Ulrika Haake

Doing Leadership in Higher Education: The gendering process of leader identity development

How leadership is done in higher education is analysed through a longitudinal interview study among the heads of department at a Swedish university. The focus is directed towards the construction and reconstruction of leader identity from the time when the heads were novices up until four years later when they were more experienced. The main result is the emergence of a gendering process in the discourse on academic leadership. At the end of the leadership assignment period, male and female department heads did not ever share the same subject positions and leader identity was described in differing terms in subject positions held by women and men, respectively. Three common identity development processes emerged: a vague development process where a non-head of department identity was strong over time (men), a process towards a positive and clear manager identity (men), and a process towards a gender-focused and problemoriented leader identity (women).

Police leaders make poor change agents: leadership practice in the face of a major organisational reform

ABSTRACT The present article examines expectations on police leaders during major organisational change pressures. Based on policy analysis and interviews with 28 police leaders, the paper seeks to answer the following question: How do police leaders’ accounts of leadership practice relate to expectations from higher ranks (above), subordinates (below) and police policies concerning leadership? The results of the paper indicate that police leaders are squeezed into a position between demands from above (top management) and demands from below (lower organisational tiers). Some of the perceived expectations and practiced leadership actions are also gendered. For example, women feel the need to prove their credibility as leaders and to act in both a caring and daring manner, something that is not evident for male police leaders. Furthermore, the material indicates a considerable mismatch between the different sets of demands expressed in interviews and expectations regarding leadership expressed in police policy discourse, wherein core values and leadership criteria are articulated. In conclusion, the findings indicate a discrepancy between official rhetoric and practice, where the leadership constructed at a policy level deviates from leadership constructed in practice. This discrepancy is argued to represent an effective barrier for change initiatives, and hence the idea that police leaders will be able to function as agents of change promoting organisational reform is highly uncertain.

Working and Learning in Times of Uncertainty

Research on adult, professional and vocational education in a global world is timely (Farrell & Fenwick, 2007). Globalisation and economic crises are the trends that most dramatically transform ...

Conditions for gender equality in police leadership – making way for senior police women

Abstract This paper aims to analyse and discuss conditions for gender equality in police leadership. This is done by interviewing 28 sworn police leaders in Sweden, and using a doing gender perspective for analyses. The results show that women and, to a greater extent, men in police leadership do gender traditionally. Explanations for the lack of female leaders and strategies for increasing the number of female leaders are shown to either focus on women as individuals (mostly men) or organisational structure and culture (mostly women). Further, strategies to reach gender equality goals are critically examined. These could be used to create concrete diversity and equality work within police and other organisations. Whether or not quantitative gender equality work (raising the number of females in leadership positions) can create changes in qualitative gender equality (the learning of new norms to change experiences of inclusion and exclusion in relation to gender) is discussed.

Police Leadership Practice in Times of Uncertainty and Organisational Turmoil

Resonating on the themes of globalisation, change and uncertainty, the following chapter offers a critical discussion regarding the role of leadership in occupational and organisational ambitions of renewal. An often espoused image of leaders in times of change is that of a guide showing the way for a work-group or organisation on a journey towards the desired future state of being (cf. Gill, 2002).

Firefighting training at a distance – a longitudinal study

Abstract This article presents an analysis of a five-year study on the implementation of a technology-supported distance programme in Swedish firefighter training. Based on activity theory and four interview studies, the attention is directed to firefighter instructors’ perceptions and use of digital technologies with a focus on challenges, contradictions and changes. Two phases are identified, viz an implementation phase and a dissemination phase. During the implementation phase a clear contradiction emerges regarding how the object of the training should be interpreted, which results in the instructors responsible for the implementation reconsidering previous beliefs and, with the support of digital technologies, developing more theoretical and process-oriented approaches and improving the course design. However, during the dissemination phase, when all instructors are involved, a number of conflicts and dilemmas emerge, resulting in the changes achieved in the distance programme to some extent being normalised in the direction of the instructor-centred and exercise-oriented approaches of the campus programme. The article concludes with a discussion about contradictions as well as opportunities that may emerge during the implementation process of a vocational technology-supported distance programme.

Firefighter learning at a distance : a longitudinal study

This article presents a summary analysis of a 5-year study on the implementation of a technology-supported distance firefighter training programme in Sweden, focused on the firefighter students’ learni ...