The Emotional Politics of Educational Leaders in Higher Education Institutions: A Discursive Perspective

Abstract

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are run under a set hierarchy of executive, operative and administrative levels of educational leaders with a prescribed pattern of processes and functions. A variety of diverse tasks with varied complexities are assigned to the educational leaders of all levels which are expected to be completed within the set time frame. Under such situations, the emotions of the educational leaders play an important role in helping them perform their tasks and achieve the set goals. The current study highlights the elements of educational leaders' emotions' interplay in institutional functioning, emotional relationships between educational leaders and colleagues, their struggle for supremacy over colleagues and micro-politics of Educational Leaders' emotions within their institutions. The study encompasses a combination of five sub-themes that highlight dynamics of emotions and the politics at play in educational leaders' lives. These sub themes are based on the unresolved issues in the approaches of Educational Leaders' emotions including the relationships between emotions and rationality, emotional programming and controlling, emotional denial and sublimation, emotional humanism and behaviorism, and the relationship between emotions and leadership styles. The data for this study were collected through 12 structured interviews with educational leaders of public and private sector HEIs of Sindh. The results indicated the significance of micro-politics of educational leaders emotions in HEIs for its effective functioning. Five themes highlighting emotional micro politics of educational leaders emerged from the thematic analysis: (a) rationality versus emotionality (b) perceived and displayed emotional displays (c ) state of emotional denial (d) behaviourist and humanist emotions (e) programmed and controlled emotions. The educational leaders try to maintain a balance between the psychological, social, emotional and political aspects of leadership within HEIs. Their emotions have been marginalized and considered as barriers in the process of effective institutional functioning. Rationality is given a preference over emotionality and its utilization is considered to be a myth. In addition, the research increases knowledge about how Educational Leaders learn to negotiate emotionally intensive situations and use various strategies in the emotional micro-political context of their work within the HEIs.

Strategic Methods for Departmental Growth within Higher Education in the U.S. during Tough Economic Times: A Case Study

“…Similar to many other institutions of higher education, the small private college reviewed here has undergone significant, ongoing changes (Hashmi, Saad, & Madden, 2018) and has been tremendously impacted by several financially debilitating factors over the past several years. Of these issues, a major economic recession and a significant decline in enrollment have been the biggest contributors to the recent fiscal struggles experienced by the institution.…”