In 2007, as part of the ALTC discipline based initiative, architecture academics across Oceania were surveyed by the authors about their opinion on a range of matters including the importance of effective management and leadership in a design school. Almost 57% of all academics responded to this survey and the overwhelming result of the questions in this area was that academics were unwilling to take on leadership or management positions in Schools of Architecture and that most would actively avoid being placed in such a position. These results were the trigger for a series of questions that were part of follow-up interviews and focus groups to gain a deeper level of understanding of the issues raised in the survey. The present paper provides the first detailed reporting of the interview data relating to issues of leadership and management in architecture programs. The paper categorizes the interview results by theme and frequency before providing an overview of academics' perceptions of leadership positions in architecture and design programs. Significantly, the interviews record the opinions of academics from all levels including those currently in leadership positions.
ConnectED 2010: 2nd International Conference on Design Education. Proceedings of ConnectED 2010: 2nd International Conference on Design Education (Sydney 28 June - 1 July, 2010)