this study are: to identify how school leaders understand and experience flourishing in their roles and in their schools; to explore the conditions, catalysts and/or galvanizing forces of flourishing in schools. Design/methodology/approach – The researchers used an electronic Delphi survey to gain a qualitative description of the understandings and impressions of the construct of flourishing from the perspective of practicing school administrators in one school district in central British Columbia. Delphi responses were aggregated after each round and thematically analysed to determine patterns and trends for further examination through progressive iterations of the survey administered via e-mail. The final set of data were then analysed for patterns, trends and themes that were compared and contrasted against research findings in the literature underpinning the theoretical framework for this study. Findings – While there was no single definition of what it means to flourish in the work of school leadership, shared descriptions from these principals indicated that they feel a sense of flourishing when they are working together with teachers from a sense of purpose and passion and in a spirit of play to cultivate learning climates that reflect a shared ownership for improving educational experiences for students. These initial findings provoke thinking about the potentials and benefits of shifting the focus of research and practice in educational leadership towards more positive, strengths-based perspectives. Research limitations/implications – The sample size was small, and so generalizing findings beyond this study is unreasonable. Further, because the researchers separated participant information from responses in order to safeguard anonymity and to aggregate the responses to provide these back to participants for their further elaboration and reflections, they were unable to determine whether particular responses were connected to context (elementary or secondary, size of school, years of experience as an administrator), gender or other demographic factors. However, the use of the electronic Delphi instrument provided insights on engaging school principals in thoughtful inquiry as participants, while respecting the busy workload and time constraints associated with the work of school principals. Practical implications – Attending to well-being in the work of leading schools is an under-researched area of educational leadership. This study is an example of how researching educational leadership from a positive, strengths-based, human development perspective may provide useful insights for supporting principals and other educators to notice, nurture and sustain a sense of flourishing in their work and across the school. While further research is needed to examine the construct of flourishing across a diverse range of school organizations, the findings from this study provoke thinking about the benefits of studying what goes well, what brings vitality and a more full sense of humanity in the work of leading school organizations. Originality/value – The researchers use a new perspective for examining and explaining the phenomenon of flourishing in schools, a positive organizational research orientation. The use of this strengths-based, positive, human development approach to examining the construct of flourishing from the perspective of school principals can offer new insights and strategies for attending to well-being as an integral part of the work of leading schools.

Empirical verification of the “TACT” framework for teaching rigour in qualitative research methodology

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Kei Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Qualitative Research Methods ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Empirical Verification ◽  
Qualitative Research Methodology ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Research Studies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a framework intended to guide students and novice researchers in learning about the necessary dimensions for assessing the rigour of qualitative research studies. The framework has four dimensions – (T)rustworthiness, (A)uditability, (C)redibility and (T)ransferability. The development of TACT is informed by various discourses of rigour in the qualitative research methods literature. Results of an empirical verification of TACT suggests that postgraduate students and faculty learning qualitative research found the framework useful for learning rigour in qualitative research methods. TACT also serves as an important theoretical tool for setting directions for further discourses on teaching and learning critical aspects of rigour in qualitative research methodology. Design/methodology/approach The formal verification of the TACT started with a development of a rating tool. The tool consisted of a total of 16 items, 4 items per each dimension. The items were ranked on five-scale Likert points (1=very important, 2=important, 3=neutral, 4=less important, 5=not important). The instrument was piloted and tested for reliability revealing an overall Cronbach’s α (α=0.86), which indicates a good level of internal consistency (George and Mallery, 2003) among the dimensions. The tool was put online and sent out to participants enroled in workshops on “assessing rigour in qualitative research studies”. Findings Overall, participants found TACT to be a useful framework for learning different dimensions for assessing qualitative research. They saw various benefits associated with the use of the framework including providing a better process for undertaking and reporting outcomes of qualitative research and for exploring different dimensions of rigour. Participants also indicated that using TACT facilitates reflexivity and fosters dependability of research outcomes. They stated that TACT could help researchers think about their personal relationship with a phenomenon being studied as well as the quality of data collected. Others said that TACT allows researchers to think about achieving transference and gaining confidence in the research findings. Research limitations/implications TACT is best suited as a teaching toolkit in qualitative research methodology courses. It is also useful as a platform for fostering a shared language in undertaking peer-review of methodological dimensions of qualitative research studies. Practical implications Though a general framework for accessing rigour in qualitative research studies is highly desirable, the usefulness of TACT in rendering rigour is subject to a particular academic tradition. Social implications TACT facilitates the exploration of different dimensions for assessing the outcome of qualitative research. Originality/value TACT is a general framework drawn from the literature and teaching practice and empirically validated.

scholarly journals A grounded theory for research synthesis of selected distance education literature

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsangyao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Education Research ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Research Synthesis ◽  
Synthesis Methods ◽  
Grounded Theory Methodology ◽  
Education Literature ◽  
Research Studies

The purpose of this investigation was twofold: 1) in conducting a research synthesis of distance education research studies using grounded theory methodology, this investigation derived a grounded theory from the distance education literature synthesized; and 2) in order to apply grounded theory for research synthesis, a procedure to coalesce grounded theory and research synthesis methods was developed.

scholarly journals Latina Titans: A Journey ofInspiration

2016 ◽  
pp. 96-115
Author(s):  
Velma Menchaca ◽  
Shirley Mills ◽  
Filomena Leo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Female Leadership ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Leadership In Higher Education ◽  
Latina Critical Race Theory

This qualitative research examined the journey of renowned female leadership in higher education. Two top level Latina administrators of universities were interviewed extensively to discover their journey to leadership. The theoretical framework used was Latina critical race theory, feminist theory, and counter-storytelling. Themes that surfaced were strong supportive mother, fervent faith, humble beginnings, mentors, intelligence, and challenges not obstacles. These guiding themes serve as a path for Latinas who aspire to higher educational leadership positions.

A systematic review of research on educational leadership in Hong Kong, 1995-2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 534-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elson Szeto ◽  
Theodore Tai Hoi Lee ◽  
Philip Hallinger
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Research Synthesis ◽  
System Level ◽  
Leadership And Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Asian Society ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a research synthesis of substantive findings drawn from studies of educational leadership and management in Hong Kong between 1995 and 2014. The goal of the research synthesis was to identify and elaborate on key trends identified by scholars who studied educational leadership in Hong Kong over the past two decades. The synthesis drew upon on relevant articles published in eight “core international journals” specializing in educational leadership and management. Design/methodology/approach – The study first identifies a clearly delimited body of relevant literature comprised of empirical, non-empirical and review/synthesis types of studies in a total of 161 published research articles from the eight journals. Information concerning the nature of the studies as well as substantive findings was extracted from each of the articles. The findings were then initially coded in preparation for data analysis. Synthesis of substantive findings was accomplished by cross-article comparative mapping aimed at identifying key themes in the literature. Findings within four of the most robust themes were then synthesized and reported. Findings – The synthesis highlights the challenges faced in Hong Kong’s efforts to reshape its education in a multi-faceted quest for quality education in the twenty-first century. A variety of inter-related issues emerged as policymakers and education administrators sought to implement a full plate of imported globally recognized education reforms. Analysis of the research from this period yielded four robust themes: “leadership development,” “leadership for learning,” “organizational change,” “multi-level performance focus.” The findings also further highlight the impact of “education policy borrowing” on system-level efforts to revamp the structural conditions in which school leaders operate and reshape managerial, as well as teaching and learning processes in schools. Research limitations/implications – Although the scope of the sources included in the review are highly representative of the “Hong Kong literature” of the past two decades, the authors note that it was not an “exhaustive” review of all potential sources. Originality/value – Prior research by Hallinger and Bryant (2013b) had identified Hong Kong as having produced the largest volume of literature in educational leadership and management in Asia. This paper represents the first systematic review of research findings that emerged in the recent educational leadership literature produced in Hong Kong. Therefore, although the authors make no claims of generalizability to other parts of Asia or even to China as a whole, the paper offers insight into how global trends have reshaped the practice of educational leadership in one East Asian society.

Hotspots in Psychology – 2020 Edition

2020 ◽  
Vol 228 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Michael Bošnjak ◽  
Nadine Wedderhoff
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Research Synthesis ◽  
Synthesis Methods ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
The Common ◽  
Meta Analyses

Abstract. This editorial gives a brief introduction to the six articles included in the fourth “Hotspots in Psychology” of the Zeitschrift für Psychologie. The format is devoted to systematic reviews and meta-analyses in research-active fields that have generated a considerable number of primary studies. The common denominator is the research synthesis nature of the included articles, and not a specific psychological topic or theme that all articles have to address. Moreover, methodological advances in research synthesis methods relevant for any subfield of psychology are being addressed. Comprehensive supplemental material to the articles can be found in PsychArchives ( https://www.psycharchives.org ).

scholarly journals Motherhood and decision-making among women living with HIV in developed countries: a systematic review with qualitative research synthesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariadna Huertas-Zurriaga ◽  
Patrick A. Palmieri ◽  
Joan E. Edwards ◽  
Sandra K. Cesario ◽  
Sergio Alonso-Fernandez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Synthesis ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Reproductive Decision ◽  
Women Living With Hiv ◽  
Reproductive Decision Making ◽  
Living With Hiv

Abstract Background Women living with HIV (WLH) lack evidence-based information about reproductive options while managing pressures from family, clinicians, and communities to give up the idea of having children. As the reproduction intentions of WLH are not well understood, stigmatizing behaviors force them to hide their disease to avoid rejection by their family, partner, and social networks. Compliance with social norms, fear of stigma, and discrimination influence their experience. Current research is individual qualitative studies lacking the synthesis perspective necessary to guide intervention development. The purpose of this study was to synthesize the evidence to explain the reproductive decision-making process for WLH in developed countries. Methods A systematic review with qualitative research synthesis was conducted through searches in 10 electronic databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Scopus, Social Science Citation Index, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Cuidatge, Cuiden Enfispo, and SciELO). Studies published in journals from 1995 to 2019 with qualitative data about reproductive decision-making among WLH in developed countries were eligible for inclusion. Developed country was operationalized by membership in the OECD for comparative conditions of social wellbeing and economic stability. The CASP and JBI checklists for qualitative research were used to assess study quality and methodological integrity. Thematic analysis and qualitative meta-summary techniques were used for the synthesis. Results Twenty studies from 12 developed countries were included in the synthesis. Findings were organized into 3 meta-themes from 15 themes and 45 subthemes, including: (1) Shattered identity, (2) Barriers, inequities, and misinformation, (3) Coping, resiliency, and support. Reproductive decision-making was perceived as a complex process influenced by facilitators and barriers. The facilitators helped WLH cope with their new situation to become more resilient, while the barriers made their situation more difficult to manage. Conclusion WLH encounter reproductive decision-making with knowledge deficits and limited social support. An integrated approach to holistic care with comprehensive multidisciplinary counseling is needed to support WLH. Clinicians could benefit from professional development to learn how to be authentically present for WLH, including engaging in conversations, demonstrating compassion, and understanding situations. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines need to be tailored for the family planning and sexual health needs of WLH.

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