This study was designed to fill an identified gap in existing literature. Specifically, this study explored the application of servant leadership principles to community college instructional administration. However, the completion of this study raises other possibilities for research that could be seized by future researchers who wish to broaden or deepen the work done in this study.
The participants in this study were all employed by relatively small community colleges located in primarily rural or small-town communities in western North Carolina. Future research that expands this work to larger community colleges located in urban and suburban areas is recommended. Replication of the study in other parts of the country is warranted, as well.
The participants in this study were all chief academic officers (CAOs). Future research that explores the application of servant leadership principles to other community college administrators, such as presidents, deans, and department heads, is recommended.
This study explored servant leadership only in the two-year, community college setting. Future research should expand upon this work to study the application of servant leadership principles to other types of higher education institutions, such as state universities, private colleges and universities, and for-profit institutions. Exploration of servant leadership in institutions that have a large online teaching component would be a further expansion of this study.
The expansion of servant leadership research into other types of non-profit organizations is suggested. This additional study should include both religious and non-religious organizations.
This study focused solely on contemporary leaders. The use of qualitative historical analysis to explore the leadership styles of educational and other non-profit leaders would be helpful.