A Constructivist Grounded Theory of Cross-Sector Partnership Leadership Involving Canadian Postsecondary Education

Ribeiro, Jason

A Constructivist Grounded Theory of Cross-Sector Partnership Leadership Involving Canadian Postsecondary Education

dc.contributor.advisor	Kowch, Eugene
dc.contributor.author	Ribeiro, Jason
dc.contributor.committeemember	Gereluk, Dianne
dc.contributor.committeemember	Bruton, Alexander
dc.date	2023-11
dc.date.accessioned	2023-10-17T21:45:45Z
dc.date.available	2023-10-17T21:45:45Z
dc.date.issued	2023-10-16
dc.description.abstract	Despite ongoing research into educational leadership and innovation, the theoretical grounds for describing and interpreting actor experiences and change dynamics in education cross-sector partnerships (XSPs) are limited. The purpose of this study was to understand how leaders in a large Canadian education XSP network generated and exchanged knowledge to realize their shared objectives. This trisector network involved post-secondary education, industry, and nonprofit partners, and was formed to address Canada’s talent gaps and lagging innovation performance by recruiting and training postsecondary students and recent graduates to work in startup companies. A constructivist grounded theory methodology was employed and a sample of 40 participants was recruited. Interpretation of interview, survey, observation, and textual data was aided using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, a recursive analysis method, and constant comparison. The resulting grounded theory framework indicates that as a partnership deepens from simple operational transactions to more complex adaptive work, greater capacity for emergence is generated. Micro and meso leadership dynamics across the XSP network’s operational-enabling-entrepreneurial capabilities were found to be entangled. Leaders realized their shared objectives through both organized mechanical structures and more flexible opportunities for experimentation. This theory has implications for education XSP leader training that stress the importance of healthy leadership and organizational learning conditions in relational space. A contribution is made to broader educational leadership literature by emphasizing the need for greater use of complex adaptive perspectives in education XSPs. A connection is established between the limitations of complex adaptive perspectives and their overuse in bureaucratic settings.
dc.identifier.citation	Ribeiro, J. (2023). A constructivist grounded theory of cross-sector partnership leadership involving Canadian postsecondary education (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/117397
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/42240
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	cross-sector partnerships
dc.subject	interorganizational collaboration
dc.subject	educational leadership
dc.subject	complex adaptive systems
dc.subject	constructivist grounded theory
dc.subject.classification	Education--Administration
dc.title	A Constructivist Grounded Theory of Cross-Sector Partnership Leadership Involving Canadian Postsecondary Education
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Education Graduate Program – Educational Research
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.