EXPLORING CHALLENGES OF MIDDLE LEADERSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY OF A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY

Studies on middle leadership in higher education are well documented in western literature. However, middle leadership is largely under-researched in Vietnam, and this has inhibited the development of educational leadership in this country. This paper presents some main aspects of educational leadership from a study which investigated the experiences of ten mid-level leaders at a university in Vietnam. This qualitative study was located within the interpretive research paradigm and used a case study method to explore human leadership experiences and perceptions. It adopted two data collection methods, semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire, and used thematic analysis as the data coding framework. The participants of this study were ten middle leaders of a university in the south of Vietnam, half of whom were female. They were selected according to criteria that included balance in gender, a wide range of age and professional experiences, and representation for different units across the university. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the setting of Vietnamese higher education and presents the challenges in leadership work experienced by educational leaders and managers at this university. It is aimed at providing guidance for improving the quality of leadership work for this university, and more broadly, for other universities throughout the country.