Badillo-Vega, Rosalba; Krücken, Georg; Pineda, Pedro (2021): Changing analytical levels and methods of leadership research on university presidents. In: Studies in Higher Education 46 (4), S. 677-689.

The authors conducted a systematic literature review of 111 empirical studies published between 1969 and 2018. We found that research does not exponentially grow in comparison to research on higher education or leadership; empirical research emerging in the 1980s does not completely replace non-empirical inquiry. Studies from English-speaking authors predominate. Research is characterized by the qualitative studies representative of over two thirds of publications; mixed-methods and international comparative approaches are uncommon. Altogether, 80 articles approach the person, 73 the organizational level and 30 the social context. They conclude that comparative approaches, mixed methods and a major focus on the societal environment may represent promising approaches to the study of presidential leadership.