Middle Management in Public Administration Education Programs: Insights From the Middle Seat for Higher Education

Higher education in the United States is grappling with turmoil that it has not seen in decades. In the zeal to wrestle with these challenges, the higher education sector offers insights and prescriptions to contend with the present challenges. In these responses, however, insights from public administration research and those individuals that occupy mid-level management positions are often absent. We contend that by examining mid-level managers (e.g. chairs and program directors) through a public administration lens, meaningful and actionable practices to support US higher education might be offered. More specifically, we apply research from public service motivation and front-line workers to explore interview and survey data from more than 70 higher ed mid-level managers. The exploratory findings illustrate why we need to pay attention to the experiences of chairs and directors in public affairs schools given their positionality within an organization, their motivations to support students, and how they navigate workplace challenges (e.g. transition planning, professional development).