Date of Award
12-2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Educational Leadership - Higher Education
Committee Member
Russ Marion, Committee Chair
Committee Member
Robert Knoeppel
Committee Member
Cynthia Sims
Committee Member
Gilbert Merkx
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to explore the nature of complex adaptive systems (CAS) and network dynamics in international education (IE) programs in a U.S. higher education institution. I analyze the IE programs through a lens of complexity and network theories and ask how measures of engagement in complex networks affect performance in the IE system. This study presumes that today's international education programs in the U.S. higher education institutions are complex adaptive systems and that traditional leadership is no longer adequate to address the overwhelming opportunities and challenges posed by global education. A two-stage quantitative research design is adopted to investigate network structures and interactions within the IE system and to describe how such network measures impact organizational performance. In Stage 1, Dynamic Network Analysis (DNA) is used to calculate agent-level network measures for each participant within the university IE system's bounded networks and to produce optimized simulations of the IE system for use in Stage 2. In Stage 2, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is used to examine the relationship between independent and dependent measures. In this study, the independent network measures include (a) informal leadership, which is operationalized as betweenness centrality, (b) clique engagement, which is operationalized as clustering coefficient, and (c) social capital, which is operationalized as hub centrality. These independent measures are used to analyze the dependent measure, organizational performance, which is operationalized as task accuracy. A dynamic network framework of international education is proposed as a useful network model and leadership framework for enabling international education functions, senior international officers (SIOs), and their institutions to achieve excellence and succeed in a new era of global education and knowledge producing.
Recommended Citation
Hu, Po, "Exploring Dynamics and Performance of International Education (IE) and Senior International Officer (SIO) Through a Lens of Complexity and Network Theories" (2018). All Dissertations. 2253.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2253