The relationship of athletic director perceived leadership behaviors to student athlete academic and athletic performance at NCAA DII institutions

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The purpose of this quantitative study was to advance the research in the leadership field of intercollegiate athletics at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II (NCAA DII) level. Particular focus was on the transactional and transformational leadership behaviors, as the independent variables, perceived by NCAA DII athletic directors, as to the relationship to defined organizational outcomes. Conceptual underpinnings were supported by Bass and Avolio's (2004) leadership theory as measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) survey. The dependent variables were determined by the athletic-graduation rates and athletic team standings, based upon institutional data. The secondary focus was to gain an understanding of the demographic characteristics of the study group. The statistical findings of the study did not reveal that any significant differences existed between the leadership behavior factors and the defined organizational outcomes. Statistical results did find that relationships existed between IAD leadership factors and demographic characteristics. The IADs with more tenure at their current institution and at the NCAA DII level, utilized significantly more transactional and transformational leadership behaviors supporting Bass and Avolio's (2004) Augmentation Model of Transactional and Transformational Leadership. The overall philosophy of balance between academic and athletic achievement, as defined by the NCAA DII, supports and emphasizes that further research should be conducted at the NCAA DII level. If a problem exists for collegiate athletic leaders to balance academic and athletic achievement, it is recommended that these academic and athletic performance outcomes become part of the equation of the organizational leadership effectiveness definition and debate. It is recommended that higher education officials provide degree programs that teach a combination of higher education leadership theory and understanding plus sport management practices, where typically it is separated in one degree program or the other. Leadership practitioners in this collegiate athletic organizational context are recommended to further the research.