| Community college leaders are confronting multifarious challenges such as raising graduation rates, declining enrollments, increasing budget cuts, balancing workforce preparation and transfer programs, offering baccalaureate degrees, providing a safe campus environment, and increasing diversity concerns. These challenges and many more are steadily increasing and rapidly changing. In addition, the graying of community college leadership is on the rise. Many community college presidents, upper-level administrators, and experienced faculty who began their careers in the sixties, seventies, and eighties are nearing the end of their careers, leaving key leadership openings to be filled. Today, community college leaders are confronted with the task of preparing and recruiting qualified individuals to fill the positions being left vacant by the retirement of a generation of Baby Boomers. At the same time, the demographics of the community college student population are becoming more diverse and there is a lack of diverse candidates in the leadership pipeline. This dissertation is a critical interpretative synthesis of scholarly and grey literature that addresses preparing and recruiting diverse individuals in leadership positions in community colleges. This dissertation examines and analyzes the literature regarding leadership competencies the next generation of leaders will need to have to be effective leaders, identifies strategies community college leaders can employ to prepare the next generation of leaders, and recommends specific strategies on preparing minorities to assume and succeed in leadership positions. The findings provide guidance to institutions on strategies regarding the organizational culture, recruitment and hiring, and professional development as practices to prepare and recruit the next generation of leaders. |
