Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

Principals are decision makers (Hoy & Miskel, 2001; Lunenburg, 2010). Daily decisions are made along a wide spectrum of issues all of which impact students in some way, shape, or form (Wiseman, 2005). Principals must consider all stakeholders in all decisions made and bear in mind what is in the best interest of students (Queen & Queen, 2005). The purpose of this study was to ascertain if leadership style, mindset, and self-efficacy impacted principal decision making. A quantitative study was conducted to determine if relationships existed between the predictor variables of leadership style, mindset, self-efficacy, gender, years of experience, or locale and the criterion variable of decision making. Two null hypotheses were tested. The first null discerned whether leadership style, mindset, and self-efficacy had a significant impact on secondary school principals decision making. A simultaneous multiple regression was administered. It was determined that all three predictor variables of leadership style, mindset, and self-efficacy did explain a significant amount of variance in the criterion variable of decision making. Leadership style was the strongest predictor followed by mindset and then finally by self-efficacy. The second null hypothesis focused on the characteristics of gender, years of experience, and locale and whether or not these predictor variables had a significant impact on the criterion variable of decision making. Again, simultaneous multiple regression was employed. The results of the regression test analyzed the variance between the predictor variables in relation to the criterion variable. The predictor variables did not explain a significant amount of variance within the decision-making score. Implications for principals and other school leaders along with further research suggestions are discussed.

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