Factors predisposing to shared governance: a qualitative study

Abstract

BackgroundThe method of implementing shared governance varies among organizations. Identifying the predisposing factors can facilitate and precipitate its successful implementation and aid educational institutions in achieving their goals. This study determined the antecedents of shared governance in nursing schools.MethodsEleven participants including faculty members of nursing schools, and managers of three major medical universities of Tehran were selected using purposive sampling method and underwent in-depth semi-structured interviews in this qualitative study. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data.ResultsData analysis led to the emergence of four categories including the participatory context of higher education institutions, infrastructural obligations, coordination with contemporary needs, and participation-oriented managers resulting in twelve subcategories.ConclusionThis study showed that managers can play a key role in the successful implementation of shared governance in the appropriate context of higher education institutions. Hence, the deliberate selection of managers who believe in managerial participation and their training are mandatory in nursing schools. The senior or higher level managers of educational institutions can empower themselves and their staff in participatory skills along with providing suitable resources of work serving as a suitable model of participation.

Development and Validation of a Shared Governance Feasibility Instrument in Nursing Schools in Iran

“…In addition, their managerial experience showed a range from one to 24 years. All participants, except for one general practitioner, were specialists in nursing school management [17,21].…”

“…The results of the hybrid phase led to extraction of 470 primary codes in the theoretical step and 937 primary codes in the fieldwork step. These codes were finally classified in final analysis step into 45 subcategories and 14 categories based on semantic similarity, and a general theme labeled "several souls in one body" (Table 1) [17,21].…”

“…Thereafter, during a fieldwork step, 13 participants including one member of a nursing board in Ministry of Health (MOH), three intermediary managers of medical universities in Tehran city, and nine faculty members of nursing schools were interviewed. They were selected with a purposive sampling method designed to ensure maximal variety in age, gender, specialty, and work experience in higher education centers [17,21].…”

“…Of 349 papers retrieved from the initial search, 22 articles related to exact research goals and related to shared governance instruments and guidelines. In the fieldwork step, the first author performed semi-structured deep interviews with 13 participants to extract the intended items [17,21]. The inclusion criteria consisted of any studies that were in Persian or English language, systematic review, qualitative and/or quantitative, integrative and psychometric, and full-text articles.…”

“…In some cases, only some part of the above-mentioned instrument has been used [11]. Additionally, reviewing the literature we found that a no fully-fledged study explored or reported the feasibility of implementation of shared governance in Iranian educational centers [7,21].…”