Leadership behavior of athletic directors in Jesuit colleges/universities and its relationship to supported student-athlete graduation rates
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between supported student athlete graduation rates and leadership behavior of athletic directors in Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire form 5X-Rater (Bass & Avolio, 1990). The athletic directors of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities were assessed on their leadership behavior using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, which assesses transformational, transactional, laissez-faire, and leadership outcomes of satisfaction, effectiveness, and extra effort. The leadership behavior of each athletic director was reported on by any or all of the following observers: (a) the college or university president, (b) the college dean, (c) the academic vice president, (d) an academic advisor, (e) head coaches of men's intercollegiate teams, and (f) head coaches of women's intercollegiate teams. For each school, graduation rates for the 1987-1988 freshman class cohort groups were collected for each of the participating schools from official NCAA Division I or NAIA Division II or III graduation rate reports for the total student body population and for supported student athletes. The major findings of the study can be summarized as follows: (1) Academics occupying administrative positions perceived athletic directors as more transformational and less transactional than did coaches, and viewed leadership outcomes of satisfaction and effectiveness more positively than did coaches. (2) There was a positive relationship between the transformational leadership behavior of the athletic director and the graduation rates of female minority supported student athletes. (3) There was a negative relationship between management-by-exception of the athletic director and the graduation rates of female minority supported student athletes. (4) There was a negative relationship between laissez-faire behavior of the athletic director and the ratios of graduation rates of female minority supported student athletes to total minority female student body graduation rates. (5) When compared on academics' perceptions of the athletic directors' transformational leadership, the ratios of white male and female supported student athlete graduation rates to total student graduation rates were higher in the high transformational schools. (6) When compared to coaches' perceptions of the athletic directors' transformational leadership, the minority female supported student athlete graduation rates were higher in the high transformational schools.
Subject Area
School administration|Physical education
Recommended Citation
Zwiren, Martin Louis, "Leadership behavior of athletic directors in Jesuit colleges/universities and its relationship to supported student-athlete graduation rates" (1995). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9543468.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9543468
