Resilience and management factors in education managers of different experience and status: a resource approach

Introduction. This paper continues the series of studies on the psychological resources and limitations of education managers. The “resource” concept includes the ability to perform high-quality managerial activities and the prospect for risk-reduction with respect to limitations imposed by the characteristics of the individual. The study of resources/limitations contributes to the development of management culture, introspection skills, and the ability to associate personal ideas with corporate goals and strategies. Aim. The paper aims to verify the idea that managerial resilience and resources/limitations are the components of psychological resources of education managers and depend on their experience and status. Materials and Methods. The study involved 315 education managers from the Leningrad Region and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. The sample was divided based on the institutional level, the scope of functional and managerial responsibilities, and the managerial experience of participants. The Resilience questionnaire (S. Maddy) and the Critical Blockages Survey (M. Woodcock, D. Francis) were used. Statistical processing was performed with dispersion analysis; comparative analysis (Kruskal-Wallis test, Student's T-test), multiple regression analysis. Results. A management factor as a concept was clarified being the ratio of managerial resources and limitations. The relationship between management factors and resilience was found, as well as their features with respect to professional experience and status. Resilience models were built and described with respect to managerial experience. The limitations associated with the methodology of M. Woodcock and D. Francis were found as soon as it was too practice-oriented, with ambiguous terminology and structure. Conclusion. The results obtained show the correlation between management evaluation and activity features. The hypothesis about the effect of resources/limitations and their amount on resilience has been verified, as well as the hypothesis about the integral effect of resources/limitations and resilience, which depends on professional experience.