At a Crossroads

A volume in UCEA Leadership SeriesSeries Editor: Michelle D. Young, UCEA Executive Director for the UCEA SeriesThe official book series ofthe University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA)This volume presents the results of a comprehensive study of educational leadership faculty andthe departments and programs in which they work. It reports the characteristics, activities, andattitudes of educational leadership faculty members involved in university-based educationalleadership preparation programs in 2008 and provides longitudinal comparisons with data from studies conducted since 1972. Thefindings are compared by type of institution and with respondents grouped by sex, race, administrative experience, type of appointment(tenure-line or clinical), length of time in the professoriate, and affiliation with the University Council for Educational Administrationand the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration. Findings indicate that while the number of university-basedleadership preparation programs continues to grow, the average faculty size has declined. Among major trends are an increase in femalefaculty members from 2% of the faculty in 1972 to 45% in 2008 and the reduction in gender differences in activities and attitudes sincethe mid-1980s. Also, over the past few decades, there has been a significant increase in faculty occupying non-tenure-line positions,having administrative experience, and focusing on leadership in general in contrast to a content specialization. These and otherdevelopments have significant implications for leadership preparation programs and forknowledge production in our field.