Date of Award

7-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

First Advisor

Paul Caron, PhD, Committee Chair

Second Advisor

Tara Coste, PhD, Committee Chair

Third Advisor

Dami Alegbeleye, PhD

Abstract

Decision-making has been studied and researched for centuries, as have the leadership qualities associated with it. In today’s complicated world, decision-making of organizational leaders is more scrutinized than ever, and this investigation will examine what the decision-making process looks like for principals in public schools (Evans & Semrau, 2015). Organizational leadership and organizational demographics are also compared to decision-making style. This study collected decision-making data from public school principals in Maine who work at schools with 50% or less free and reduced lunch as well as leadership effectiveness data from faculty and staff in those schools. An ANOVA was run to find levels of significance between the decision-making style of the principal and their leadership effectiveness as perceived by the faculty and staff. Results from the study of 38 principals and 245 faculty and staff members show that there is a significant level of variance between certain decision-making styles and the perception of a leader's effectiveness. The data from this study will help inform future leaders on best practices in the decision-making process. It expands understanding of what leaders do when they make their decisions and how those processes are related to organizational demographics and organizational leadership.

Comments

Full list of Advisors:

Paul Caron, PhD, Committee Chair Tara Coste, PhD, Committee Chair Dami Alegbeleye, PhD Krister Lowe, PhD July 1st 2025 Portland, Maine

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