The purpose of this paper is to provide a content analysis of studies in the field of higher education that were published in the ten of the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) journals specialized in higher education and leadership and management from 2008 to 2012 respectively. Amongst 47 articles were identified as relevant to the topic of leadership in higher education, containing a total of 32 articles were found in the higher education journals and 15 articles in the journals specialized in the area of leadership and management, which were cross analyzed by published years, countries, journal, research topic, and citation count. Furthermore, 6 highly-cited articles within the list of journals were chosen for further analysis according to their research settings, participants, research design types, and research methods. The study was expected to give implications for educators and researchers into research trends and patterns of leadership in higher education.

1. SRHE New Researcher Conference, Newport, Wales, United Kingdom, 10 December 2013
Content Analysis of Higher Education Leadership (HEL):
Research and trends from 2008 to 2012
Dr. Sally Wai-Yan WAN
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Email: sallywywan@cuhk.edu.hk
Background
Aim
Research
Questions
Higher educational leadership (HEL)
• Significant roles of HEL in the context of managerialism and diversity
• Definitions of leadership widely ranging from different levels in higher education organizations (i.e. deanship,
academic leadership, distributed leadership, blended leadership, student leadership)
To investigate the research trends in the field of higher education leadership based on the recent 5-year top SSCI
journal publications
1.
2.
3.
4.
What percentage of articles published in these journals were related to leadership in higher education?
What research topics related to leadership in higher education were published in the period 2008-2012?
What were the highly cited research articles in the SSCI related to leadership in higher education in these journals?
What was the trend of the published articles concerning leadership in higher education in these ten journals in recent years?
Content analysis
Methodology
• Gives a more comprehensive review about research trends (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008)
• Provides a means for identifying, organizing, indexing, and retrieving data (Berg, 2001)
Selection criteria for analysing journal publications
• SSCI database
• High impact factors
• Specialism: higher education & leadership and management
HEL research: developed vs. developing?
Impact factor
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Total
Review of Higher Education
1.324
Journal of Higher Education
1.150
Higher Education
0.937
Studies in Higher Education
0.982
Research in Higher Education
0.935
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
0.912
Higher Education Research & Development
0.901
Teaching in Higher Education
0.757
Journal of College Student Development
0.678
1/17
(5.88%)
1/25
(4%)
0/83
(0%)
0/44
(0%)
1/38
(2.63%)
0/53
(0%)
0/30
(0%)
0/51
(0%)
1/41
(2.44%)
0/27
(0%)
1/15
(6.67%)
0/25
(0%)
2/93
(2.15%)
0/57
(0%)
0/35
(0%)
0/55
(0%)
0/42
(0%)
0/50
(0%)
0/37
(0%)
0/26
(0%)
0/18
(0%)
0/29
(0%)
1/84
(1.19%)
1/56
(1.79%)
0/37
(0%)
1/56
(1.79%)
0/49
(0%)
0/52
(0%)
2/48
(4.17%)
2/27
(7.41%)
0/19
(0%)
1/27
(3.70%)
3/89
(3.37%)
1/55
(1.82%)
0/40
(0%)
0/55
(0%)
2/55
(3.64%)
0/56
(0%)
1/49
(2.04%)
0/26
(0%)
1/26
(3.85%)
4/32
(12.5%)
2/96
(2.08%)
2/59
(3.39%)
0/38
(0%)
0/70
(0%)
0/57
(0%)
0/56
(0%)
0/58
(0%)
1/25
(4%)
3/95
(3.16%)
6/138
(4.35%)
8/445
(1.80%)
4/271
(1.48%)
1/188
(0.53%)
1/289
(0.35%)
2/233
(0.86%)
0/265
(0%)
4/233
(1.72%)
3/131
(2.29%)
Higher Education Policy
Nil*
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Table 1a. Number of articles related to HEL in higher education journals from 2008 to 2012
Impact factor
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Total
Academy of Management Learning & Education
4.800
Leadership Quarterly
4.295
Journal of Management Studies
4.255
Management Learning
1.676
Management Decision
1.302
Leadership
1.159
Management Communication Quarterly
0.875
Educational Administration Quarterly
0.745
Educational Management Administration Leadership
0.638
Nonprofit Management and Leadership
0.580
0/30
(0%)
0/41
(0%)
0/49
(0%)
0/28
(0%)
0/84
(0%)
0/21
(0%)
0/18
(0%)
0/15
(0%)
0/39
(0%)
0/19
(0%)
0/11
(0%)
0/51
(0%)
0/36
(0%)
0/38
(0%)
0/88
(0%)
5/22
(22.73%)
0/24
(0%)
0/18
(0%)
2/38
(5.26%)
0/20
(0%)
0/4
(0%)
0/63
(0%)
0/46
(0%)
0/28
(0%)
1/86
(1.16%)
0/22
(0%)
0/22
(0%)
0/22
(0%)
0/41
(0%)
0/18
(0%)
0/14
(0%)
0/79
(0%)
0/68
(0%)
0/26
(0%)
0/90
(0%)
0/23
(0%)
0/28
(0%)
0/23
(0%)
2/41
(4.88%)
0/17
(0%)
0/38
(0%)
0/76
(0%)
0/53
(0%)
1/26
(3.85%)
0/97
(0%)
0/24
(0%)
0/35
(0%)
0/22
(0%)
4/42
(9.52%)
0/14
(0%)
0/97
(0%)
0/310
(0%)
0/252
(0%)
1/146
(0.68%)
1/445
(0.22%)
5/112
(4.46%)
0/127
(0%)
0/100
(0%)
8/201
(3.98%)
0/88
(0%)
9
8
7
Findings &
Discussion
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Table 1b. Number of articles related to HEL in leadership and management journals from 2008 to 2012
Characteristics of highly-cited papers (citations /yr.: 1.20-3.80)
• Research approach: Quantitative & qualitative
• Participants: academic staff vs. students
• Topics:
 Leadership practice in HE sectors
 Student leadership development
 Gender issue in HE management
Implications
•
•
•
List of 6 highly-cited papers:
1. Bolden, Petrov, & Gosling, J. (2009). Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 37(2), 257-277.
2. Macfarlane (2011). Studies in Higher Education, 36(1), 57-73.
3. Dugan, & Komives (2010). Journal of College Student Development, 51(5), 525-549.
4. Collinson, D., & Collinson, M. (2009). Leadership, 5(3), 365-380.
5. Seifert, Goodman, Lindsay, Jorgensen, Wolniak, Pascarella, & Blaich (2008). Research in Higher Education, 49(2), 107-125.
6. Grummell, B., Devine, D., & Lynch, K. (2009). Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 37(3), 329-349.
Journals with high impact factors: interested in HEL?
Variations in preferences of choosing topics in different journals?
Widely-ranged topics for exploration
References
Berg, B. L. (2001). An introduction to content analysis. In B. L. Berg (Ed.), Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (pp. 238–267). Boston: Allyn and Bacon
Elo, S., & Kyngas, H. (2008). The qualitative content anlysis process. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62(1), 107-115. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x