Objective: This article explores entrepreneurial leadership behavior from the vantage point of mid- and senior-level administrators who lead international education initiatives at U.S. community colleges. Administrators’ choices are examined to understand how they develop and use strategies for targeted problem solving within their institutional context. Research questions posed in this study include: (1) How, if at all, do community college international education leaders (CC-IELs) self-identify as entrepreneurs? (2) What characteristics embody a CC-IEL entrepreneurial leader? (3) How are CC-IELs navigators of institutional contexts? Methods: Semi-structured interviews are used to investigate the perspectives and entrepreneurial leadership skills and behaviors of 14 CC-IELs. A narrative analysis approach allowed these leaders to reflect on their perspectives and narrate their decision-making process. Results: Findings indicated that the CC-IELs in this study identified as entrepreneurial leaders, used characteristics such as collaboration to build a culture of innovation, and strategically utilized relationships with stakeholders to ground themselves as navigators of institutional contexts. Contributions: This article contributes to the understanding of an under-studied group of leaders in community colleges, specifically those who lead international education programs. It also provides insight into the entrepreneurial dimensions of CC-IEL leadership roles.
AbbasG.IqbalJ.RiazM. (2012). Relationship between transformational leadership style and innovative work behavior in educational institutions. Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 22(2), 34–44.
AnfaraV. A.BrownK. M.MangioneT. K. (2002). Qualitative research on stage: Making the research process more public. Educational Researcher, 31(7), 28–38. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X031007028
7.
Association of International Education Administrators. (2017). The SIO profile: A preliminary analysis of the survey on senior international education officers, their institutions and offices. Author. https://www.aieaworld.org/surveys
AstinA. W.AstinH. S. (2000). Leadership reconsidered: Engaging higher education in social change. W.K. Kellogg Foundation. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED444437
10.
AudretschD. B. (2014). From the entrepreneurial university to the university for the entrepreneurial society. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 39(3), 313–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-012-9288-1
11.
BattilanaJ.LecaB.SupérieureÉ. (2009). How actors change institutions: Towards a theory of institutional entrepreneurship. The Academy of Management Annals, 3(1), 65–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/19416520903053598
12.
BoggsG. R.IrwinJ. (2007). What every community college leader needs to know: Building leadership for international education. In RabyR. L.ValeauE. J. (Eds.), International reform efforts and challenges in community colleges new directions for community colleges, No. 138 (pp. 25–30). Jossey-Bass. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.278
13.
BoggsG. R.McPhailC. J. (2019). Team leadership in community colleges. Jossey-Bass.
14.
BornsteinD. (2004). How to change the world: Social entrepreneurs and the power of new ideas. Oxford University Press.
15.
BurgessR. G. (2002). In the field: An introduction to field research. Routledge.
Castiello-GutiérrezS.HoyeH. K.GarcíaH. A.McNaughtanJ. (2021). Educators, not bureaucrats: How managerial professionals at international student services centers engage in job crafting and create meaning in their work. Studies in Higher Education, 46(11), 2167–2182. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1716317
18.
CharlesH.PynesP. (2018). The senior international officer as entrepreneur. In DeardorffD. K.CharlesH. (Eds.), Leading internationalization: A handbook for international education leaders (pp. 129–134). Stylus Publishing, LLC.
CruzN.RabyR. L.GlassC. R.FischerH. (2020). Catalyst of change: Entrepreneurial problem-solving for unscripted futures. Association of International Education Administrators AIEA) Occasional Paper. https://www.aieaworld.org/occasional-papers
24.
DeinertA.HomanA. C.BoerD.VoelpelS. C. (2015). Transformational leadership sub-dimensions and their link to leaders’ personality and performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(6), 1095–1120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.08.001
25.
DelgadoM. Y.Ozuna AllenT. (2019). Case studies of women of color leading community colleges in Texas: Navigating the leadership pipeline through mentoring and culture. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 43(10–11), 718–729.
26.
DeschampsE.LeeJ. J. (2015). Internationalization as mergers and acquisitions: Senior international officers’ entrepreneurial strategies and activities in public universities. Journal of Studies in International Education, 19(2), 122–139. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1028315314538284
27.
DruckerP. (1993). Managing for the future. Routledge.
28.
DureeC. (2007). The challenge of the community college presidency in the new millennium: Pathways, preparation, competencies, and leadership programs needed to survive [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Iowa State University].
29.
DyerJ.GregersenH.ChristensenC. M. (2019). Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the five skills of disruptive innovators. Harvard Business Press.
30.
EddyP. L. (2005). Framing the role of leader: How community college presidents construct their leadership. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 29(9/10), 705–727.
31.
EddyP. L. (2010). Community college leadership: A multidimensional model for leading change. Stylus.
32.
EddyP. L.KhwajaT. (2019). What happened to re-visioning community college leadership? A 25-year retrospective. Community College Review, 47(1), 53–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552118818742
33.
EllisM. M.GarciaL. (2017). Generation X presidents leading community colleges: New challenges, new leaders. Rowan & Littlefield.
34.
EstersL. T.WashingtonA.GasmanM.CommodoreF.O’NealB.FreemanS.CarterC.JimenezC. D. (2016). Effective leadership: A toolkit for the 21st-Century Historically Black College and University president. PenGSE School of Education. https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/MSI_LdrshpRprt_R3.pdf
35.
EtikanI.MusaS. A.AlkassimR. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11
36.
EtzkowitzH.WebsterA.GebhardtC.TerraB. R. C. (2000). The future of the university and the university of the future: Evolution of ivory tower to entrepreneurial paradigm. Research Policy, 29(2), 313–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(99)00069-4
FisherJ. L.TackM. W. (Eds.). (1998). Leaders on leadership: The college presidency. New directions for higher education, no. 61. Jossey-Bass.
39.
GlassC. R.LeeJ. J. (2018). When internationalization funding feels tight: Satisfaction with funding and campus internationalization strategies. Journal of Studies in International Education, 22(4), 302–316. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315318773146
40.
Grove-HeuserJ. R. (2016). Women as transformational leaders: Learning to lead in the community college [Dissertation, Portland State University].
41.
GuestG.BunceA.JohnsonL. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
42.
GumportP. J. (2003). The demand-response scenario: Perspectives of community college presidents. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 586, 38–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716202250210
43.
HeylJ. D.HunterF. J. H. (2019). The senior international officer as change agent (2nd ed.). Stylus Publishing, LLC.
KhorshidS.MehdiabadiA. (2021). Effect of organizational identification on organizational innovativeness in universities and higher education institutions of Iran, mediated by risk-taking capability. European Journal of Innovation, 24(4), 1430–1458. http://www.doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-04-2019-0094
46.
KouzesJ. M.PosnerB. Z. (2013). The five practices of exemplary leadership: How ordinary people make extraordinary things happen. In KesslerE. H. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of management theory (pp. 435–437). SAGE.
47.
KumariS. (2017). Leadership in higher education: Role of persons-in-charge of internationalization efforts in community colleges [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida].
48.
MacranderA. (2017). An international solution to a national crisis: Trends in student mobility to the United States post 2008. International Journal of Educational Research, 82, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJER.2016.12.003
49.
MarsM. M.MetcalfA. S. (2009). Entrepreneurship in the contemporary academy. ASHE Higher Education Report, 34(5), 1–111.
50.
MarshallC.RossmanG. B. (2011). Designing qualitative research. SAGE.
51.
MartoranaS. V.ShannonW. G. (1979). International education, the college, and the community: A framework for action. In KingM. C.BreuderR. L. (Eds.), Advancing international education (pp. 11–18). Jossey-Bass.
52.
McClureK. R. (2016). Building the innovative and entrepreneurial university: An institutional case study of administrative academic capitalism. Journal of Higher Education, 87(4), 516–543. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2016.0023
53.
McNairD. E.DureeC. A.EbbersL. (2011). If I knew then what I know now: Using the leadership competencies developed by the American Association of Community Colleges to prepare community college presidents. Community College Review, 39(1), 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552110394831
54.
MilesM.HubermanA. M.SaldañaA. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A sourcebook of new methods (3rd ed.). SAGE.
55.
MorseJ. M. (1994). Designing qualitative research. In DenzinN. K.LincolnY. S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative inquiry (pp. 220–235). Sage.
56.
MountJ.BélangerC. H. (2001). Entrepreneurship and image management in higher education: Pillars of massification. The Canadian Journal of Higher Education/La revue canadienne d’enseignement supérieur, 34(2), 125–140. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v34i2.183459
57.
OakleyE. O.BynumL. A. (2017). An engine of economic growth and a front door to entrepreneurship. Community College Journal, 87(3), 5–6.
58.
O’BanionT. (2019). 13 ideas that are transforming the community college world. Rowman and Littlefield.
59.
OppR. D.GosettiP. P. (2014). The role of key administrators in internationalizing the community college student experience. In RoggowM. J. (Ed.), Strengthening community colleges through institutional collaborations. New directions for community colleges: No. 165 (pp. 67–75). Jossey-Bass.
60.
PattonM. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods? Integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). SAGE.
61.
PhelanD. J. (2016). Unrelenting change, innovation, and risk: Forging the next generation of community colleges. Rowman & Littlefield.
62.
RabyR. L.CultonD.ValeauE. J. (2014). Collaboration: Use of consortium to promote international education. In RoggowM. J. (Ed.), Strengthening community colleges through institutional collaborations. New directions for community colleges: No. 165 (pp. 77–87). Jossey-Bass.
63.
RabyR. L.ValeauE. J. (2021). Position training and succession planning for community college international education leaders. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 43(2), 86–102.
64.
RenkoM.El TarabishyA.CarsrudA. L.BrannbackM. (2015). Understanding and measuring entrepreneurial leadership style. Journal of Small Business Management, 53, 54–74.
65.
RiessmanC. K. (2008). Narrative methods for human sciences. SAGE.
66.
RöpkeJ. (1998). The Entrepreneurial university, innovation, academic knowledge creation and regional development in a globalized economy (Working Paper). Department of Economics, Philipps-Universität Marburg.
67.
SaldañaJ. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). SAGE.
68.
SlaughterS.SlaughterS. A.RhoadesG. (2004). Academic capitalism and the new economy: Markets, state, and higher education. Johns Hopkins University Press.
SteinS. (2021). Critical internationalization studies at an impasse: Making space for complexity, uncertainty, and complicity in a time of global challenges. Studies in Higher Education, 46(9), 1771–1784. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1704722
71.
StevensonH. H. (2000). Why entrepreneurship has won. Coleman White Paper, 2(4), 483.
72.
TaherdoostH. (2016). Sampling methods in research methodology; How to choose a sampling technique for research. International Journal of Academic Research in Management, 5, 18–27. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3205035
73.
TangH.-H.DangB. Y. Y.YeungJ. W. Y.RabyR. L. (2021). Sustaining liberal education by online learning in the era of global crises: The case of community colleges in Hong Kong. In ChanR. Y.BistaK.AllenR. M. (Eds.), Online teaching and learning in higher education during COVID-19 international perspectives and experiences (pp. 113–121). Routledge.
74.
TarkerD. (2019). Transformational leadership and the proliferation of community college leadership frameworks: A systematic review of the literature. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 43(10–11), 672–689. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2019.1600610
75.
TranL. T.NghiaT. L. H. (2020). Leadership in international education: Leaders’ professional development needs and tensions. Higher Education, 80, 479–495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00494-1
76.
ValeauE. J.RabyR. L. (2016). Building the pipeline for community college international education leadership. In RabyR. L.ValeauE. J. (Eds.), International education at community colleges: Themes, practices, research, and case studies (pp. 163–173). Palgrave Macmillan.
77.
ValeauE. J.RabyR. L. (2021). A practical guide to becoming a community college president. Routlege.
78.
VaughanG. B. (2006). The community college story (3rd ed). Community College Press.
79.
WeickK. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Foundations for organizational science series (Vol. 3). SAGE.
80.
WilliamsG. (2003). The enterprising university: Reform, excellence and equity. The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.
