Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6612-6842

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Not Listed

Committee Chair

Erin McHenry-Sorber

Committee Member

Nathan Sorber

Committee Member

John Campbell

Committee Member

Sarah Worley

Abstract

This multi-site case study explored the uncommonly discussed yet organic intersection between the study of crisis communication and the study of crisis leadership and in turn, what it means in the context of a college presidency. This study has a unique focus on women presidents at small, private colleges and the ways in which they communicate with various stakeholders during a crisis environment. The research is guided by Boin’s Model of Crisis Leadership which guides and assesses crisis leadership performance; however this study introduces nuances to the framework that are suggested as a result of the findings; most of which involve deconstructing the historical association between men and leadership.

The research reveals numerous ways in which gender serves as a complicating influence on already complex leadership relations for women college presidents. Furthermore, the findings shed light on the understudied relationship between a board of trustees and their president, especially during a period of crisis. The study concludes with implications for practice such as the necessity for crisis training for college presidents, the critical need for making room for women in leadership systems and supporting them, the consideration for meaning-making and forming an organizational narrative during a crisis to preserve a university’s reputation, and finally, approaching a crisis situation through a systems theory lens to strengthen and enhance organizational change. This research contributes to the growing and relevant scholarship on both crisis communication and women in leadership.

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