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Drivers of Resistance: A Mixed Methods Study of Leader Values
and Changing Veterinary Medical Education Models
A dissertation submitted by
Lisa M. Greenhill
in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
Doctorate of Education
in
Higher Education and Organizational Change
This dissertation has been
accepted for the faculty of
Benedictine University
____________________________ Julie Bjorkman, Ph.D.________ ___________
Dissertation Committee Chair Date
____________________________ Stephen Nunes, PhD ___________
Dissertation Committee Director Date
____________________________ David Granstrom, DVM, PhD._ ___________
Dissertation Committee Reader Date
____________________________ Sunil Chand, Ph.D. _________ __________
Program Director, Faculty Date
____________________________ Eileen Kolich, Ph.D. _________ __________
Faculty Date
____________________________ Ethel Ragland, Ed.D., M.N.,R.N. __________
Acting Dean, College of Education and Health Services Date
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am eternally grateful for my family, my parents, my sisters, extended family and
my new daughter, Leanndra, for their support, encouragement, cheerleading, tear wiping,
vent listening, dog sitting and countless other contributions to my completion of this
doctoral program and most recently the completion of this dissertation. Words really are
unable to capture the depth of my gratitude for all your support right through the very
end.
Thank you to cohort mates who I have laughed, cried, and vented with over the
last four years. Jenni, Aaron, John, Chimere, and Cherie: thank you for your time, your
collegiality and your friendship. I look forward to having many “remember when we…”
moments with you as we step into the next phase of our lives.
I am so fortunate to have worked with a wonderful committee, populated by
incredibly supportive, professional individuals who took a genuine interest in this project
and my success.
To Julie Bjorkman, my chair, thank you for agreeing to work with me and for
offering wonderful advice and guidance along the way. I will never forget one our early
calls when you suggested housekeepers, food planning, and whatever else was necessary
to get this project done. I plan to continue outsourcing all kinds of mundane life tasks as
they help me create the space to focus on big goals and big dreams. Thank you for your
time and thoughtfulness every step of the way.
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To Steve Nunes, my director, thank you for everything. You agreed to work with
me mid-way through my program when I was beginning to develop my crazy interest in
accreditation. I have always enjoyed our discussions and your gentle guidance as I moved
through my internship and through my dissertation. This project is what it is because of
your input and your guidance.
To David Granstrom, you taught me everything I know about accreditation and
then some. You offered much needed cautions to critical interpretations of my
research problem and helped me to frame my study in a way that accurately reflected the
state of the conflict in the profession. This positioned me to offer something more
meaningful and concrete to a profession I have come to love. I am grateful to call you a
colleague and a friend.
Finally, I would like to thank the veterinary medical profession, and organized
veterinary medicine specifically, for allowing me access to professional leaders, and for
allowing me the privilege of attempting to offer something back to a profession that has
been very good to me throughout my career, despite my not actually being a veterinarian.
DEDICATION
To my daughter, Leanndra.
You were only a faraway thought in my mind when I initially dreamed of earning my
doctorate. I found you near the end of this journey, and now I cannot imagine my life
without you. I am so happy you are with me as I achieve this goal.
You have helped me to discover new depths of inspiration, love and compassion. You
have given me a new life that I joyfully step into as I end this program.
My hope is that this project will inspire you to realize and know in your heart that you
can achieve your heart’s desire, no matter how your journey begins. I dedicate this to you
as my promise to always be your biggest cheerleader and champion in realizing your
dreams.
Momma loves you.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIALS ...................................................................... viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ ix
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ x
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1
Abraham Flexner ............................................................................................................ 1
Changing educational models ......................................................................................... 2
Reaction to change .......................................................................................................... 3
Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 4
Purpose Statement ......................................................................................................... 13
Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 15
Relevance ...................................................................................................................... 15
Definition of Terms....................................................................................................... 17
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 18
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .................................................... 20
Max Weber.................................................................................................................... 20
Values Theory ............................................................................................................... 27
The Charismatic Leader ................................................................................................ 35
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 40
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 42
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 42
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Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................... 42
Explanatory Mixed Methods Design ............................................................................ 44
Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 45
Assumptions .................................................................................................................. 46
Data Collection & Analysis .......................................................................................... 47
Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................. 53
Study Limitations .......................................................................................................... 54
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 54
CHAPTER FOUR: QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH FINDINGS ................................... 56
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 56
Data collection and Survey Administration .................................................................. 56
Survey Results .............................................................................................................. 58
Study Variables and Research Questions ..................................................................... 58
Organization of Data and Results ................................................................................. 60
Reliability ...................................................................................................................... 61
Validity ......................................................................................................................... 63
Means and Standard Deviation ..................................................................................... 63
Frequencies ................................................................................................................... 65
Research Question One ................................................................................................. 65
Research Sub-question A .............................................................................................. 69
Research Sub-question B .............................................................................................. 72
Quantitative Findings Summary ................................................................................... 74
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CHAPTER FIVE: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH FINDINGS ........................................ 75
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 75
Content Analysis Overview .......................................................................................... 75
Open and Axial Coding ................................................................................................ 76
Code Frequencies .......................................................................................................... 78
Values ........................................................................................................................... 79
Research Question Two ................................................................................................ 84
How Leaders’ Views Change ....................................................................................... 86
Qualitative Research Sub-question ............................................................................... 90
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 92
CHAPTER SIX: DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS ................................................ 94
Overview ....................................................................................................................... 94
Theoretical Implications ............................................................................................... 95
Practical Recommendations ........................................................................................ 100
Opportunities for Future Research .............................................................................. 102
Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 104
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 106
APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................. 124
APPENDIX B ................................................................................................................. 126
APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................. 127
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. The Veterinary Profession’s Dual Identity .......................................................................8
Figure 2. Schwartz Values Continuum ..........................................................................................30
Figure 3. Intervening Personal Values ...........................................................................................97
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Study Variables and Research Questions ........................................................................58
Table 2. Research Question Matrix ...............................................................................................60
Table 3. Cronbach's Alpha Reliability for Independent Measures ................................................61
Table 4. Descriptive Statistics........................................................................................................64
Table 5. Means and Standard Deviations for Scales ......................................................................64
Table 6. Response Frequencies of the Categorical Variable .........................................................65
Table 7. Correlations of Values Scales to the Accreditation and Educational Models
Scales .............................................................................................................................................66
Table 8. Linear Regression Model Summary for Association Leaders .........................................68
Table 9. Linear Regression Model Summary for Academic Leaders ............................................68
Table 10. Descriptive Statistics ......................................................................................................69
Table 11. Descriptives ...................................................................................................................69
Table 12. Independent Samples Test .............................................................................................71
Table 13. Descriptive Statistics ......................................................................................................72
Table 14. Descriptive Statistics ......................................................................................................72
Table 15. Independent Samples Test .............................................................................................73
Table 16. Sample of Open-Coding Text ........................................................................................77
Table 17. Code and Thematic Alignment on the Schwartz Values Continuum ............................78
Table 18. Code Frequencies within Values ...................................................................................78
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ABSTRACT
The goal of this study was to understand the relationship between leaders’ values
and the desire to use accreditation to control veterinary medical education models. This
two-phase, sequential mixed methods study identifies the values associated with the
desire to use accreditation as a tool to of control in the development of new veterinary
education models by leaders in the veterinary medical profession. Findings from this
study suggests that veterinary leaders, while modestly resistant to change, are open to the
use of new veterinary education models and do not seek use accreditation as a tool to
variation among education models. Further, the findings suggest that veterinary leaders
are primarily driven by values associated with protecting the image of the profession and
the wellbeing of current and future veterinarians. The findings produced by this study
enhance existing literature on value- driven leader behavior with respect to change in
graduate and professional education. The study concludes with a discussion of the
theoretical and practical implications of the findings and recommendations for future
study.
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Abraham Flexner
When Abraham Flexner submitted his final report on the quality of American
medical schools to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1910,
modern models of medical education and specialized accreditation were created. Flexner
(1910) explained in the introduction of his report that earlier examinations of colleges
and universities in North America bore “little unity of purpose or of standards” (p. vii).
This discovery eventually prompted increased scrutiny of the relationship between
colleges and universities and the professional schools associated with them; medical
education became a primary focus because the academic program had become quite
defined by the beginning of the 20th
century. “Under these conditions and in the face of
the advancing standards of the best medical schools it was clear that the time had come
when the relation of professional education in medicine to the general system of
education should be clearly defined” (Flexner, 1910, p. viii).
Flexner’s (1910) report described an optimal medical education program as a
four-year educational model that featured two years of basic and laboratory science
education and two years of teaching hospital-based, clinical training. This medical
educational model has persisted for more than a century among various health
professions programs, including veterinary medicine. Although Flexner’s assessment of
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medical schools provided some clear parameters for what constitutes an ideal medical
education program, he insisted that the recommendations were to be viewed in the
context of the era. “In the suggestions which are made in this report as to what constitutes
a reasonable minimum no visionary ideal has been pursued, but only things have been
insisted upon as in the present light” (Flexner, 1910, p.vii). Flexner left the door open to
program innovation and continuous improvement beyond the minimum standard of
medical education that he recommended.
Changing educational models
For more than 100 years, the American veterinary medical education program has
largely mimicked the format described by Flexner. Students gain exposure to many
species throughout the rigorous four-year educational program in which they submit to
two years of didactic education in the basic biological sciences, followed by two years of
education emphasizing clinical skill building with animal patients in a dedicated teaching
hospital on campus. This educational model has been shown to be effective at producing
competent entry level veterinary medical school graduates (Beck, 2004).
Despite the persistence and efficacy of this educational model, veterinary medical
education is changing. For example, institutions like Western and Ross Universities do
not have traditional teaching hospitals for clinical training on campus (Ross University,
2012; Western University of Health Sciences, 2012), and a small number of colleges of
veterinary medicine are employing distance learning and two-year transfer programs for
the first two years of the curriculum (University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 2013; Utah State
University, 2013). A greater number of schools are changing their methodological
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approaches to teaching, shifting to small-group, problem-based learning modules rather
than traditional lectures exclusively. The emergence of new veterinary medical education
programs with models that are different from the Flexner model has resulted in an
evolution in the infrastructure of the accreditation process conducted by the American
Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) Council on Education (COE), the discipline’s
accreditors.
The COE has responded to the changes by deepening its knowledge base about
and guidance for evaluating a wider array of educational models in order to effectively
assess all veterinary medical education programs against existing standards (Council on
Education, 2012). As institutions pursue accreditation and re-accreditation, each
academic program continues to shoulder the burden of demonstrating its ability to meet
the same minimum accreditation standards and that they strive for continuous
improvement within their programs.
Reaction to change
COE's willingness to evaluate non-traditional veterinary medical education
models and to recognize their quality against the accreditation standards has sparked
controversy in some circles of the profession. In 2010, a small yet vocal group of
veterinary leaders began urgently calling for changes to and/or restrictions on the
accreditation process in order to preserve the traditional education model of veterinary
education programs specifically, and to limit the accreditation of new veterinary schools
more generally due to economic concerns within the profession (Fiala, 2010a; Fiala,
2010b). Critical commentaries in the veterinary medical press emerged suggesting that
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the accreditation of non-traditional veterinary medical education models provided
unearned legitimacy to these programs and threatened to undermine the academic
underpinnings of the profession (Marshak, 2011; Various Authors, 2012). Commentaries
supporting COE’s effort to evaluate a variety of veterinary medical program also
appeared in the press (Norsworthy, 2012; Schurig, 2012).
As more new veterinary medical schools pursue accreditation, the criticism has
increased within the veterinary profession. The original group of critics has grown to
include a wider, increasingly visible and vocal set of members; the growing group of new
accreditation critics now includes a sitting veterinary college dean, a university president,
and several individual members of the respected National Academies of Sciences. One of
the group’s stated desires is to require COE to apply the accreditation standards in a
fashion that would limit the ability to earn accreditation to institutions utilizing more
traditional models of veterinary medical education (Barthold & Brinster, 2012;
Carmichael, 2012; Marshak, September 2, 2012).
Statement of the Problem
In the midst of this important debate about the future of veterinary medical
education, the accreditation process has emerged as a potential tool of control in the use
of diverse education models within American colleges of veterinary medicine. This view
of accreditation perverts the stated purpose of accreditation: “The goal of accreditation is
to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable
levels of quality” (United States Department of Education, 2013), and to promote
continuous quality improvement (Eaton, 2006; United States Department of Education,
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2013). Accreditation is not a regulatory or compliance-based activity; it is voluntary
exercise in peer review of institutional and programmatic quality (Young, 1979). It
should be noted that the voluntary nature of participation is increasingly questioned
because access to federal and state programs, including student financial aid, require
accreditation status as do a growing number of state licensing boards which thus limits
access to licensing exams to graduates from accredited institutions (Dill & Beerkens,
2010).
The accreditation status of a college affords it a level of legitimacy with its peers
and with the public (United States Network for Education Information, 2013). The
success of the accreditation process and the status of being accredited are dependent on
both the broad acceptance of the community an accrediting board governs and the
responsibility of the community to self-regulate in a way that demonstrates programmatic
quality (Eaton, 2006). Additionally, the agencies which accredit academic programs are
also dependent on a voluntary peer review process through the Council of Higher
Education Accreditation (CHEA). This review is designed to “improve and enhance the
quality and effectiveness of the accreditation process” (Eaton, 2011) and results in the
formal recognition by the accrediting community of an agency to carry out its functions.
Failure to sustain the broad support of the discipline undermines the system of self-
evaluation and self-regulation on which accreditation is based.
Education is an adaptive activity; it evolves and changes as time passes to meet
personal, professional and societal needs. New knowledge is generated about student
learning and institutional operations. New knowledge is generated within and across
disciplines, and new models that advance new knowledge are integrated into institutions
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of higher education. The process of accreditation promotes change that demonstrates
continuous improvement in the quality of the institutions that volunteer to submit to the
evaluation (Eaton, 2006). Using a quality assurance program to stifle educational
evolution abandons accreditation’s purpose and effectually re-purposes accreditation to
enforce standards other than those expressly outlined by the United States Department of
Education or the accrediting agency.
Programmatic accreditation as a catalyst and a barrier. Abraham Flexner’s
report established minimum standards for the delivery of medical education and provided
the framework for future efforts to safeguard institutional quality. Many medical schools
did not at that time meet the final criteria that Flexner described as necessary to provide
an adequate medical education and subsequently closed (Beck, 2004). Other institutions
used the report to leverage new resources designed to foster improvements that would
bring the schools into alignment with Flexner’s description (Floden, 1980). The
programmatic accreditation process has since evolved to include the assessment of
institutional quality improvement (Morest, 2009); in fact, an institution’s ability to
demonstrate its constant pursuit of improvement has become a defining characteristic of
institutional quality (Deming, 1986).
Judith Eaton (2009) describes the accreditation process as intentionally inclusive
of this catalytic improvement component, and there is strong evidence that accreditation
is a stimulator of positive change in higher education (Dodd, 2004; Kassebaum, Cutler, &
Eaglen, 1997; Martin, Manning, & Ramaley, 2001). The very process of preparing the
institutional self-study—the heart of the accreditation process—has been shown, by itself,
to improve the rigor of an academic program (Kubitskey, Rutherford, Wylo, & Liggit,
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2011) and to inspire the development of new forms of quality assessment (Brennan &
Austin, 2003).
Although there is evidence that accreditation serves as a change driver, the
process can also be seen as a barrier to change. Burke and Butler (2012) argue that
accreditation
favors existing expensive business models for higher education, thereby making it
difficult for new models to emerge. Additionally, accreditation rates entire
institutions—rather than specific courses—and, as a result, is a poor indicator of
the skills acquired by students. (p. 1)
They conclude that accreditation is an impediment to transformational change in higher
education (2012).
Harvey’s (2004) critique of accreditation as a barrier to change is more targeted;
he argues that specialized accreditation, like that offered by groups like AVMA’s COE, is
really about “control of a subject area that links into professional employment, especially
where to practise requires certification separate from academic qualification” (p. 211).
Programmatic accreditation, specifically, is more about “ideology and politics” (p. 212)
and the profession’s self-interested power to control and legitimize its role in society.
Such control results in a demand for institutional uniformity that becomes a significant
barrier to innovative change within a college (Harvey, 2004).
Protecting the profession. Professional academic programs, such as veterinary
medical education, have a dual identity illustrated in Figure 1.
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Figure 1. The Veterinary Profession’s Dual Identity
On one hand, these programs are a part of the larger veterinary medical profession and
serve as its entry point. On the other hand, the programs are a part of the higher education
community. This duality subjects these programs to the forces of change in both realms,
each of which has unique approaches to dealing with change. Change in academia is a
grassroots activity that is deeply rooted in academic freedom and autonomy (van Schoor,
2003). Change in higher education is most often initiated as a reaction to external forces,
and change in higher education is only adopted and sustained through a process based on
an evidence-based need to change and internal will that is unique to academic institutions
(Tierney, 1988; Zhou, 1993).
This approach is not always consistent with how professional organizations
advance and legitimize change. Professional organizations create the frameworks that
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shape and define professional practice; they protect the profession and extend its power
and influence in society (Greenwood, Suddaby, & Hinings, 2002; Rusaw, 1995). Change
that is perceived to threaten the relative power, influence, and social standing of
organizational members will often be met with resistance unless a case can be made that
the change is essential and will eventually result in greater benefit to all involved (French
& Bell, 1999). Even when a compelling case can be presented, the process of accepting,
adopting and sustaining change is a politically oriented process (Harvey, 2004; van
Schoor, 2003). Despite the varied approaches to adopting change, both academic
institutions and professional organizations share change adaptive approaches that innately
embrace incremental change over transformational change (Cummings & Worely, 2008).
Although these groups change, they do not display the qualities of “built to change”
organizations in that they do not embrace “a nonstop process of strategy setting,
organization designing and implementing” change (Cummings & Worley, 2008, p. 534).
Individual practitioners are owners of the organization and the profession; their
deep desire to protect the profession and its entry points leads to politically driven
behavior designed to maintain control of organizational reaction to change (Farrell &
Petersen, 1982; Friedson, 1989). Although accreditation is positioned as a reflection of
mutual interests between the academy and the profession on what constitutes appropriate
academic preparation to enter the profession based on the peer review process,
programmatic “accreditation is neither neutral nor benign; it is not apolitical….
Accreditation is primarily about control of the sector” (Harvey, 2004, p. 207).
Professional associations, like AVMA, often play a significant role in the
accrediting of discipline specific academic programs; although the accrediting agency
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may not always be housed within the organization. Criticisms about how new
professionals are educated and trained in educational programs are valid concerns for
professional organizations to consider as they go about governing their sector. Shaping
who enters the academic pipeline, shapes who enters the profession. This elevates the
need for greater control of academia (Friedson, 1989). The political behavior commonly
found in professional organizations creates opportunities for politics to creep, or at a
minimum appear to creep, into the apolitical accreditation process. Although the U.S.
Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
mandate the presence of organizational firewalls to protect against politically influenced
evaluations, the desire of professional association members to control the entry point into
the profession through this mechanism remains.
Based on the descriptions in Friedson (1989) and Harvey (2004), there is likely a
shared set of values held by professionals and academics about the future of the
profession and its educational sector, but there is also likely a natural tension that exists
between these groups as they each seek to control their interconnected but distinctive
sub-sectors of practice and academe. The tension between these organizations is not
exclusively positive or negative (Pondy, 1969). There is a continuum of organizational
behaviors produced by the tension between the professional organization and the
academy including but not limited to facilitated change, resistance to change, and
ambivalence to change (Piderit, 2000; Pondy, 1969).
The differing organizational and individual reactions to change can lead to
misunderstandings and distrust between the professional association, or more specifically
its members, and the academy, making the process of exerting professional control over
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the academy more difficult. The academic freedom enjoyed by the academy renders it
largely the master of its own destiny; the submission of the academic institution to the
quality controls of the professional organization is voluntarily made in order to advance
the greater good of the profession. Both parties must mutually agree to do what is best to
make the profession strong and sustainable; this is the essence of specialized
accreditation. Breakdowns in activities toward this mutual goal lead to resistance by
either party and can result in the emergence of a new group altogether.
Values and leadership. There is a common value connecting all involved in
veterinary medical education: the desire to protect the future of the veterinary medical
profession. That said, the current challenges to the accreditation of veterinary medical
education programs suggest a deeper disparity of values among some professional leaders
about the role and function of accreditation in providing the desired level of protection of
the veterinary profession. Because the values held by leaders dictate willingness to accept
change and the resulting organizational behavior (Klagge, 1997), the behavior of
veterinary medical leaders provides some insight into both a values misalignment and the
strength of the frustration that stems from that misalignment.
By way of example, the critics of accreditation have been very visible and
increasingly vocal. Members of the group have engaged at public forums, published
extensive commentaries, and run for leadership positions throughout organized veterinary
medicine. The group has also attracted a small number of veterinarians of significant
stature within the profession to question the role of accreditation in producing qualified
practitioners from colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States and abroad. The
group has proven to be a somewhat persuasive voice within the profession. Although the
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veterinary medical profession includes more than “84,000 professionals” (American
Veterinary Medical Association, 2012), the positions held by just 12 public commenters
were significant enough to raise the concern of the Department of Education during the
recent review of recognition of COE as an accrediting agency:
Twelve comments are from educators and academics representing educational
institutions, five of which represent deans, professors, and a president of the
educational institutions/programs that the agency accredits. That five of the
twenty-eight programs would express concern regarding the agency's continued
recognition is concerning, and suggests that the agency's standards, policies,
procedures, and decisions to grant or deny accreditation are not widely accepted
among educators and educational institutions within the academic science
community. (United States Department of Education, 2012, p. 5)
This group has become a loud voice in the discourse concerning the future of veterinary
medical education.
This critical group does not represent the only set of voices; the leaders of the
AVMA and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) offer a
counterbalance to the accreditation critics. Both organizations have argued that they share
the desire to protect the profession; but these leaders have publicly supported the COE
and the existing accrediting process. These leaders have not behaved in the same manner
as the group of COE critics; instead, they have been more reactionary to the critiques.
Although leaders in AVMA and AAVMC recently offered public statements arguing that
the COE’s evaluation of institutions is, in part, the demonstration of academic integrity,
these statements, and other published commentaries, have been made in response to the
ongoing criticism of COE.
The use of positional status by leaders of AVMA and AAVMC in responding to
the critiques is important because their positions as leaders provide legitimacy to their
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comments. A December 2012 consensus statement signed by 50 academic leaders,
including 21 sitting deans of American veterinary colleges, urged the continued
recognition of the COE as the profession’s accrediting body (Kochevar, 2012). The group
stated:
This group is well-informed about COE practices and these individuals are, or
have been, in a position to observe key functions of the Council. Most that oppose
continued credentialing of the COE have not had this advantage and have based
their views on incomplete or inaccurate data. (Kochevar, 2012)
Although not as prolific in published commentaries at the time of the letter, the
collective leaders of AVMA and AAVMC have been able to cast the community
supporting the COE as a group that is far larger than the group of critics. Additionally,
COE supporters have urged a focus on the use of empirical data such as the overall
quality of veterinary school applicants, licensing board examination pass rates, and
employment rates of new graduates to rebuff critiques about both the use of new models
and the accreditation process in general (Kochevar, 2012; Maccabe, 2012). While there is
a shared goal among all groups to protect the profession, the behaviors of the leaders and
the professional organizations they lead suggest that this group differs from its critics in
the values held about the role and function of accreditation in meeting that goal.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this two-phase, sequential mixed methods study is to identify and
explore the values associated with the desire to use accreditation as a tool of control in
the development of new veterinary education models by leaders in the veterinary medical
profession. The initial quantitative phase will identify leaders’ values related to openness
14
and resistance to change and their views on new educational models and accreditation
using a survey tool. A subsequent qualitative component of this study will further probe
the quantitative findings by exploring how personal values influence leaders’ willingness
to use accreditation as a tool in controlling veterinary medical education models through
in-depth interviews with veterinary medical leaders.
This study uses Max Weber’s theories related to the Iron Cage and charismatic
leaders as frameworks for understanding leader influence on organizational behavior
(Weber, 1949; Weber 1947; Weber, 1992; Weber & Turner, 1991). Weber’s Iron Cage is
a metaphor for personal and organizational values associated with traditionalism and
asceticism that produce behaviors that are socially stabilizing, and resistant to change
(DiMaggio & Powell, 1983; Kalberg, 1980; Weber, 1992). In a series of sociological
writings, Weber argues that conflicting personal values play a role in the development of
bureaucratic systems and the development of charismatic leaders, who are able to disrupt
activities that affect change in bureaucracies (Weber & Turner, 1991). The application of
Weber’s theories in this study hinges on an understanding of values theory, in which
researchers argue that personal values predict individual and group behavior.
A mixed-methodology was selected because the researcher “has access to
quantitative instruments for measuring” (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011, p. 82) the
relationship between values and leaders’ views of educational models, but there is a
remaining need to qualitatively understand the influence of these values on veterinary
leaders’ desires to use organizational tools and practices, like accreditation, to control the
use of new models. The resulting findings will provide greater insight into leader
resistance to change within professional education programs, and the findings will
15
position organized veterinary medicine to nurture future leaders willing to view change in
veterinary medical education as non-threatening to the profession.
Research Questions
This study seeks to identify and explore the values held by veterinary leaders that
are associated with the desire to use accreditation as a tool to control the use of diverse
veterinary education models. The goal of this study is to explain how personal values
trigger resistant behavior among professional leaders and to provide a set of
recommendations on how to navigate leader-based resistance to change in emerging
graduate and professional educational models. To that end, the following research
questions are posed:
1) What values held by veterinary medical leaders are associated with a willingness
to accept change in veterinary education models?
a. Are veterinary leaders more or less likely to accept change in veterinary
education models?
b. How do leaders rate their knowledge base about accreditation practices?
2) How do leaders’ values shape their willingness to use accreditation as a tool in
controlling variation among veterinary medical education models?
a. How have leaders’ views of accreditation and educational models changed
during their career?
Relevance
Discussions in the literature of values related to accreditation have largely focused
on what value accreditation contributes to society and how the accreditation process
16
reflects institutional values (Eaton, 2006). Although Eaton (2012) argues that there is
some difficulty in reconciling the traditional view of accreditation as a self-assessment
tool and the emerging desire to use accreditation as an accountability tool, little research
has examined a possible misalignment of values as a contributing factor in creating the
conflicting views. Literature exploring similar issues in specialized accreditation also
fails to examine any relationship between leaders’ values and the desire to use
accreditation as a means of controlling academic entry into a profession.
As Harvey (2004) argues, specialized accreditation can be a useful tool, but how
leaders come to conclusions about its usefulness in sector control is a mystery. This study
seeks to construct a new understanding about leaders’ values and whether those values
influence the desire to use specialized accreditation as a tool of control. The findings
produced by this study will enhance existing literature on specialized accreditation,
leadership, and resistance to change through an examination of value-driven leader
behavior with respect to change in graduate and professional education.
Finally, the researcher has been involved in veterinary medical education through
her work with the AAVMC. Most recently her work with the AAVMC has focused on
managing the association’s institutional research program and the promotion of diversity
in veterinary medical education. Her position has provided her with a unique opportunity
to participate in national discussions concerning the future of veterinary medical
education in the United States, and as a result, she has personally observed a wide range
of critiques and support for the pedagogical evolution occurring in colleges around the
country. These national conversations are increasingly fraught with conflict and a lack of
resolution to even meaningfully disagree about the emergence about new ways of
17
teaching veterinary medical education. The researcher’s previous work experiences in
medical and nursing education suggest that neither the innovations in veterinary medical
education nor the heated discourse is an unusual phenomenon. In conducting this study,
she hopes to personally more successfully navigate and facilitate aspects of the national
discussion about veterinary medical education with an enhanced understanding about the
values that underpin leaders’ perspectives about the changes seen and experienced in this
sector of the veterinary profession.
Definition of Terms
Accreditation is “a process of external quality review created and used by higher
education to scrutinize colleges, universities, and programs for quality assurance and
quality improvement” (Eaton, 2009, p. 79).
Educational models are frameworks inclusive of institutional structure,
curriculum design, and andragogy used to academically prepare health professions
students for practice.
Leaders are veterinarians holding or having held positions of authority in
organized veterinary medicine or the veterinary academy, or are veterinary professionals
who have acquired national recognition through other professional activities.
Organized veterinary medicine describes the collection of professional veterinary
associations and educational institutions responsible for educating veterinary students and
providing advanced veterinary education.
18
Rationalism is an attitudinal framework consisting of an orientation toward the
attainment of goals which can be motivated by immediacy and/or a connection to a larger
ideal context of meanings and values (Swidler, 1973).
Values are “those conceptions of desirable states of affairs that are utilized in
selective conduct as criteria for preference or choice or as a justification for proposed or
actual behavior” (Williams, 1967, p. 23).
Summary
Veterinary education is constantly changing, evolving, and creating new
educational models that look very different than the archetype model advanced by
Abraham Flexner in 1910. The departure from the Flexner medical education model has
sparked concern and controversy among some veterinary leaders who value the model’s
proven effectiveness and who wonder whether new educational models will prove to be
as effective in the future. As a means of protecting the veterinary profession and its role
in society, some critics of the new models have encouraged the use of accreditation to
resist the use of non-Flexner style models of education in American colleges of
veterinary medicine.
Although specialized accreditation is about controlling and protecting the
professional sector, its proposed use as a tool to control how veterinary education is
deployed presents a source of conflict for the veterinary profession. There is a need to
understand the conflict and what is driving the resistance to change in veterinary medical
education. By employing a sequential, explanatory mixed methods design, this study will
attempt to identify the personal values held by leaders in the veterinary profession that
19
are associated with the desire to use accreditation as means of controlling the educational
models used in American veterinary colleges.
Chapter two explores literature related to Max Weber’s theories on
rationalization, values theory, and charismatic leaders. Themes in this literature reveal
relationships among organizational behaviors, the influence of values on individual and
group behaviors, and the emergence of new leaders.
Chapter three describes the post-positivist theoretical framework that underpins
this study. The chapter also provides an explanation of the quantitative initial phase,
which includes a survey of veterinary medical leaders; this is followed by a qualitative
phase focused on leader understandings of accreditation and change in veterinary medical
education. The chapter concludes with a description of data analysis and anticipated
study outcomes.
Chapters four and five provide overviews of the quantitative and qualitative
research analyses and findings. Chapter six discusses the theoretical and practical
implications of the study findings. The chapter concludes by offering suggestions for
future research.
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CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
This chapter will explore three theoretical threads that emerged during the review
of relevant literature: 1) Max Weber’s Iron Cage Theory; 2) Value Theory, and 3)
Weber’s charismatic leader in change efforts.
Max Weber
Weber was born in 1864 in Germany. His father was a high ranking politician; his
mother was a homemaker, described as very religious (Ringer, 2004). Weber was a
professor of law and also a student of several disciplines, including sociology,
economics, history, and religion. He is best recognized as a German sociologist whose
theoretical writings have influenced a wide array of disciplines including sociology,
institutional theory, and the study of leadership. Ringer (2004) described Weber as
fascinated by religion, but a non-subscriber to any faith. He suffered from chronic
depression, which resulted in much of his scholarly work being conducted privately due
to his inability to work consistently.
Throughout his writings, Weber described numerous types of rationality that
explain how we behave when it comes to work and the world around us. Two types of
rationality are most relevant to this study of values—traditional or formal rationality, and
substantive or values rationality. Weber (1992) described formal rationality as based on a
set of external rules to which the individual adheres, subject to the situation. Most often
21
characterized in organizational systems as the structures that govern activity (Weber,
1992), formal rationality is devoid of emotion; the performance of individuals operating
in these systems is predictable because the rules restrict creativity and deviation from the
group norms (Carroll, 2011). In The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism, Weber
explained that the resulting bureaucracy of formal systems relieve a burden of being
reliant on “the natural organic limitations of the human individual” (Weber, 1992, p. 75).
He also explained that formal systems influence not only the way people live but also
their ideals about living; members of formal systems embrace the inherent ethics of the
system as rational, meaningful, fair, and productive (Weber, 1992) .
By comparison, substantive rationalization is based on a collection of values held
by the individual or organization that have been voluntarily adopted and govern behavior.
Weber argued that individual and systems behavior is less predictable because
a person acts purely in accordance with value rationality (wertrational) when he
or she acts without thought for the foreseeable consequences, in the service of his
or her conviction of what seems to be demanded by duty, self-respect (Wurde),
beauty, religious teaching, piety, or the importance attached to a “cause” of any
sort whatsoever (as cited by d'Avray, 2006, p. 61).
In this form of rationality, the rules are the individual values that govern decision making
directly. Unlike in formal rationality, individual and group values drive decision making.
The process does not drive the development of values; values are reflected in the
behavioral process.
According to Weber (1992), rationalities pervade all aspects of life and across all
cultures. Rationalities are how we make sense of the world; there is a natural balance in
which each one plays an important role in our reactions. The dominance of a single
22
rationality is a threat to the others. In the following review of the literature related to
Weber, emphasis will be given to the impact of formal and value rationalities.
The Iron Cage. The literature on Weber’s concept of formal rationality in
organizations has evolved quite dramatically through the years. The concept is most
closely associated with Weber’s Iron Cage metaphor in which the values and emotion
governing life and work are lost, and individuals are left with the rules, policies, and
practices that serve to control behavior, rather than inspire it (Weber, 1992). The term
iron cage appeared in Talcott Parsons’ translation of Weber’s text, The Protestant Ethic
and the Spirit of Capitalism: “but fate decreed that the cloak should become an iron cage”
(Weber, 1992, p. 181). In a description of the pervasive strength of the religious-inspired
work ethic on life, Parsons’ translated Weber’s German, stahlhartes Gehäuse, as an iron
cage.
There are many criticisms about the origins of the translation and its accuracy in
the context of Weber’s work. Weber is said to have been influenced by previous works
concerning the influence of Puritanical values, such as John Buyan, as well as by several
of his contemporaries including Goethe and Neitzsche (Kent, 1983; Tiryakian, 1981).
Mitzman (1969) and Kent (1983) argued that Parson’s translation is an inaccurate
description of Weber’s “general pessimism about modernity” (Kent, 1983, p. 298).
Modernity resulting from the industrial revolution and highly influenced by a Puritanical
work ethic would lead to a mechanical approach to life that Weber found threatening.
Such a life would be “overorganized and slackly uncreative” (Mitzman, 1969, p. 107).
Mitzman (1969) and Baehr (2001) proffered an English translation of Weber’s work that
characterized modernity as a shell as hard as steel, emphasizing the possibility for human
23
change with manmade steel as opposed to the inability to change and escape the element
iron. The distinction among the various translations of Weber’s stahlhartes Gehäuse is
the ability of man to rationalize change and whether the metaphorical translation allows
forms of rationalization that are able to evolve and change. Baehr (2001) excused
Parson’s inaccurate translation because it spawned its own unique sociological study of
organizational behavior; however, he did express concern about how the attribution of the
metaphor to Weber has influenced overall misconceptions of his body of work.
Despite the debates about the origins of the Iron Cage metaphor, the interpretation
of the metaphor seems more clearly established in the literature. Formal rationalism leads
to the development of bureaucracies, which Weber did not present in a positive light
though he acknowledged that they serve an important role in advancing efficiency and
stability. Parson’s translation of Weber (1992) characterized life in the bureaucratic Iron
Cage as potentially fossilized, compulsive and petrified, all of which suggest that being
caged is akin to being cut off from creativity, innovation and change.
Theorists exploring the concepts of formal rationality and Weber’s Iron Cage
concur, to some degree, that this form of behavior, both for individuals and for
organizational systems, is constricting, though not for the same reasons proposed by
Weber. DiMaggio and Powell (1983) argued that the bureaucracies created to advance
productivity and efficiency has been successful; the constraints of the cage now
emphasize homogeneity in structure and practices within organizations. As organizations
seek out the best practices of peer organizations and emulate them as paragons of
fairness, stability, and productivity. Despite their best efforts, they replicate this process
of increasing homogeneity under the cloak of change over and over (Dalton, 1986). This
24
practice serves to weed out weaker, less productive organizations, especially those
lacking strong leadership (Hannan & Freeman, 1977; Meyer & Rowan, 1977).
Members within the organization are willing to yield to both the formal structures
and the leadership of the organization because they are adhering to those best practices
that are designed to produce stable, long lasting organizations. Activities in this type of
organization are subjected to rigid processes that are designed to legitimize them; change
is rarely made on based on whim; rather, change is expected to be entirely evidence-
based in this system (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). This view is not always characterized
so pessimistically: Adler (2012) argued that these behaviors can enable organizations to
change. The process may be coerced into certain pathways of change, but change is both
possible and likely within formal organizations.
Although the pursuit of best practices is a healthy organizational activity, not all
theorists have agreed that the dominance of formal rationality is a positive state; several
argue that Weber’s introduction of the cage metaphor is a warning about the loss of
value-based decision-making (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983; Townley, 2002). During the
life cycle of highly formalized organizations, the process of policy and practice
development becomes dependent on the ability of the organization and its leaders to root
the rationale in protecting and stabilizing the organization, rather than simply in the need
to mimic best practices within similar organizations (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Tolbert &
Zucker, 1983). As in Weber’s original description of the shift being motivated by a strong
value based work ethic to a wealth pursuit, theorists see a shift in the driving motivation
for policy and practice change from best organizational practice to organizational
protectionism.
25
More recent views on formal rationality in organizations note the shift away from
the rigidity seen in previous organizational behavior. Theorists acknowledge that the rate
and scale of change has increased, as has the need for greater organizational adaptability,
leading to an increased emphasis on de-formalization within organizations (A. D. Brown
& Starkey, 2000; Lounsbury, 2008; Redmond, 2005). The resulting differentiation among
organizations stems from the desire to promote greater organizational competitiveness
(Beckert, 2010) and the desire to amplify the voice of the organizational member.
An alternative view present in the literature has advanced the belief that there is
not a complete abandonment of formal rationalization in organizations, but that the
formality is more nuanced and only surface deep. Organizations seeking to be legitimized
by and competitive in a larger community of peers will replicate formal structures and
practices that permeate the community of members (Casile & Davis-Blake, 2002; Skille,
2011). This compliance will be superficial and not truly reflective of how the
organization operates (Amis, Slack, & Hinings, 2002; Ashworth, Boyne, & Delbridge,
2009). The mimicry among organizations is in appearance only.
Values rationality. Researchers have suggested that this mimicry is indicative of
other forms of rationality at play within the organization. Weber alluded to this fact in
explaining rigid forms of rationality in economics, science, law and administration; “each
of these fields may be rationalized in terms of very different ends, and what is rational
from one point of view may very well be irrational from another” (Weber, 1992, p. 26).
This organizational behavior is indicative of the presence of values and emotions as
rational components of organizational life (Barker, 1993; Klagge, 1997).
26
Formality does not exist completely independent of values. The Iron Cage
metaphor provides an impartial, objective view of organizational structure and work, but
the cage remains permeable to individual forces eager to rationalize value-based change.
Some theorists assert that Weber’s discussion of bureaucracies as formal rule-driven
entities over-simplifies them; instead, organizations are regularly subjected to politicking,
gaming, and rule breaking stimulated by the values of the members (Hodson, Martin,
Lopez, & Roscigno, 2013). The resulting organizations are far more complex in how they
work, both formally and informally.
Sayer (2011) cautioned against conclusions that values rationality results in so
much subjectivity that we are unable to predict individual or organizational behavior. He
argued that values are also subject to some individual and group “evidence and
evaluation” (p. 48). The construction of values replicates a kind of formal decision-
making that results in the ability to believe and participate in an organization’s behavior
(Weick, 1995). The resulting paradox is that formal and values rationalities inevitably
coexist in organizations, despite efforts to extract one or the other. “To Weber the conflict
between formal and substantive rationality was an expression of the unavoidable element
of irrationality in modern culture” (Gronow, 1988, p. 327).
There is a growing call for organizations to value both of these rational paradigms
jointly in order to support the emergence of stronger organizations. Researchers have
asserted that the failure of formal organizations to evolve and differentiate is actually
inconsistent with natural order evolution (A. D. Brown & Starkey, 2000; Townley, 2002).
Best practices may be useful, but they also stifle organizational growth and innovation.
Weber’s fear of formal rationalization dominating organizations was based on his fear of
27
the rigidity of “values and the loss of genuine meaning in modern culture” (Gronow,
1988, p. 328). The ability of an organization to become more “wise,” rather than simply
more productive, rests in its ability to explore and embrace rationalities that build
contextual meaning and commitment among leaders and members and that appreciate
necessary organizational change (A. D. Brown & Starkey, 2000; Weick, 1995). Weber’s
theory of substantive rationality, or the values we use to rationalize our behavior, is
critical to unlocking an organization’s desire for differentiation, change, and creating a
meaningful methodological approach to work (Gronow, 1988; Kalberg, 1980;
Rothschild-Whitt, 1979).
Values Theory
Definitions. Although Weber described how substantive rationality represented a
collection of values held by the individual or group, he cautioned about the difficulty of
trying to empirically study values because reality was so different for each individual
(Weber, 1949). This lack of a clear definition has been an important thread throughout
the social science literature as a result. Robin Williams’ (1967) early theoretical work
created a research definition for values that is echoed in later work (Meglino & Ravlin,
1998; Schwartz & Bilsky, 1987); he defined values as “concepts of desirable states of
affairs” by which we create and judge social norms (Williams, 1967, p. 23). Rokeach, a
colleague of Williams, argued that establishing a clear definition for values was difficult
because one must choose between broad definitions that connote one’s desired preference
versus more narrow definitions, such as that offered by Williams, which focus more the
individual’s ability to establish personal criteria for the preference (Rokeach, 1968).
28
As recently as the last decade, debate has persisted about the definition of values.
Rohan (2000) argued that there is an inconsistent use of the term that has allowed the
definition to be too broadly used to clearly define related but distinctly different
constructs. She offered the narrowly defined, criterion-based definition of value as a verb
meaning the “process of ascertaining merit of an entity with reference to an abstract value
system structure” (Rohan, 2000, p. 258). Finally, Sayer (2011) described values as
“‘sedimented’ valuations that have become attitudes or dispositions” that we use to
justify behavior (p. 25).
Typologies. Values theorists working from the early 1960s through the mid-1980s
attempted to understand how values help us evaluate and make sense of the world around
us. They argued that because values are rooted in basic biological and psycho-social
motivations and needs, at both the individual and group levels (Williams, 1967), values
are ordered in terms of importance, and as basic needs are met, values lead us to a greater
ability to cognitively evaluate our surroundings and behave based on those
determinations (Maslow, 1954; Schwartz & Bilsky, 1987). Values are predictive of
behavior (Homer & Kahle, 1988), but values themselves are not attitudes or behaviors
(Rokeach, 1968). Values research has frequently used individual and organizational
behavior as a proxy for values, engendering much discourse from social science
researchers (Markóczy, 1997; Meglino & Ravlin, 1998).
Several attempts to create a values typology pervade values theory literature.
Vernon and Allport (1931) created a personality test for values typing in 1931. Rokeach
(1968) created a typology for human values in order to study how values change over
time. Hofstede (1980; 1998) developed a values typology based on organizational
29
behavior that aligns values along an individualist-collectivist paradigm in an effort to
explain how individual values affect organizational behavior. Individualists pursue
advancement uniquely for themselves; whereas collectivists have found commonality in
values with others and deliberately work together to advance the group of like-minded
thinkers (Hofstede, 1980). Schwartz and Bilksy (1987) introduced an evolving universal
structure of value systems for use in empirical study across cultures. Schwartz’s most
recent work in values theory has deepened the understanding of the relationship between
values and behavior (Schwartz et al., 2012); in 2008 he and his colleagues described a
human values arrangement represented on “a continuum of related motivations, like the
circular continuum of colors, rather than a set of discrete motivations” (Davidov,
Schmidt, & Schwartz, 2008, p. 424). Figure 2 is a representation of Schwartz et al.’s
(2012) partitioned values continuum.
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Figure 2. Schwartz Values Continuum
(Schwartz et al., 2012)
The continuum illustrates how values are partitioned into sub-collections that are
indicative of how collections of values underpin other personal values such as openness
to change, collectivist leanings, or desire to self-protect. This development of the
continuum represents an empirical way to measure values and compare specific value
leanings within a population.
Combinations and criticisms of these value typologies appear throughout values
theory literature together and separately. The Hofstede (1980) and Schwartz et al. (2012)
typologies are frequently used to validate one another or to demonstrate continued
relevance in describing the role of values among individuals and groups (Drogendijk &
31
Slangen, 2006; Fischer & Poortinga, 2012; Ng, Lee, & Soutar, 2007). Other typologies
have been offered to narrow the focus on particular sets of values relevant to some
disciplines, such as public administration and public policy, consumerism, and work
perceptions (Cheng & Fleischmann, 2010; Jørgensen & Bozeman, 2007).
Individual values. The origins of individual values have been the subject of
much debate. Friedrich Neitzsche and William James suggested that values development
was directly related to the “genealogy of morality” and religious faith (as cited by Joas,
2000, p. 20). Joas (2000) supported the theory espoused by Georg Simmel and Charles
Taylor that values origination is related to the development of personal identity.
According to this theory, as people experience the world around them, personal values
are developed through a process of external engagement with others and the conscious
and unconscious need and desire to align belief systems (Joas, 2000). Further, values are
developed and inevitably changed through a process of self-reflection; they are an
internal schema for evaluating external stimuli and determining an appropriate response.
As a result, values are a driving force in developing personal identity (Hitlin, 2003).
Williams (1967), and Hitlin and Piliavin (2004) suggested that the conditions of
biological survival create the framework for the development of individual values;
personally held values may be inconsistent with survival needs, “but the conditions of
survival are not irrelevant to the existence of values” (Williams, 1967, p. 27). As a
criterion-based concept, researchers have asserted that values are at the heart of an
individual’s ability to rationalize his or her own behavior and the behavior of others in
their group behavior (Bies & Shapiro, 1988; Hofstede, 1980) and of an individual’s
ability to adapt to change. Such an ability to adapt to change is a natural part of human
32
and social development, much like that seen in ecological evolution; long-term
persistence requires continued value evolution at the individual level (Agnew, 1981).
There is a consensus in the literature that values change over the course of an
individual’s life. Value change is relative to the reference starting point, and how values
change and evolve over the course of a lifetime is more about incremental change than
about absolute value change (Jervis, 2004). Major life events have the single greatest
impact on value change (Bardi, Lee, Hofmann-Towfigh, & Soutar, 2009), but values
shifts may be triggered by various kinds of stimuli. Because values are trans-situational
(Hitlin & Piliavin, 2004), their relative hierarchy is subject to constant change.
The tendency for change in personal values prompts individuals to constantly
reevaluate their groupings. Conflict among individuals reflects a values misalignment,
both in terms of the actual value and its relative importance to each individual.
Misalignments trigger negative emotional responses, and strongly held oppositional
values make it difficult to see the benefits of alternative values or the change required to
incorporate those values (Howard, 2006). Individuals who come together in a group are
able to gather because of values congruence.
Group values. In Weber’s theories about practical and substantive rationalization
and the Iron Cage, the values of the individual are, in part, what drives human
practicality; our decision-making to affect the desired state is driven by the values we
hold (Kalberg, 1980). Greenfield (1979) noted that a frequent researcher assumption is
that organizational values are not the same as values held by an individual and that the
distinction has led to research conclusions that the ability to change organizations are
oversimplified; he argues that such a distinction is a dangerous fallacy. “If we see
33
individual and organizations as inextricably intertwined, it may not be so easy to alter
organizations without also cutting into something unexpectedly human” (p. 552).
Organizations are a reflection of shared individual values; the values of the individuals
become the values of the organization.
The challenge with openly acknowledging the inclusion of values, both
individually and organizationally, is that doing so makes addressing organizational
change messy. While there is agreement that values help us make sense of behaviors and
give our organizations structure (A. D. Brown & Starkey, 2000; Hinings, Thibault, Slack,
& Kikulis, 1996), values also introduce a diversity of thought into formal organizations
where rigid, law-like practices create stability and predictability. Personal values may
play a bigger role in group dynamics than professional values, and usually more than one
cluster of values are at play in behaviors at a time, but some individuals create a new set
of behaviors to avoid any emerging conflict that is triggered by competing values (A. D.
Brown & Starkey, 2000; Reichers, Wanous, & Austin, 1997). Tuckman’s model of group
dynamics offered an alternative view of this process in which groups form, storm, norm,
and perform (Tuckman, 1965), in which the storming phase represents this value-based
group conflict and the norming phase represents the value alignment created by the
group.
Although shared values are necessary for a group to function, researchers note
that group values that are not subjected to a diversity of values tend to be found in less
healthy groups (Barker, 1993). Shared values become group norms, which are more
coercive of group behavior because they represent how the group rationalizes the creation
of acceptable rules and behaviors. Group norms also create the scaffolding for the rise of
34
more formal organizational structures and practices (Alvesson, 2012). So coercive are
group norms that breeches in those norms result in both formal and informal othering of
the non-compliant sub-population and/or superficial compliance behaviors designed to
mitigate the marginalizing behavior (Amis et al., 2002; Stein & Pinto, 2011). As noted
earlier, the move to more rationalized, formal systems of organization represents a move
away from value-based reasoning related to how the group will operate. The vestiges of
the original group values remain, but the rationale for the rules based on those values
fades away. Gronow (1988) echoed Weber’s argument that groups cannot abandon
understanding and responding to group members values; such activity introduces values
diversity and triggers a conscious reconciliation of values for the group (Alvesson, 2012).
In spite of the diversity of values that may be present within an organization,
researchers largely find that group values are shared, which makes group change move
more smoothly than when there is a significant value misalignment (Amis et al., 2002).
This remains true for most organizations; however, the nature of the group may also
affect how its value set responds to change. For example, collectivist organizations reject
the formality of Weber’s bureaucracies; instead, they enjoy a more populist existence in
which leadership is more servant-oriented and the values of the membership have a heavy
hand in the behavior of the organization (Rothschild-Whitt, 1979; van Schoor, 2003). By
comparison, formal groups rely more heavily on the rules of order, the management of
their leaders, and the willing submission of group members to coalesce around a
particular value or identity (Rothschild-Whitt, 1979). The values underpinning the groups
norms create the criteria against which the need for and value of change is evaluated.
35
Another important thread found within values theory concerning groups is related
to the concepts of voice and agency and who has them. The shared values within a group
facilitate relationships and networks among members; individuals with particularly strong
relationships become pivotal players within the group (Smith, 2006). They are well
positioned to advance or to resist change within the group. They are the individuals who
use their position to give the sub-group with whom they share the most congruent values
primacy within the larger group (Patterson, Koenigs, Mohn, & Rasmussen, 2006). These
highly networked people are the ones who step into leadership roles and lead specifically
during periods of values incongruence within the group.
The Charismatic Leader
In The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, Weber (1947) described the
charismatic leader as a particularly special individual who steps into leadership because
of his or her ability to convince members of the group that his or her insights are true and
accurate and that following them will result in an improved outcome. The legitimacy of
this kind of leader rests exclusively on his or her persuasive powers to convince group
members of his or her accomplishments and worthiness of holding on to power. This is in
contrast to leaders who ascend to power via traditional succession, such as a monarchy,
or through bureaucratic, legal methods, such as democratic voting.
Weber’s (1947) description of the emergence of the charismatic leader in groups
or organizations blends with Lewin’s description of organizational change. Lewin (1951)
described change as triggering an “unfreezing” in the stability of an organization; this can
be likened to the values misalignment described earlier in group conflict. It is during this
36
vulnerable period in the group experience when the charismatic leader emerges and helps
the group navigate through the change period and into a period off refreezing. Weber’s
concept of this leader is that of a change agent with innately specialized insights and
skills to lead groups through change.
Profile of a leader. There is much debate about the characteristics and role of the
charismatic leader in organizations and his or her role as a change agent. Early work on
leadership and change focused on characteristics of top or upper echelon business leaders
and their impact on economic productivity (Hambrick & Mason, 1984). More nuanced
and relevant work related to the specific role of the charismatic leader appeared when
Meindl, Ehrlick and Dukerich (1985) published “The Romance of Leadership,” which
argued that leader legitimacy was likely to be the result of shared group values and the
leader’s caretaker role in maintaining and controlling those shared values. Beyer (1999)
and Lord and Brown (2001) built on this premise, suggesting that situational factors like
the change threat, impact of the threat, and the leader’s vision and his or her ability to
deliver on that vision all create the legitimacy that perpetuates the leader’s ability to hold
the attention and control of the group. Leadership is romanticized because the leader is
able to articulate a value-based vision to lead the group out of conflict by making the
vision the dominant reality; the ability to create a high level value congruence between
the leader and the group is what make charismatic leaders seductive and effective (Lord
& Brown, 2001; Wang, Hsieh, Tsai, & Cheng, 2012).
Charismatic leaders transcend traditional leadership roles within organizations.
They may have formal positions within organizations, but this is not necessary because
charismatic leaders often galvanize enough power through relationships within groups to
37
create a following with enough voice to compete with leaders in traditional formal
settings. Charismatic leaders thrive in groups that accept and promote power distances
between the group and the leader, and in groups that have collectivist values, meaning
they are willing to set aside individual interests for the good of the group (Hofstede,
1998; Schaubroeck, Lam, & Cha, 2007). Additionally, leaders who express positive
emotions about change are able to affect both group mood and group assessment of their
leadership efficacy (Bono & Ilies, 2006). If they are positive about the change they are
leading, followers are likely to describe them as good leaders.
Charismatic leaders can be visionary change agents, but their motivations for
change are questioned throughout the literature. Although this kind of leader comes to
leadership in the midst of organizational change to meet a specific group need,
charismatic leaders are frequently described as advancing their own interests over group
interests and of not challenging group members to think critically about the change
(O'Connor, Mumford, Clifton, Gessner, & Connelly, 1996). Additionally, descriptions of
charismatic leaders as destructive narcissists persist in the literature (Campbell, Hoffman,
Campbell, & Marchisio, 2011; Humphreys, Zhao, Ingram, Gladstone, & Basham, 2010;
Post, 1986).
One perspective of the charismatic leader in the literature relates to the leader’s
propensity to actually resist change. Although Weber characterized this leader as
someone who leads the group through the change into a new era, there are “also
documented cases of charismatic leaders with spectacular messages who have actually
opposed ongoing or impending change in defense of tradition” (Levay, 2010, p. 130).
Such may be the charismatic leader who sees the values incongruence in the group but
38
aligns with the group that wants to maintain the values of the original group; the
charismatic leader may show a heavy reliance on changes that maintain or return the
group to traditional organizational behavior, irrespective of the type of rationality the
group may practice (Levay, 2010).
Finally, there is evidence that charismatic leaders ultimately advance the
development of formal bureaucratic structures after the desired change state has been
achieved (Levay, 2010). Much like in Weber’s formal rationalization, the creation of
formal policies and practices are designed to preserve and protect the organization; the
charismatic leader is deliberate about preserving and protecting the change achievement,
personally and organizationally. The ability of the charismatic leader to retain personal
power and relevance within the group is related to his or her ability to advance change
and maintain the new organizational state (Levay, 2010; O'Connor et al., 1996).
Followers of charismatic leaders. There is an important role of the follower in
the development of the charismatic leader. Howell & Shamir (2005) described followers
of charismatic leaders as those who are
willing to transcend self-interests for the sake of the collective…, to engage in
self-sacrifice in the interest of the mission, to identify with the vision articulated
by the leader, to show strong emotional attachment to the leader, to internalize the
leader’s values and goals, and to demonstrate strong personal and moral
commitment to those values or goals. (p. 99 )
While misalignments in group values and norms give rise to this particular type of leader,
there must be high value congruence in order for the charismatic leader to retain leader
primacy and to be effective in leading the group to the desired change state. Followers
nurture the charismatic leader because they either personally identify with him or her or
they share values with the leader; the former rationale requires followers’ acceptance and
39
internalization of the leader’s personal narrative while the latter requires an
internalization of the leader’s message (Howell & Shamir, 2005).
Personal identity of both the charismatic follower and leader provides a different
insight into this relationship. Parry and Kempster (2013) called charismatic leadership
“a gift from followers” (p. 16) because leaders must be able to adopt a relevant narrative
that resonates with potential followers. The followers self-construct an identity within the
group that creates scaffolding on which the leader must build a personal story that mirrors
that of the follower. The inability to create at least the illusion of a shared experience
between the would-be charismatic leader and follower will result in the failure of the full
emergence of the leader.
M. E. Brown and Treviňo (2009) offer a different path for the role of the follower.
They suggested that group membership choice is based in part on an individual’s ability
to align his or her personal values with the values of the group, and that the training and
organization of the group serves to more deeply ingrain those values. Followers play an
important role in the emergence of a charismatic leader if followers value the collective
more than the individual and are open to change (M. E. Brown & Trevino, 2009).
Followers who are not eager for change are less likely to produce a charismatic leader.
There is also a unique follower role as the surrogate. Surrogates are followers who
support, defend, and promote the charismatic leader to more distant followers within the
group (Galvin, Balkundi, & Waldman, 2010). This group of followers may be early
adopters of the leader’s narrative and in identifying values congruence, and they use their
own social networks to advance the leader. Surrogates help other followers to
40
romanticize the leadership of the charismatic leader, thereby increasing the status and
relative power of the leader and also for the surrogate.
Summary
This chapter presents a review of three streams of literature relevant to this study.
The first of these, Max Weber’s Iron Cage theory, was a warning to organizations about
how formal, bureaucratic systems could be threatening to long-term viability and
productivity. Although such systems can protect and preserve professions like veterinary
medicine, they lack an appropriate consideration of the influence of individual and group
values that help give the profession its meaning. Second, values are the criteria by which
individuals and groups assess their current state against the desired state and, as a result,
make changes in behavior to pursue or preserve the desired state. Values can be dynamic
and situational, and yet they can also be deeply held and deeply rooted. As Weber’s
theory suggests, organizations that fail to acknowledge and understand the complex role
of values in organizational behavior are at a disadvantage in creating adaptable structures
that can respond to change.
Finally, when individual values within a group are not aligned, conflict results and
new leaders emerge to help groups achieve the desired state. Charismatic leaders can be
of great benefit in advancing or resisting change, but their leadership and what they value
may not be in the best interest of the group or organization. Such leaders are able to relate
to followers because of inherently shared values or because of the leaders’ ability to
present a personal narrative that resonates with followers. In either case, charismatic
leaders ultimately embrace Weber’s Iron Cage: after achieving the desired organizational
41
change they lead the charge in creating structures to protect the new organizational state,
effectively refreezing the organization.
This study seeks to identify the values associated with veterinary leaders’
willingness to use accreditation to control variation in the use of veterinary medical
education models. The veterinary profession represents a rationalized bureaucracy that
reflects the values of its members and leaders. Changes in veterinary medical education
have triggered a debate about values within the profession, focusing on veterinary
educational models. Leaders across the profession play a unique role in the debate about
change within the profession. Their values about change and the tools to be used in
advancing change raise will be studied through the lenses offered in this literature review.
42
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter describes the methodology for this sequential mixed methods study
which sought to explain how values held by veterinary medical leaders influence their
willingness to see accreditation as an organizational tool to control veterinary medical
education programs. The objective of the first phase of the survey was to identify the
values and views on veterinary medical education models held by veterinary leaders
using a quantitative survey tool. The objective of the second qualitative phase was to
explore how the values of charismatic, veterinary leaders influence their views of the
veterinary profession’s use of accreditation to control the development of new
educational models. The following provides a detailed explanation of the research
procedures used to collect and analyze the data in this study.
Theoretical Frameworks
This study primarily assumed a post-positivist paradigm, which asserts that the
study of individual or group realities is influenced by the researcher’s and participants’
knowledge and experience about the phenomena; in this paradigm, reality is situational
(Nawrin & Mongkolsirikiet, 2012). Influenced by critical theory, the reality being studied
is created by the researcher and the participants through various means including
43
experience, group membership, and language (Gergen, 2001). Regardless of how reality
is constructed, Gergen (2001) suggested that members of the group to be studied are
rational factors in their cultural group. The group’s cultural norms largely dictate how
actors rationalize their behavior in response to various group stimuli; reality is not only
individual-specific, it is group-specific as well (Gergen, 2001). As a result the
characterization of the research subjects’ reality may be imperfect but likely true for a
larger, but still specific population (Lincoln, Lynham, & Guba, 2011). This warns us that
efforts to generalize the theories generated from this research should be done cautiously
because of the uniqueness of the participants and the situation. Research conducted
within a post-positivist framework posits questions that the research can answer at the
time when the research is conducted; conclusions drawn from the answers may evolve as
more information is collected and knowledge about the problem expands (Nawrin &
Mongkolsirikiet, 2012).
Although this study was influenced by the post-positive research paradigm, it was
also shaped by a positivist understanding of research. While post-positivism espouses that
truth is universal but open to interpretation by the individual, positivism asserts that there
is an empirically measurable truth (Giddings & Grant, 2006; Lincoln et al., 2011). This
paradigm rejects the notion that truth is situational; Auguste Comte, the father of
positivism, asserted that social science echoes the rules of scientific study seen in
biological research (Babbie, 2012).
Critiques of both of these paradigms abound. Post-positivism may be too flexible,
while positivism is seen as too rigid. According to Babbie (2012), it is questionable if
researchers can really be objective, and he asserted that sophisticated positivism can
44
objectively study and understand human behavior, including non-rational behavior, but
that all experiences, including sense-making, are inherently subjective. In an effort to
create a bridge between the paradigms and to generate meaningful new knowledge, it is
necessary to create an agreement reality in which researchers acknowledge and accept the
reality of others based on a set of standards dictated by shared cultural norms (Babbie,
2012).
The pursuit of an agreement reality created a case for the use of mixed methods
design in this study. By employing both quantitative and qualitative components, the
study included an empirical study of values and a more subjective study of the
relationship between values and the desire to use accreditation as a change tool. The
positivist and post-positivist influences in this study were complementary in
understanding the nuances of personal leader experience; however, the influences also
provide an internal counterbalance to the limitations of each individual paradigm.
Explanatory Mixed Methods Design
Although substantial literature exists about organizational behavior and
charismatic leadership, less is known about the role of individual values in driving
organizational behavior or the emergence of charismatic leaders. Schwartz et al.’s (2012)
quantitative instrument allows the researcher to identify individual leader values;
additional questions were added to measure leaders’ views on new veterinary educational
models and accreditation. Although the quantitative phase revealed important information
about how leaders’ values relate to their views on change in veterinary medical
45
education, this data set did not provide data on how leaders rationalize their views about
these issues.
Creswell (2008) explained that when one type of research is insufficient to
adequately explain the research problem, a mixed methods design is preferred. Gergen’s
(2001) post-positivist emphasis on language as a key element in understanding a research
subject’s reality suggests that leaders’ verbal responses to interview questions would
yield important data about how they understand the changes in veterinary medical
education. A qualitative study of leaders’ views on accreditation and change in veterinary
medical education was proposed to explore their willingness to use accreditation as a tool
of resistance. This secondary phase of the project focused on “extreme cases” to better
understand and explain the research phenomena (Creswell, 2008, p. 566).
Research Questions
The goal of this study was to understand the relationship between leaders’ values
and the desire to use accreditation to control veterinary medical education models. To
that end the research questions and sub-questions for this project were as follows:
1) What values held by veterinary medical leaders are associated with a willingness
to accept change in veterinary education models?
a. Are veterinary leaders more or less likely to accept change in veterinary
education models?
b. How do leaders rate their knowledge base about accreditation practices?
2) How do leaders’ values shape their willingness to use accreditation as a tool in
controlling variation among veterinary medical education models?
46
a. How have leaders’ views of accreditation and educational models changed
during their career?
Assumptions
The researcher was guided by several assumptions. Veterinary leaders are
committed to protecting and advancing the veterinary medical profession. This desire
prompts leaders to engage in behaviors designed to foster organizational policies and
practices that create stability and moderate change within veterinary medical
organizations, including educational institutions. The researcher also assumed that
leaders do not personally explore how their personal values shape their behavior in the
organizations they lead.
In addition, the project was launched under the assumption that concerns about
educational models and the desire to use accreditation to limit the use of certain models
existed as an isolated concern in the veterinary profession. Responses in the qualitative
component revealed that this assumption was flawed: leaders are also concerned about
workforce stressors in the veterinary profession such as but not limited to excess capacity
in the veterinary workforce, persistently low starting salaries for new graduates, and
concerns about new graduates’ preparedness for clinical practice. As a result, these
findings may be seen to exclude consideration of how other, tangentially related threats to
the values associated with the public image and sustainability of the profession influence
leaders’ perspectives.
47
Data Collection & Analysis
Data for this study was collected in two phases. In the first phase, a survey
instrument was used to identify the values held by veterinary leaders, their acceptance of
different veterinary medical education models, and their views on the role of
accreditation. In the second phase, semi-structured interviews with veterinary leaders
were used to explore the initial survey findings.
Quantitative phase. In phase one of this study, the researcher used a survey
instrument based on earlier work on individual values (Schwartz, 1994; Schwartz &
Bilsky, 1987; Schwartz & Bilsky, 1990) which identifies 19 basic individual values and
organizes them into motivational dimensions (Schwartz et al., 2012). Schwartz et al.
(2012) argued that neither the reliability nor the validity of the instrument is affected by
testing individual value sets, so the researcher modified the survey instrument by using
only those questions related to values associated with self-transcendence, self-
enhancement, openness to change, and conservation based on relevant literature on
Weberian theories related to rational organizational behavior, values theory, and
charismatic leadership, each addressed in the literature review. Additional questions were
added to the study, addressing specific issues related to veterinary medical education
programs and accreditation; Cronbach’s Alpha was used to test the internal reliability of
these additional questions.
Modest demographic data was collected in this survey because of the
homogeneity of the population. A review of the AVMA Leadership Roster and
Organizational Documents (2012) suggested that the overwhelming majority of the
designated population is male. Racial and ethnic diversity has long been a challenge for
48
the veterinary profession, and only 8 percent of the American veterinarian population is
non-White (United States Census Bureau, 2010). Efforts to stratify the sample to
compensate for small numbers of non-male, non-white populations would have required a
greater presence of these individuals in the population. The survey instrument included a
question asking respondents if they are an association leader or an academic leader in
order to assess whether there was a difference in responses between these two groups.
The survey instrument is included in Appendix A. Informed consent was solicited
from each participant within the survey. An online survey tool was used to distribute the
survey and collect data. Survey responses were collected anonymously as the instrument
did not ask for personally identifying information and the survey tool did not capture
internet protocol addresses.
After the data was collected, the data were cleaned, and accounting was made for
missing survey responses. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version
19.0 software was used for quantitative analysis of data collected in this phase of the
study. Descriptive analysis, specifically measures of central tendency, was used to
describe trends in the data. The instrument featured 5-point Likert scales. Inferential
statistics was used to analyze the data: specifically, multiple regression was used to
determine whether leader value responses were predictive of their views on veterinary
medical education. Regression analysis provided a quantitative means to answer the
research question seeking to assess whether there is a relationship between values and
willingness to accept change. Independent t-tests were used to explore differences
between academic and association leaders’ response scores.
49
Phase one selection of research subjects. For the purposes of this phase of the
study, the leader population was identified as a subset of the 2012-2013 leadership roster
of the AVMA and the 2012-2013 AAVMC institutional representatives at member
institutions located in the United States. The subset of AVMA leaders included the
organizational officers, Executive Board, Board of Governors, House Advisory
Committee, and the House of Delegates.
According to the AVMA Bylaws (2012), leaders holding positions within the
AVMA leader categories were elected to their positions by the organizational
membership. The bylaws also provide broad organizational decision making power for
members of these categorizes. AAVMC institutional representatives in the United States
are voting members of the AAVMC based on their position within the institution.
According to the Bylaws of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
(2012), individuals holding these positions are voting members of the association’s
assembly. Random sampling was used to identify 123 participants based on a total leader
population of 200.
Qualitative phase. Phase two of this study included semi-structured interviews
designed to explore the leaders’ views on accreditation and changes in veterinary medical
education. Semi-structured interviews provide “respondents some latitude and freedom to
talk about what is of interest or importance to them” (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2011, p.
102). The interview guide appears in Appendix 2. Each interview lasted no more than 90
minutes and was scheduled and conducted in person, by phone, or using Skype™.
Informed consent and permission to record the interview were obtained from phase two
participants. Recordings of the interview were used to produce text transcripts.
50
Research memos and a qualitative codebook were developed based on the
researcher’s initial review and general understanding of the transcripts. The codebook
provided greater ability to organize the data and manage code development. DedooseTM
web-based qualitative analysis software was used for transcript coding and thematic
analysis. Coding entailed an iterative process of “grouping evidence and labeling ideas so
that they reflect increasingly broader perspectives” (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011,
p. 208). Themes were developed within and across participant responses. Detailed field
notes and interview summaries were provided to interview participants as a form of
member checking. Coding and thematic analysis were also conducted on the publications
used to select phase two participants as a form of triangulation designed to increase the
credibility of interview findings. Thematic findings were reported broadly to maintain the
confidentiality of individual participants.
Guba (as cited in Krefting, 2001) provides a model for testing the trustworthiness
of the qualitative phase of this study. The researcher must establish a confidence in the
findings based on the study design, participants and context (Krefting, 2001, p. 215). The
researcher must provide enough description in the findings that future researchers are
able to “fit [them] into contexts outside the study situation that is determined by the
degree of similarity or goodness of fit between the two contexts” (p. 216). The researcher
must describe both the consistency and outlier data collected in the qualitative
component. Variability in qualitative research is to be expected given the emphasis on the
in-depth study of individuals within groups; however, the researcher must be able to
identify coded qualitative data that is beyond the “boundaries of experience or
phenomenon” (p. 216). Finally, the data must demonstrate neutrality. Relationships
51
between the qualitative researcher and her subject may serve to enhance the quality of the
data collected; however, the Guba model requires the researcher to provide a neutral
presentation and assessment of the data collected (Krefting, 2001). The qualitative
methodology outlined here addresses each of the elements of the Guba model.
Phase two selection of research subjects. The quantitative survey instrument
included an invitation to participate in phase two of the study. Respondents were asked to
confidentially send a separate email with contact information to the researcher; this
protected the anonymity of the quantitative data. Responsive participants established a
pool of potential subjects for phase two of this study. The researcher requested the
curricula vitae of potential phase two subjects to assist in the selection of interviewees.
Using maximal variation sampling, the researcher identified five veterinary medical
leaders from this group to participate in semi-structured interviews. Efforts were made to
include a diverse group of participants on the basis of leadership position, geographic
distribution, gender, race, and age.
An additional five interview subjects were identified using purposeful sampling of
individuals based on their visibility and influence in the profession. The pool of
individuals was created through a text analysis of articles, letters, and commentaries
published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Journal of
Veterinary Medical Education, DVM Newsmagazine, and the Veterinary Information
News between December 1, 2012 and March 30, 2013. This process identified potential
subjects who do not hold formal positions in organized veterinary medicine yet are still
identified as thought leaders in the profession. After participants were selected, curricula
vitae for the remaining five subjects were requested so that the researcher could
52
familiarize herself with their backgrounds and organizational activities. This information
helped to inform the researcher’s interactions with the subjects during the interviews
resulting in greater openness and meaningful dialogue.
Interpretation. Upon completing the analysis of data from both the quantitative
and qualitative phases, the researcher created an integrated interpretation of all analysis.
Creswell and Plano Clark (2011) recommended “stepping back from the detailed results
and advancing their larger meaning in the view of the research problems, questions in the
study, the existing literature, and perhaps personal experiences” (p. 209). Data analysis
from phase one was used to answer the first research question concerning the relationship
between the values held by leaders and their willingness to accept change in veterinary
medical education. Because this study included an emphasis on “extreme cases”
(Creswell, 2008, p. 566), the resulting analysis explained the broad findings from phase
one and “refine[d] the initial explanation for the extreme cases” (Creswell & Plano Clark,
2011, p. 2013) highlighted in phase two. A discussion about the implication of the
findings and recommendations for future study conclude the study.
Outcome. The literature review suggested that there are sets of individual values
associated with willingness to change. Additionally, the values held by leaders result in
behaviors that make organizations more or less adaptable to change within a sector. The
researcher believed that a collection of leader values would be associated positively with
the desire to use accreditation as a tool to control the use of diverse veterinary medical
education models. The researcher also anticipated unexpected findings and reported all
findings irrespective of their support for presupposed theories. This study should initiate
53
a deeper dialogue about new and emergent veterinary medical education models and the
role that accreditation plays in evaluating their effectiveness.
Ethical Considerations
The researcher has worked in the veterinary profession for more than 12 years in
various lay capacities. For the last nine years, she has lead a national diversity program
and created an institutional research program both at the AAVMC. She has
collaboratively worked with national leaders of many veterinary medical associations on
issues related to trends in veterinary medical education. The experience has afforded her
a broad understanding of the veterinary medical profession and a useful knowledge of
leadership and governance activities with in the profession.
In phase one of this study, the researcher served as an objective data collector and
statistician. Phase two of the study proposed a more active, intimate role for the
researcher with a group of subjects with whom she had likely worked during the course
of her career. Possible researcher bias was further complicated by the researcher’s
association with the primary academic organization within the veterinary medical
profession. Her professional position could have influenced her interpretation of the data
collected.
In an effort to address potential issues of bias and conflict of interest, the
researcher acknowledged her position and potential visibility within the profession. She
maintained detailed field notes describing participant behavior, tone, and expression
during interviews to supplement the transcript data. Detailed field notes will provide
54
concrete information that should reduce the suggestions of bias of anticipated study
findings (McMillan & Wergin, 2010).
Study Limitations
This study has several limitations. Random sampling in phase one of this project
did not ensure a diverse study sample in terms of geography, race, ethnicity, or gender.
Although the researcher defined leaders in veterinary medicine to include formal and
informal leaders, the inclusion of informal thought leaders in the profession may not be
seen as legitimate by future readers. The researcher’s current position with a national
veterinary organization in the veterinary medical profession also presented threats of bias
and conflict of interest. The use of a mixed methods approach featuring an anonymous
quantitative data collection for the first phase of this project may mitigate concern about
the interpretation of the overall findings.
Summary
This sequential mixed methods study sought to identify value differences among
veterinary leaders and explain their possible impact on views related to the use of
accreditation to control veterinary medical education. Employing a post-positivist
theoretical framework resulted from a recognition that values are situational resulting in
situational understandings of the debates about the future of veterinary medical
education. The quantitative phase of this study collected data that answered the research
questions about the relationship between values and willingness to accept change in
veterinary medical education. The qualitative phase was designed to support the
quantitative findings by exploring value motivations in using accreditation to control the
55
use of various veterinary medical education models. The study concludes with a
discussion finding implications and recommendations for future study.
56
CHAPTER FOUR: QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH FINDINGS
Introduction
The first phase of this study was informed by Schwartz et al.’s (2012) values
continuum, which partitions personal values in a way that allows them to be empirically
studied. This quantitative phase was also informed by veterinary news coverage
regarding disagreements within the profession related to the accreditation of veterinary
medical colleges. The objective of this initial phase of study is to answer the initial
research question and sub-questions:
1. What values held by veterinary medical leaders are associated with a willingness
to accept change in veterinary education models?
a. Are veterinary leaders more or less likely to accept change in veterinary
education models?
b. How do leaders rate their knowledge base about accreditation practices?
Data collection and Survey Administration
The quantitative instrument was developed using four values scales from
Schwartz et al.’s values continuum (2012). The values are traditionalism, conformity to
rules, self-direction in thought, and self-direction in action. According to Schwartz et al.
(2012), these values provide a window into an individual’s willingness to accept or resist
57
change. Additional instrument questions were developed by the researcher focusing on
participants’ knowledge and views about accreditation and educational models.
A random sample of 123 veterinary medical leaders was selected from the 2012-
2013 leadership roster of the AVMA and the institutional voting members of the
AAVMC. The sample was stratified based on the size and subcomponents of the
population; 22 leaders from the AAVMC were selected and designated as academic
leaders. The remaining participants were 101 AVMA leaders who were designated as
association leaders.
The survey included 11 questions that were constructed on a Likert scale with a 5-
point scale (1-Not at all like me; 5-Very much like me). An additional 7 questions also
used a 5-point scale (1-Completely disagree; 5-Completely agree). One demographic
question was included asking respondents to identify as either an association leader or an
academic leader, with a coding of 1 or 2, respectively.
The survey was constructed in SurveyMonkeyTM
, an online survey tool that
allows users to download raw survey responses into Excel to prepare for transfer to
SPSS, the survey software used for statistical analysis. Introductory invitations with a
weblink to the survey were distributed by electronic mail to the 123 leaders over a two
week period. This web-based survey approach provided an expedited method of data
collection from a geographically dispersed sample. All leaders included in the population
had email addresses at the time of the survey.
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Survey Results
Response rate. The overall response rate was 59.3 percent (n=73). For the
purposes of this study, analyzed responses focused on the two groups earlier identified,
association leaders (n=101) with 43 respondents and academic leaders (n=22) with 25
respondents: at least three leaders identified in the association leader pool self-identified
as academic leaders, resulting in a respondent figure that exceeded the identified
academic leader pool.
Data entry. Survey data were downloaded from the online instrument into an
Excel spreadsheet, which was converted into an SPSS compatible file. The data were
screened for errors using SPSS descriptives and frequency analyses.
Study Variables and Research Questions
As discussed earlier, this study is based in part on the Schwartz et al. values
continuum; specific survey questions were excerpted from Schwartz et al.’s instrument
(2012). Additional questions were created to examine accreditation knowledge and views
on veterinary education models around accreditation knowledge and veterinary
educational models (Table 1).
Table 1. Study Variables and Research Questions
Conformity-Rules Scale
Q2: Obeying all the laws is important to him or her.
Q6: He believes he should always do what people in authority say.
Q9: It is important to her to follow rules even when no one is watching
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Table 1. Study Variables and Research Questions (continued)
Self-Direction-Action Scale
Q4: It is important to him to form his own opinions and have original ideas.
Q7: Doing everything independently is important to him
Q11: Freedom to choose what he does is important to him.
Self-Direction-Thought Scale
Q1: Learning things for himself and improving his abilities is important to him.
Q3: Being creative is important to him or her.
Q10: It is important to him to make his own decisions about his life.
Tradition Scale
Q5: He strongly values the traditional practices of his culture.
Q8: Following his or her family’s customs or the customs of a religion is important
to him/her.
Accreditation Scale
Q12: The accreditation of new DVM professional education programs in the US is a
good thing for the profession.
Q14: I would rank my knowledge of accreditation practices regarding the AVMA’s
Council on Education as high.
Q17: The accreditation of non-traditional DVM professional education programs is a
good thing for the profession.
Education Models Scale
Q13: Colleges of veterinary medicine primarily using a distributive model of clinical
education can produce competent day one veterinarians.
Q15: Problem-based learning can be effectively used as a primary teaching method
for the basic sciences in veterinary medicine.
Q16: The traditional model of a veterinary medical school is the best education model
to produce a competent day one graduate veterinarian.
Q18: Distance learning education can be effectively used in the DVM professional
education program.
60
Table 2 shows how individual survey questions align with the research questions for this
study.
Table 2. Research Question Matrix
Research Question Corresponding Survey Question
What values held by veterinary medical
leaders are associated with a willingness to
accept change in veterinary education
models?
Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9,
Q10, Q11, Q13, Q15, Q16, Q18
Are veterinary leaders more or less likely to
accept change in veterinary education
models?
Q13, Q14, Q15, Q16, Q17, Q18
How do leaders rate their knowledge base
about accreditation practices?
Q12, Q14, Q17
Descriptive analysis. Descriptive analyses were conducted on the main
variables—personal values and accreditation, and educational model views—in order to
describe the essential characteristics of data in the study. Respondent views on
accreditation and educational models served as the dependent variables; personal values
were tested as the independent variable in this study. Type of leader, as a nominal
variable, was also analyzed as an independent variable.
Organization of Data and Results
The data were organized into two groups,: Association Leaders and Academic
Leaders, Group 1 and Group 2 respectively. The results from these two groups are
organized as follows:
1. Means and standard deviations for Likert scale questions.
2. Frequency and (Ns and %) for the singular categorical questions.
3. Univariate inferential statistics for Group 1 and Group 2.
61
4. Multivariate analysis assessing the contributions of personal values to
accreditation views.
Prior to analysis, each question was reviewed to ensure the wording did not require
recoding of responses. A question in the educational model scale was reverse coded for
scale consistency.
Reliability
Cronbach’s alpha was used to establish the internal consistency or the reliability
of the values and accreditation scales. Scales excerpted from the Schwartz et al.s (2012)
values continuum were found to be sufficiently reliable (.706). The alpha coefficient for
the accreditation scale was initially reported to be .240; however, the removal of one
question from the scale (Q14) resulted in a modestly improved alpha coefficient of .382.
Reliability was not calculated for the single demographic leader question. Cronbach’s
alpha coefficients for each scale are shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Cronbach's Alpha Reliability for Independent Measures
N Alpha
Conformity 72 0.629
Self-Direction-Action 71 0.585
Self-Direction-Thought 72 0.638
Traditional 73 0.662
Accreditation 71 0.240
Educational Models 73 0.509
Although the alpha coefficients were low for the accreditation scale, this is not
significant because literature concerning the use of Cronbach’s alpha as a reliability
62
metric calls into question the reliability of the test for such small scales. The removal of
three survey questions resulted in a four-question scale; Tavakol and Dennick (2011) and
others argue that scales with small numbers of questions can result in artificially low
alpha coefficient (Kerlinger, 1973). Additionally, larger sample sizes can minimize
spurious errors in responses resulting in a greater probability of higher reliability
coefficients (Kerlinger, 1973).
The decision was made to retain all data from all survey questions in this analysis
for several reasons. The researcher intentionally defined the leaders for the quantitative
component of this study narrowly as veterinarians holding positions of authority in
organized veterinary medicine or the veterinary academy; this resulted in a survey
population of 220 individuals. Although the response rate for this component of the study
was robust, the total number of respondents may have negatively impacted the internal
reliability of the researcher’s scales. Additionally, the very small number of questions in
the scales may have negatively impacted the reliability coefficients. Finally, as the first
study of its kind in the veterinary profession, the inclusion of all data creates a benchmark
for further study. Future research on the relationship between personal values and
leaders’ views on educational models and accreditation can include both a more
expansive leader definition, creating a larger survey population, and an expansion of the
survey question scales. Such study improvements will demonstrate whether the findings
presented here are replicable with a sufficient level of reliability.
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Validity
Factor analysis was deemed to be an inadequate test for validity given both the
very small number of questions in the survey and a limited sample pool. Creswell (2008)
recommends a non-statistical interpretation of the scores and their relevance to the study
as an alternative means of establishing construct validity. While validity is not confirmed
statistically in this phase of the study, respondent scores appear to be relevant for the
purposes of this study and are supported by data collected in the qualitative phase of the
project. Results from this study should be considered applicable only to the respondent
population. Future refinement of the survey instrument and expansion of the survey
population are needed to confirm instrument validity.
Means and Standard Deviation
Means and standard deviations were run for the 19 Likert scale items. Descriptive
statistics for the five scale measures based on the surveys specific focus on values
variables are presented below in Table 4.
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Table 4. Descriptive Statistics
Variable N Mean S.D.
Conformity Rules –1 73 2.84 .972
Conformity Rules – 2 72 4.00 .934
Conformity Rules – 3 72 4.06 .902
Self Direction Action – 1 71 4.51 .673
Self Direction Action – 2 73 3.11 .966
Self Direction Action – 3 73 4.51 .604
Self Direction Thought – 1 73 4.01 1.007
Self Direction of Thought – 2 73 4.25 .722
Self Direction – 3 72 4.64 .539
Traditional – 1 73 3.56 1.067
Traditional – 2 73 3.07 1.206
Accreditation is good 71 3.49 1.492
Distributive model is effective 73 3.04 1.060
My accreditation knowledge is high 73 3.85 .923
PBL is effective for basic sciences 73 3.60 .909
The traditional model of education is best 73 3.27 1.017
Non-traditional model accreditation is good 73 2.84 1.143
Distance Learning is Good 73 3.22 1.250
Descriptive statistics were also conducted on the five scales based on the survey’s study
of values and accreditation. These data are presented below in Table 5.
Table 5. Means and Standard Deviations for Scales
Scale Mean S.D.
Conformity – Rules 3.6343 .71022
Self Direction – Action 4.0329 .56105
Self Direction – Thought 4.2963 .59617
Traditional 3.3151 .98428
Accreditation 3.4085 .76053
Education Models 3.2877 .71861
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Frequencies
A single categorical variable was included in this study: type of leader. The
frequencies of responses to this survey question are presented in Table 6.
Table 6. Response Frequencies of the Categorical Variable
Type of Leader Frequency
1- Association Leader 43
2 - Academic Leader 25
Research Question One
Inferential statistics were used to answer the study’s research questions below.
Q1. What values held by veterinary medical leaders are associated with a willingness to
accept change in veterinary education models?
Correlations (Pearson’s r) for the entire sample were run prior to regression
analysis. While statistically significant differences were found across independent value
variables in the study, significant correlations were found between the values scale for
self-directed-thought values and leaders’ views on accreditation (r = .270, p = .024) and
between the values scale for traditional values and the scale for views on educational
Table 7. Correlations of Values Scales to the Accreditation and Educational
Models Scales
Self-
Direction-
Action
Conformity
Scale
Self-
Direction-
Thought
Traditional
Values Scale
Accreditation
Views
Scale
Educational
Models
Scale
Self-
Direction-
Action
Pearson
Correlation 1
Sig. (2-tailed)
N 71
Conformity
Scale
Pearson
Correlation .126 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .299
N 70 72
Self-
Direction-
Thought
Pearson
Correlation .263
* .097 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .028 .422
N 70 71 72
Traditional
Values
Scale
Pearson
Correlation .212 .489
** .072 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .075 .000 .548
N 71 72 72 73
Accreditation
Views
Scale
Pearson
Correlation .010 -.055 .270
* -.212 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .933 .648 .024 .077
N 69 70 70 71 71
Educational
Models
Scale
Pearson
Correlation -.231 -.170 .037 -.294
* .151 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .053 .154 .759 .012 .209
N 1 .126 .263* .212 .010 -.231
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
**Correlations is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
67
models (r = -.245, p = .037) as shown in Table 7. No correlations were found among any
of the variable scales when controlling for the type of veterinary leader.
Focusing on the educational model scale, separate regression analyses were
conducted by leader type on traditional values and views on educational models data. The
separate regressions provided the ability to differentiate the variable relationships
between association and academic leaders on veterinary medical education.
Traditional values were entered into the linear regression model as the
independent variable; views on educational models were entered into the model as the
dependent variable. Traditional values accounted for only 4.8 percent of association
leaders’ views on educational models. Table 8 show that this regression model did not
significantly explain this group’s views related to this variable (Association Leaders,
∆R2 = .048, p = .085).
Similarly, academic leaders’ traditional values were entered as the independent
variable, while views on educational models were entered as the dependent variable. No
significant variance was found for academic leaders, as shown in Table 9 (∆R2 = .12,
F = 1.11, p = .267). Traditional values are not significantly predictive of views on
educational models (Group 1, ∆R2 = .048, p = .085; Group 2, ∆R
2 = -.012, p = .267). This
data confirms that while correlated, traditional values held by veterinary leaders are not
predictive of their views on veterinary education models.
Table 8. Linear Regression Model Summary for Association Leaders
Model
R
R
Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
Change Statistics
Types of leader = Association
Leader (Selected)
R Square
Change
F
Change df1 df2
Sig. F
Change
1 .266a .070 .048 .91212 .070 3.109 1 41 .085
Table 9. Linear Regression Model Summary for Academic Leaders
Model
R
R
Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
Change Statistics
Types of leader = Academic
Leader (Selected)
R Square
Change
F
Change df1 df2
Sig. F
Change
1 .231a .053 .012 1.11130 .053 1.292 1 23 .267
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Research Sub-question A
A) Are veterinary leaders more or less likely to accept change in veterinary education
models?
Descriptive analysis of leader scores on the education models scale reveal mean
scores over three on a 1.67 to 5 point scale as shown in Table 10. Veterinary leaders as a
group are very modestly resistant to change in veterinary education.
Table 10. Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std.
Deviation
Educational Models Scale 73 1.67 5 3.29 0.719
When examining the individual components of the educational model scale,
leaders’ views regarding the use of varying educational models differ comparatively.
Leaders have moderate views of the use of the distributive education model (M = 3.04),
while having more favorable views of distance learning educational models (M = 3.22)
and problem-based learning models (M = 3.60) (Table 11). Leaders have a more
favorable view of the traditional model of accreditation (M = 3.27) when compared to
non-traditional models of veterinary education (M =2.84) (Table 11).
Table 11. Descriptives
N Mean Std.
Deviation
Distance Learning is Good 73 3.22 1.250
Distributive model is effective 73 3.04 1.060
Non-traditional model accreditation is good 73 2.84 1.143
PBL is effective for basic sciences 73 3.60 .909
The traditional model of education is best 73 3.27 1.017
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Veterinary leaders more strongly expressed a preference for the traditional model
of veterinary medical education; however leaders, also rated alternative educational
models positively. Although the descriptive findings suggest a modest resistance to
change in educational models, the descriptive data for individual survey questions
suggest a willingness to accept change in the use of veterinary education models despite a
preference for the traditional model of education delivery. Additional statistical testing
was conducted to compare the findings by leader type.
Independent samples t-tests were conducted to compare the educational scale
scores for association and academic leaders, and a statistically significant variance was
found. Association leader scores were lower (M = 3.10, SD = 6.28) than their academic
leader counterparts (M =3.57, SD = .79, p =.014).
When t-tests were conducted on each educational model scale question, a
significant difference was also found between the two groups with respect to their views
on the use of distance learning in veterinary medical education. Association leaders were
less likely to have a favorable view of the distance-learning model (M = 2.81, SD = 1.26)
than their academic counterparts (M = 3.80, SD = 1.26, t (38.8) = 1.00, p = .001). The
magnitude of difference between the two types of leaders (eta = .145) was large
(Table 12). Although there was a significant difference in leaders’ views on the use of
distance learning in veterinary medical education, veterinary leaders were found to be
modestly open to change in veterinary education models. A clear preference for the
continued use of the traditional model of veterinary medical education is also revealed in
the data.
Table 12. Independent Samples Test
Levene's Test
for Equality
of Variances
t-test for Equality of Means
F Sig. t df Sig.
(2-tailed)
Mean
Difference
Std.
Error
Difference
95%
Confidence
Interval of
the Difference
Lower Upper
Distributiv
e Model is
Effective.
Equal variances
assumed 6.729 0.012 -0.668 66.000 0.506 -0.177 0.264 -0.705 0.351
Equal variances
not assumed -0.615 38.847 0.542 -0.177 0.288 -0.758 0.405
PBL is
effective
for basic
sciences.
Equal variances
assumed 0.113 0.738 -1.123 66.000 0.265 -0.255 0.227 -0.708 0.198
Equal variances
not assumed -1.105 47.886 0.275 -0.255 0.231 -0.719 0.209
Traditiona
l model is
best.
Equal variances
assumed 0.000 0.992 1.840 66.000 0.070 0.465 0.253 -0.040 0.970
Equal variances
not assumed 1.754 43.377 0.086 0.465 0.265 -0.070 1.000
Distance
Learning
is Good.
Equal variances
assumed 2.270 0.137 -3.348 66.000 0.001 -0.986 0.295 -1.574
-
0.398
Equal variances
not assumed -3.557 59.646 0.001 -0.986 0.277 -1.541
-
0.432
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Research Sub-question B
B) How do leaders rate their knowledge base about accreditation practices?
Descriptive analysis of leader scores on the accreditation scale reveal mean scores
3.38 on a 1.75 to 4.50 point scale as shown in Table 13.
Table 13. Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std.
Deviation
Accreditation Scale 73 1.75 4.50 3.38 0.588
Further descriptive analysis of leaders scores on individual accreditation questions show
leaders rate their knowledge of accreditation policies and practices as above average
(Table 14).
Table 14. Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Accreditation is Good. 71 1 5 3.49 1.492
My accreditation knowledge is
high. 73 2 5 3.85 .923
Non-Traditional model
accreditation is good. 73 1 5 2.84 1.143
An independent t-test was conducted to compare leader responses ranking their
knowledge of accreditation policies and practices. Academic leaders (M = 3.56, SD = .81)
were more likely to rate their knowledge about accreditation higher than association
leaders (M = 2.96, SD = .77, t (66) = -3.14, p = .002). The magnitude of the difference in
means (mean differences = -.699, 95% CI: -.705 to -.255) was large (eta = .13). Table 15
shows no other significant differences among leader responses to questions included in
the accreditation scale.
Table 15. Independent Samples Test
Levene's Test for
Equality of
Variances
t-test for Equality of Means
F Sig. t df Sig.
(2-tailed)
Mean
Difference
Std.
Error
Difference
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Accreditation
is Good.
Equal
variances
assumed
.669 .416 .375 64 .709 .143 .383 -.621 .908
Equal
variances
not assumed
.379 52.729 .706 .143 .378 -.616 .902
My
accreditation
knowledge is
high.
Equal
variances
assumed
.609 .438 -3.144 66 .002 -.699 .222 -1.142 -.255
Equal
variances
not assumed
-3.065 46.496 .004 -.699 .228 -1.157 -.240
Non-
Traditional
model
accreditation
is good.
Equal
variances
assumed
.021 .885 -1.961 66 .054 -.555 .283 -1.121 .010
Equal
variances
not assumed
-1.976 51.445 .054 -.555 .281 -1.119 .009
74
Quantitative Findings Summary
Although veterinary leaders’ scores indicated that the population espouses
traditional values, which according to Schwartz et al. (2012) are associated with
resistance to change, these values are not predictive of their views on accreditation or on
veterinary education models. Further statistical testing showed that while veterinary
leaders prefer traditional models of veterinary education, they have modestly favorable
views on the use of alternative, non-traditional educational models in deploying the
veterinary curriculum. Academic leaders were more likely to embrace the use of most
alternative educational models, with the exception of distance-learning based curricula.
Academic leaders were also more likely to rate their knowledge and understanding of
accreditation policies and practices higher than their association counterparts.
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CHAPTER FIVE: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH FINDINGS
Introduction
The quantitative data show that although veterinary leaders tend to hold slightly
more conservative values that may be associated with resistance to change, these values
are not predictive of or associated with their views on accreditation or education models
used in colleges of veterinary medicine. In fact, although leaders who were surveyed
showed a definite preference for the traditional veterinary educational model, which
includes two years of didactic lecture-based education followed by two years of clinical
experiential learning taking place in an onsite teaching hospital, leaders viewed several
alternative educational models favorably. From the analysis of data collected through
interviews, this qualitative phase of this study was designed to provide a more nuanced
understanding of how personal values influence veterinary leaders’ views on educational
models and the use of accreditation to restrict the use of certain educational models.
Content Analysis Overview
The qualitative data for this study sought to bring greater understanding of values
that influence veterinary leaders’ views on veterinary medical education, through 10
participant interviews. An interview guide was used to create a framework that would
provide a focus on the study’s second research question and sub-question:
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2) How do leaders’ values shape their willingness to use accreditation as a tool in
controlling variation among veterinary medical education models?
a. How have leaders’ views of accreditation and educational models
changed during their career?
Each interview was transcribed, coded and analyzed using a post-positivist
approach to explain leaders’ views and behaviors. Initial content analysis revealed
leaders’ reliance on the professional identity and preservation of the veterinary profession
in shaping individual views on education. Concerns about the appropriate education and
training of future veterinarians are exacerbated by worries about the current state of
economics in the profession. Despite these worries, using accreditation for something
other than preserving public safety through quality education is not a pervasive concept
among veterinary leaders.
Open and Axial Coding
Using a codebook based on an initial review of the transcripts, each individual
transcript was open-coded through a line-by-line review. Open-coding allowed the
researcher to capture and label direct quotations describing interview participants’ events,
thoughts, and ideas. A total of 187 codes were created across 462 interview excerpts,
which identified leaders’ views on veterinary medical education, the profession’s change
environment, and personal motivations. Table 16 shows a sample of open-coding from
the transcribed interviews.
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Table 16. Sample of Open-Coding Text
Respondent Answers Codes
“So, you define me as a veterinarian, I recall when I was practicing
veterinary medicine…. When I go out in front of a class or I’m fighting
the legislature for more money to support the teaching program, I’m
practicing my brand of veterinary medicine to the best of my ability.”
Professional
Identity
“There are a large number of people who want to be veterinarians and I
think if they can’t accomplish that by obtaining admission into a US
school, they’re going to go abroad. They’re going to find a way to do it.
I don’t think you limit people’s—in this country, limit people’s dreams
by limiting the number of vet schools and number of spots by using the
accreditation as a way to do that, be the gatekeeper.”
Against
Competition
“And again, my view of accreditation is it should be—it’s a little bit
like licensing, you know? The whole purpose of licensing is to separate
the very last person who should ever have a license to do anything from
the very next to last person. I mean, that's the purpose, not to make
everybody a star. It’s to take the people who really, really, really
shouldn’t be doing this and make them not do it. And that’s the job.”
Protection
Purpose
The codes were clustered into related thematic areas using the Corbin and Strauss
(2008) method. The themes were then aligned with the 19 values found in the Schwartz et
al. (2012) values continuum using the code and thematic descriptions and values
definitions. A full list of values included on the continuum and their definitions can be
found in Appendix 3. The alignment of codes on the continuum allowed the researcher to
identify values of influence and makes comparisons to the quantitative study findings.
Code and thematic descriptions determined to be related to more than one value were
aligned with the single value that offered the strongest likeness to the descriptions. Of 19
values on the continuum, 121 codes (64.7%) were successfully mapped to 14 values. An
example of the value alignments is shown in Table 17.
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Table 17. Code and Thematic Alignment on the Schwartz Values Continuum
(Schwartz et al., 2012)
Schwartz Value Theme Code
Face Managing Expectations Day One Ready Graduates
Power – Resources Self-Serving Interests Limiting Competition
Security – Society Protection Purpose Public Judges Quality
Code Frequencies
As noted earlier, 187 codes were developed across 462 excerpts. The alignment of
the codes with the personal values continuum created the ability to assess code
application within each individual value. Table 18 shows the frequency of individual
code application within each of the 14 values.
Table 18. Code Frequencies within Values
Value
(Schwartz et al., 2012)
Application of
Codes within
the Value
Achievement 15
Benevolence – Caring 55
Benevolence – Dependability 11
Conformity – Interpersonal 10
Conformity – Rules 60
Face 116
Humility 44
Power – Resources 15
Security – Personal 5
Security – Societal 46
Self – Directed-thought 1
Stimulation 2
Traditional 10
Universalism – Tolerance 5
The frequencies of code application provide insight on how multiple personal
values held by veterinary leaders influence their views on accreditation and veterinary
education models. Codes were most often applied within the values relating to Face,
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defined as “security and power through maintaining one’s public image and avoiding
humiliation” (Schwartz et al., 2012, p. 669), and rule-based Conformity. Although these
two values appear to be the most influential in terms of code application within the
variables, more than half (58.2%) of the direct quote excerpts were tagged with multiple
codes usually spread across multiple values. Code co-occurrences within values were
analyzed to explore the relationships among codes. For the purposes of this study, the
values with the three highest code application values were more deeply explored in the
participant excerpts.
Values
Face. Schwartz et. al (2012) conceptually defined the Face value as “security and
power through maintaining one’s public image and avoiding humiliation” (p. 669). The
concept of saving the veterinary profession’s “Face,” or public image, represented
approximately 27.8% of all value-aligned codes tagged in the transcripts. Codes within
the Face value were also found to co-occur within seven other personal value sets,
including Achievement (38.1%), Humility (34.1%) and Traditionalism (30%). The
concept was also referenced in all 10 participant interviews. Professional identity, as a
component of creating and protecting the image of the veterinary profession, was
referenced in 80% of interviews. As a code aligned within the Face value, professional
identity emerged as an important component in understanding how leaders shape their
understanding about what it means to be a veterinary professional.
Because leader participants were engaged in a broad spectrum of practice areas
within the veterinary profession, they shared a need to project their practice area as
80
important to the profession in the eyes of the public, to address Face. There was not full
agreement among the participants about what it means to be a veterinarian. All
participants strongly identified as veterinarians; however, varied participant views about
what constituted being a veterinarian, namely the specific engagement in small animal
clinical practice or pet care, revealed an identity schism in how participants characterized
fellow veterinary professionals in different areas of practice. For example, all participant
leaders in academia expressed dismay that some private clinical practice veterinarians
would not view their non-clinical counterparts as also practicing veterinarians. Some
participants expressed frustration about how this schism affects the evaluation of
education of veterinary students and the models used to train them. One respondent, who
identified as an academic veterinary leader, recalled an incident during an accreditation
site visit with a professional colleague:
I was horrified but for [a former leader of a veterinary organization] who is on the
college site visit to tell me—look me right in the eye and tell me that I was
cheating the student, that [non-clinical practice] wasn’t real veterinary medicine
and I had a hard time—hold—I had to hang on to—hold my tongue between my
finger and thumb to stop me from saying something that I would regret but—I
mean he meant it too, he wasn’t—he’s a very forward kind of person and he
wasn’t kidding.
The lack of a clear, shared identity across the profession was seen as a threat to
veterinarians. “I think part of the widespread discomfort in veterinary medicine is that
we're unclear, even ourselves, about what the binding proposition is that we bring to
society today,” said one leader. Only two of the ten participants argued that accreditation
would help restore focus through the restriction of the use of certain educational models
81
or the consideration of workforce needs. Both of these interviewees invoked the need for
rules in education as a rationale for the restrictions.
Conformity – Rules. Schwartz et al. (2012) defined this value as, “compliance
with rules, laws and formal obligation” (p. 669). The Conformity – Rules value was
tagged only half (52.2%) as many times as the Face value; however, the Conformity –
Rules value was also found in four other values including Achievement (19%), Face
(9.5%) and Power – Resources (13.3%) . More than half of participants suggested that
accreditation is often seen as a set of rules for a veterinary college to adhere to rather than
a qualitative standard that can be met through a variety of educational models; the
implication for such an accreditation framework leads to a belief that accreditation can
make colleges comply with a very prescriptive educational model that will produce the
desired product.
I think part of what’s happening is that people are concerned that on the one hand
that accreditation standards may actually dictate how they educate students,
coming from the direction of accreditation being the prevailing influence that then
dictates the practice but actually part of what is happening is that also, members
of the community who are concerned about adopting changes that … they’re sort
of historical and traditional framework are saying “Well if we do this, we’re not
going to meet accreditation standards.”
Most participants rejected this use of accreditation control:
I think that the notion that we [leaders] put forward in the columns of the journals
is that somehow society only should have graduates from the traditional schools.
That’s what they’re saying, well, that has no merit or whatsoever.
At least one leader described his efforts to educate his fellow leader and
professional colleagues on how accreditation is not a rule based assessment framework;
82
I spend time talking not just to [name redacted] but to other people with that
perspective, and it's like … you can explain this in six different ways and the
person you're talking to will still say, “Yeah, but I don't understand. Why can't we
do this?” I just explained to you why we can't do that. I just explained to you why
the purpose of accreditation is not to do the thing that you think it should be
doing.
Ninety percent of study participants had favorable views on a variety of
educational models; several strongly advocated embracing alternative models both to
improve student learning and to reduce educational costs. Several also noted that the
resiliency of students in response to new educational models made the ability to change
and take risks with new models less threatening. Only one participant, who strongly
preferred the use of the traditional teaching hospital, argued that there was a dearth of
scholarly evidence supporting the efficacy of non-traditional veterinary education
models. In this instance the rules in evaluating student learning outcomes, in his opinion,
had been broken.
Most of the participants in this study eschew conformity among the schools. The
frequency of code application and sentiment in the excerpts suggest that veterinary
leaders’ do not strongly feel the need to conform to rules as a personal value. The low
need to conform to rules offers an explanation of these leaders’ unwillingness to use
accreditation to restrict the use of alternative education models.
Benevolence – Caring. Schwartz et al. (2012) defined the value called
Benevolence – Caring as “devotion and caring to in-group members” (p. 669). Codes
within the value appear 55 times in the study transcripts; the Benevolence – Caring value
was also found to overlap seven other values including Benevolence – Dependability
(18.2%), Humility (31.8%) and Universalism – Tolerance. (20%) Seven of ten
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interviewees described their motivations in leading the veterinary profession as being
rooted in a passion for the profession. Despite the identity schism revealed within the
Face value, leaders deeply identify with the veterinary profession. Leaders see their
advocacy related to supporting educational models as a demonstration of that
identification and their commitment to the profession. Leaders echoed this sentiment
throughout the interviews. “Because I feel this profession has been wonderful to me,”
said a veterinary thought leader. An academic leader stated, “I enjoy being involved in an
effort to improve the quality of veterinary medical education, to advocate for the
veterinary profession.”
The notion of leaving a legacy to future veterinarians was an important theme
within the Benevolence – Caring value. Six of ten interview participants discussed their
advocacy in the profession as being driven by the need to play a role in shaping the future
of the profession and improving it for future professionals. One leader said, “It’s been a
great profession and I owe it to the next generation to be living better than or [as] good as
I have, and we’re failing at that.” Another said, “I really care about others, and some of
those others are our future veterinarians, our students, and our faculty.”
Three leaders also explicitly expressed concern about the future profession,
though all leaders indicated concerns about the tone of discourse among colleagues. One
leader described how the ability of colleagues to offer criticism behind the veil of the
internet has changed the profession’s ability to resolve conflict in a meaningful way:
It’s just divided, you know. We can’t talk about it because you don’t understand it
from my side…. Frankly, you know, when we think about the loudest opponents
or critics out there, what’s easy to do is sit behind the computer and lob verbal
crap online....
84
Two of these leaders advocated for continued communications among colleagues
to increase knowledge and understanding about education and accreditation. One
academic leader suggested that the limited pool of visible and vocal leaders makes it
difficult for the broader veterinary community to engage in much needed conversations
about veterinary medical education and that a broad sustained communication effort is,
therefore, necessary:
I’m not sure how much you would do to continue to talk about it—talk about it,
explain it, ask your questions, don’t be defensive when people raise those
questions and particularly the people who sit on the committee, COE or former
members or faculty or others who have knowledge of it need to continue to
advocate for and explain it. I’m not sure of any other way to do it. I know it is not
possible to have many in the profession actually participate.
As the gateway to the profession, veterinary medical education is seen as a
leverage point of change for several participants. All suggest that the way a veterinary
student is educated has an impact on the future of the profession in terms of how
competent and confident new graduates will be as well as what kinds of career paths they
will choose. Most encourage the adoption of alternative education models, though a few
leaders advocate for a stronger adherence to the tried-and-true traditional education
model featuring an onsite teaching hospital. The latter are a very vocal but small minority
of leaders. Despite these differences, these veterinary leaders all share a deep affinity for
the profession that sparks a desire to care for their fellow and future colleagues.
Research Question Two
Q2. How do leaders’ values shape their willingness to use accreditation as a tool in
controlling variation among veterinary medical education models?
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Leaders’ personal values were discernable in their conversations concerning
veterinary medical education and the future of the veterinary profession. The desire to
protect the profession by maintaining its public standing (Face), the willingness or not to
conform to perceived rules of education (Conformity – Rules), and the desire to protect
and promote other veterinarians within the profession (Benevolence – Caring) all play a
role in how leaders construct their views on educational model variation and any need to
control the use of non-traditional educational models. All study participants exhibited a
strong alignment with the Face value. The majority of leaders did not display a strong
need to conform to rules; they were clear about their willingness to deviate from a strict
adherence to rules if that advanced the profession. Finally, all of these leaders
demonstrated a robust desire to care for other veterinarians and veterinary students.
Although these trends can be seen across this leader population, all 19 values in
the Schwartz et al. (2012) continuum are likely to play varying roles in shaping
individual views on educational models and the accreditation of these models. As noted
earlier, each of the three most influential values were shown to have a co-existing
presence in variables such as Achievement, Humility, and Power – Resources. Based on
the frequency of code application and code co-occurrence, at least five other personal
variables influence leader views: Humility, Power – Resources, Achievement,
Traditionalism, and Universalism – Tolerance. Intervening personal values
notwithstanding, leaders shape their views on the diversity of educational models and the
use of accreditation to control variation among these models based primarily on their
need to protect and secure the image of the veterinary medical profession.
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How Leaders’ Views Change
The role of the leader comes with a unique need to consider a landscape view of
the veterinary medical profession in decision-making; consequently, leaders’ views on
change in veterinary medical education can be expected to be influenced by a number of
variables including personal values, personal experiences, and observations and
perceptions about the state of the veterinary medical profession. Participant leaders
identified numerous changes affecting veterinary medical education over the course of
their collective careers. Forty-two different kinds of change were described throughout
the interviews. In total, codes related to changes in veterinary medical education were
applied 112 times across all ten participant transcripts. Leaders consistently indicated that
several specific changes influenced their current view of the state of veterinary medical
education. The evolution of educational models, the use of technology, curriculum
changes, and threats to the sustainability of the veterinary college system were all
mentioned as leaders described how their views on education and accreditation have
evolved.
Although participants coalesced around similar themes that shaped their present
views on veterinary medical education and accreditation, there remained a broad diversity
of views among the leaders. These differences aligned by leader type, of which three
were identified in the qualitative phase of this study: thought leaders, association leaders
and academicacademic leaders, association leaders, and thought leaders. Each leader type
holds the Face and Benevolence – Caring values strongly, but their leader role creates
different lenses through which they view and evolve their views on veterinary medical
education.
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For example, several interviewees who identified as thought leaders described the
need to emphasize educational models, especially models familiar to them, which
produce veterinarians with a clinical emphasis at a lower cost. One thought leader used
his personal experience as a reference point:
I was a two-year pre-vet student. I didn’t have a four-year degree yet, and so I was
basically part of a model they’re generating right now in some of these new
schools. When I graduated, my biggest shortcoming was I didn’t have a sense of
liberal arts education.... And so, I think—I honestly believe that a diminished pre-
vet curriculum coupled with—I don’t know where the animals are going to come
from though, for the hands-on technical skill development but if we could come
up with a way to do that, I truly believe that we can reduce the total cost of
veterinary education.
Thought leaders’ described conversations with practicing veterinary professionals as the
primary form of information gathering when explaining what drives their conclusions
about veterinary education models and accreditation. These conclusions reflect a
frustration with both association and academic leaders’ market projections for the
profession.
From the time I was in school, their dream was there’ll be always jobs in public
health…. There are but they are merely small slaver and even back in the eighties,
they were talking how to get government grants and to get a news press or
whatever. Well, those were the sexy things they talked about.
Thought leader participants described themselves as outliers, who held little trust in the
formal trappings of leadership. These leaders generally advocated for diversity in
educational models, but they also advocated for the use of accreditation to help curb
perceived threats to the veterinary profession originating from the colleges in the form of
increased class size and an emphasis on broad-based veterinary curricula. Only one
thought leader felt that veterinary medical education should be limited to the use of the
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traditional model through accreditation; instead accreditation is seen by these leaders as a
tool to resist perceived workforce threats to the veterinary profession.
Association leaders similarly reminisced about their time in veterinary school,
with somewhat different conclusions. One participant expressed little concern about the
diversity of educational models, but instead expressed frustrations about how the
institutional missions of the colleges, which typically focus on teaching, research and
service, have not evolved to focus exclusively on teaching:
When I got to the veterinary college and I thought, “Is anybody paying any
attention to what we're doing? Does anybody know just how awful this class is?
Does anybody realize that this professor who is a really good lecturer who did not
get tenure how superior they were to the good researcher who's a terrible lecturer
that they hired to replace him?” … I think the colleges’ missions all should be
primarily focused on their teaching mission.
Association leaders also described more formal opportunities to learn about
changes in veterinary medical education that allowed them to draw more positive
conclusions about educational models and accreditation. This group of participants
described participating in organizational councils, reference committees, and
accreditation site visits as opportunities to gather information to influence their views
about veterinary medical education in general. Association leaders articulated little
concern about the diversity in veterinary medical education models, often citing their
increased knowledge gleaned in their leader positions. Association leaders also held a
deeper appreciation of the need to not interfere with evaluation of education through
accreditation, often citing the profession’s dearth of knowledge about education as a
rationale to remain neutral.
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Interview participants who identified as academic leaders offered nuanced views
of change and their individual roles in veterinary medical education. One academic leader
shared how he came to see himself as an unintentional barrier to change in education
while chairing a curriculum committee.
So, I came to the realization that as a scientist, I would never make a presentation
to a public audience, I mean definitive about anything, unless I had some
understanding of what the scientific or literature basis was for what I was
planning to articulate. Then on matters of program development and curriculum,
everybody had a strong opinion and in most cases, it was completely uninformed.
This is a humbling experience for me because I realized that I was part of the
problem and so I enrolled in a Masters degree in Higher Education.
This leader group also emphasized the internal need to drive change in order to produce
increasingly better veterinary graduates each year.
Well, I believe that with these changes that we produce a better product than ever
before.... We were all trained about the same. There are few elective courses in
veterinary school. So the product that was produced was about the same. The
products that we produce now, I think it varies quite a bit. Certainly everybody
has a basic skill set but then, some of our students graduate with, actually some
very specialized training because they’ve been able to follow their interests.
Participants who identified as academic leaders described embracing change in
education as being responsive to the needs of the veterinary profession and society. This
group partitioned discussions about accreditation and its role in resisting educational
change; one even suggesting that to use accreditation in such a way was a “red herring.”
Each academic leader described scenes in academia that, while plagued by resistance at
times, inspired the need for responsive change.
Finally, several leaders, both association and academic, discussed their concerns
about the various kinds of change they see in veterinary medical education, but, they
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added, they have come to see change as inevitable and believe that the market, also
described by participants as the public seeking entry into veterinary school, will self-
correct. These leaders also see the accreditation of different educational models as a
separate issue.
The free marketplace will eventually force something to happen. Then some
schools will either not be sought by students or will not be able to maintain fiscal
responsibility or the graduates will not be able to get jobs. I’m worried about all
these things but I don’t see accreditation being tied down with the numbers of
schools
Participants who identified as thought leaders in this study argued that they were
unique in layering the considerations of the average veterinary professional, the economic
state of veterinary medical education, and the future needs of the public of the profession.
While these were common themes across all leader types, thought leaders described their
assessments on these issues as holistic views of change in the veterinary profession that
differentiated them from their association and academic colleagues.
Qualitative Research Sub-question
A) How have leaders’ views on accreditation and educational models changed during
their career?
Leader’s evolving views on accreditation is related to how they experience their
role as a leader in the veterinary profession. Informal or thought leaders use their
educational experience as a normalizing example by which to evaluate new programs.
These leaders also offer great detail about how their career travels have allowed them to
find like-minded individuals who have influenced their larger concerns about the
profession. This group has come to the conclusion that the use of accreditation in
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restricting certain efforts, not necessarily educational models, at the colleges will best
serve the profession.
By comparison, association leaders described the evolution of knowledge about
educational models and accreditation as a periphery development. The positions held by
these individuals provide numerous opportunities for formal presentations on key topics
allowing a growing knowledge base. These individuals describe high comfort levels with
a diversity of veterinary education models as directly related to the opportunity to have
informed discussions with other formal leader colleagues. This group acknowledges a
great learning curve in leader development, revealing lower comfort with model diversity
at the beginning of a leader’s time of service in contrast with the presence of greater
comfort with diversity as the leader becomes more experienced.
Academic leaders described inclusive views about veterinary education models
and did not see accreditation as a tool of resistance to change. Members of this group
described the deepest understanding about veterinary medical education and provided the
greatest detail about how their views have changed. Academicians in this study described
a focus on student outcomes as a rationale for understanding the efficacy of any
educational model, and their views on accreditation also linked back to student outcomes.
Data drove conceptual inclusion for this group of study participants; the absence of data
results in skepticism.
Leaders’ views on educational models and accreditation are largely driven by
personal experience and access to information and data. Association and academic
leaders describe views that have become decidedly more favorable towards various kinds
of educational models; these groups also see accreditation as a separate issue. The views
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on accreditation have also evolved with access to greater understanding about the purpose
of accreditation. By contrast, thought leaders’ views on educational models and
accreditation are constructed with less information than other leader groups and are
influenced by a specific narrative about protecting the profession. This participant
group’s views have evolved to become more inclusive of various educational models, but
their understanding of accreditation is rooted in a belief that the process is designed to
protect the profession rather than the public.
Summary
The qualitative findings of this study reveal that a broad spectrum of leaders’
personal values influence their understanding of diversity in veterinary educational
models and how they view the use of accreditation in regulating the use of certain
models. The findings of this study suggest that the Face value, or the leaders’ desire to
protect the profession’s public identity, plays the most dominant role in shaping the views
of veterinary leaders. This personal value is especially enhanced by the leaders’ desire to
protect the professional well-being of current and future veterinary professionals, or the
Benevolence – Caring value.
The evolution of leaders’ views on educational models is deeply influenced by
leader type and their relative access to information about educational models and
accreditation. Thought leaders, operating outside of formal leadership structures, are
more reliant on anecdotal data; as a result, their views tend to favor educational models
that resemble models with which they are familiar. Association leaders describe greater
access to formal presentations of data concerning educational models and accreditation,
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resulting in views that become more accepting of a diversity of models as leaders remain
in formal positions for longer periods. Finally, academic leaders rely on outcomes data
and an ongoing engagement in academia when describing how their views generally
become more inclusive of various educational models.
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CHAPTER SIX: DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Overview
The purpose of study was to identify and explore the values associated with the
desire to use accreditation as a tool to of control in the development of new veterinary
education models by leaders in the veterinary medical profession. Understanding the role
of personal values held by leaders is an important factor in considering how leaders
influence organizational behavior. Over time, organizations become resistant to change
and develop policies and practices designed to preserve and protect the organization from
perceived threats. Formal and informal organizational leaders are positioned to
participate in rule development and execution; they are also the purveyors of the
narratives designed to explain the need for organizational structure for change or
resistance to change. The values held by leaders, thus shape how they view, interpret and
respond to the changes in their environment.
The research questions in this study sought to explain how personal values held
by veterinary medical leaders influence their views on the expanding number of
veterinary education models and their relative desire to use accreditation to stifle such
expansion. Are veterinary leaders really threatened by educational models that deviate
from the Flexner (1910) model of medical education? Do they want to use accreditation
to restrict the types of educational models used by American veterinary medical colleges?
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No, leaders are neither threatened, nor do they see the need to pervert the role of
accreditation in assessing programmatic quality.
Theoretical Implications
The study was rooted in three areas, organizational development, values theory,
and charismatic leader development, all discussed in Chapter 2. Max Weber’s theories on
the influence of rational and irrational behavior on organizations served as the framework
for the research, suggesting that both play a role in explaining why organizations develop
bureaucracies that resist change. Weber argued that rational decision making is based on
available data and resources and is devoid of emotion and highly predictable, while
values based organizational activity is unpredictable because it is dependent on the
irrational whims and emotions of the decision maker. Both decision orientations can be
threatening to an organization; however, a blend of both can lead to nimble, sustainable
organizations.
The study findings also suggest that a blend of the rational and irrational exists
among veterinary leaders as demonstrated by their views on educational models and
accreditation. The data in this study provide evidence that the development of Weber’s
Iron Cage can indeed be avoided when organizational leaders embrace both data-driven
and value-based decision-making orientations. Although veterinary leaders hold
traditional values, are motivated by an intrinsic desire for group protectionism, and have
a clear preference for the Flexner model of veterinary medical education, these leaders
are also pragmatic, data driven, and inclusive in their views concerning non-traditional
models of veterinary medical education. Echoing the work of Meyer and Rowan (1977)
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and Tolbert and Zucker (1983), these leaders are able to root these inclusive views in a
rationale that supports the protection and promotion of the veterinary profession. Leaders
in this study avoid the limiting confines of the change-resistant Iron Cage, thanks to a
rationalized view of their influencing values. Ultimately, veterinary leaders want to
protect and preserve the profession, and they are willing to change in order to achieve
that goal.
The desire to protect and preserve the veterinary profession is an important study
finding. While phase two participants each discussed their affinity for and assumed
personal responsibilities for the profession in achieving this goal, the shared overarching
Face and Benevolence – Caring values were not enough to prevent group conflict. Values
theorist Greenfield (1979) suggested that group values were inextricably linked to
personal values, which much be shared in order for the group to exist. Groups without
value alignment will experience conflict. Findings from this study show a trend of shared
values; however, the data also show that at least five other personal values held by
leaders serve to influence their idealized conception of how educational models and
accreditation fit into the veterinary profession. Figure 3 provides a hypothesized
illustration of how these values might interact to shape leaders’ views on veterinary
medical education models and the purpose of accreditation.
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Figure 3. Intervening Personal Values
The presence of these other values can be interpreted as a potential source of values
misalignment, despite the alignment of face, benevolence – caring and conformity – rules
values; however, because values are transsituational, leaders’ values may be influenced
by any number of issues related to veterinary education or the profession at large
(Schwartz, 1994). This flexibility in values application potentially influences individual
leader views, which may then lead to group conflict. This study shows that the sharing of
two or three important values is not enough to avoid large group conflict; larger groups
will have subpopulations that share additional values alignments that are not visible at the
large group level. Despite the overarching shared values, the presence of these sub-
Conformity – Rules
Benevolence – Caring
Face
Humility
Achievement
Power – Resources
Traditionalism
Universalism
– Tolerance
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groups, though considerably smaller than the total organization, will trigger conflict and
create the environment that gives rise to the charismatic leader.
Related to the issue of shared values is the issue of identity among these leaders.
Values theory asserts that values are the building blocks to personal and social identity ,
which in turn emphasizes the commonalities among groups and differences across
different groups (Hitlin, 2003). These theories assert that strongly shared values among
veterinary leaders should be reflected in a common identity. All of the participating
leaders strongly identified as veterinarians; however, many of the leaders also spoke of
the splintered identities encompassed within the common veterinarian’s identity. The
question of what it means to be a veterinarian has less to do with educational preparation
and more to do with what the professional actually chooses to do with the associated
degree. This raises theoretical questions about whether there can really be a common
identity based on shared values when there is disagreement about the definition and
description of the identity.
Another key finding in this study is that charismatic leaders can have several
shared values of the larger, mainstream group and still emerge to lead splinter groups.
Lord and Brown (2001) described the essential need for charismatic leaders to offer a
value-based vision to their followers, but the body of literature on charismatic leaders
largely assumes that the value influence driving the vision differs from that of the main
group. In this study, the leader population described an overarching value alignment;
thought leaders described a secondary set of influencing variables that ultimately
produced nuanced but differentiated views when compared to their formal leader
counterparts.
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The findings of this study suggest that these leaders can hold shared values with
their formal leader counterparts but also have other values that provide just enough
influence to result in a similar vision with a different operational plan. All of the leaders
included in this study describe a similar idealized state for the future of the veterinary
profession, but their pathways to achieving such a state differ. Formal leaders draw their
conclusions about the future of the profession on formally communicated data, while
thought leaders described more disparate and anecdotal informational gathering efforts.
When veterinary thought leaders recruit followers based on the overarching shared value
narrative, the narrative will be influenced by the strength of the intervening small group
values, and it will appeal to veterinarians with similar intervening values who are
participatory in sharing information in these informal pathways. (Lord & Brown, 2001;
Meindl et al., 1985; Wang et al., 2012).
The existence of charismatic leaders with differentiated personal values also
provides arguments that embrace Weber’s Iron Cage and support research suggesting that
charismatics ultimately create structures that will resist change (Levay, 2010). The
thought leaders, while themselves not necessarily a shared value group in this study, offer
alternative narratives that call for more regulation and oversight and less flexibility in
how veterinary students are educated in order to focus on what they perceive to be
decision-making that is data driven and designed to protect the profession. Weber (1992)
suggested that the Iron Cage is permeable, but for this group of veterinary leaders, the
desired rules and oversight also serve as the possible basis for the creation and stability of
the cage.
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Findings from this study enhance the existing body of research in organizational
theory advanced by Max Weber and others. Leaders rationalize behaviors, policies and
practices that protect and preserve the group. Although this rationalized behavior is often
characterized as an Iron Cage of resistance, the value-based desire for group preservation
can also require leaders to embrace change in an effort to maintain the relevance and
sustainability of the organization. As Weber suggested and as this study shows, leaders
and organizations practicing formal rationalization will always be subjected to the value-
based irrationality geared toward achieving the desired outcome. The ability of leaders to
incorporate what Weber described as irrationally-based decision making can lead to more
adaptive, more complex organizations with greater sustainability. This study broadens the
study of Weber’s values rationality to include the testing of specific personal values held
by personal leaders and their influence on issue views and decision-making.
Practical Recommendations
Based on the data analysis and findings of this study, several recommendations
are proposed to reduce group conflict and promote values alignment across the
population of veterinary leaders.
Formal veterinary leaders may prefer the Flexner (1910) model of veterinary
medical education; however, the study findings reveal that they also hold positive views
on non-traditional educational models. This population of leaders also describes access to
formal presentations on veterinary education as informing their positive views. By
contrast, thought leaders described a more informal method of information gathering that
at times led to different conclusions about veterinary education models and the use of
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accreditation to resist change. All veterinary organizations should provide formal
learning opportunities to educate leader members—and rank-and-file members whenever
possible—about changes in veterinary medical education and the purpose and role of
accreditation. Academic leaders should be involved in the development and deployment
of such learning opportunities given their involvement with both issues.
Among the specific topics to be addressed in a leader education effort is the need
for messaging that promotes a clear, unifying message concerning the purpose of the
veterinary profession in the context of veterinary education. Leaders in this study
bemoaned the professional discomfort of colleagues’ inability to articulate why the
veterinary profession is important to society. While the data show that veterinary leaders
have several shared values that drive their views on issues related to education, the lack
of a shared identity is seen as a major obstacle to group function and preservation.
Although all interview participants identified as veterinarians, the study findings
suggest that an identity schism exists in the veterinary profession on the basis of
engagement in clinical medical practice. Recommendations tasked with promoting the
unification of a singular identity within the profession are challenged by the dominance
of clinical practice veterinarians, which arguably marginalizes the organizational voice of
their non-clinical colleagues. Such frustrations are seen among interview participants.
That said, it is recommended that organizational governance models based on
professional practice area be replaced by models that are primarily guided by the groups’
shared values. While such a recommendation carries the possible outcome of complete
marginalization of non-clinicians, the recommendation also carries the promise of a
reevaluation of professional identity based on contributive skills. The findings in this
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study suggest that shared values may not be enough; there must also be the promotion of
a shared identity.
The findings from this study also point to a need for better problem identification.
Veterinary education critics in this study identify their concerns about the veterinary
workforce as the reason for seeking limitations on veterinary education through
accreditation. Although they acknowledge varying degrees of concern about educational
models, their concern is not rooted in a fear of new models. Critic fear is rooted in a
larger concern about the future of the veterinary workforce, and limiting the production
of veterinary graduates is seen as a possible antidote to threats to the profession. It is
recommended that formal and informal veterinary organizational communications
repeatedly convey the message that accreditation is a qualitative evaluation tool and not a
tool to soothe workforce stressors. Such a message should be regularly included in formal
verbal remarks and written materials and less formal leader conversations.
Opportunities for Future Research
Several opportunities for related research emerged during this project. Future
studies attempting to use the Schwartzet al. (2012) values continuum as a predictive tool
should be done using the scales in their entirety. Schwartz et al. (2012) suggested that the
reliability of the continuum of values is strong enough to explore the individual personal
values held by individuals. The individual scales’ values produce Cronbach alpha
coefficients that support such usage of the individual value test. However, in this study,
the use of individual components of the values continuum to predict leader views on
veterinary education models and the accreditation of non-traditional models was
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insufficient to adequately conclude much about the value-based motivations of a small
group of accreditation critics. Further, the use of the full continuum of values will allow
future researchers to quantify the influence of all values, particularly those that are
viewed as intervening variables.
A study of values and leader views on veterinary organizational policies and
practices could shed light on how shared values play a role in organizational policy
development. As discussed earlier, Weber (1992) acknowledged the role of rational and
irrational behavior in organizational development; such a study could begin to more
concretely relate personal leader values to their organization’s behavior.
The group of critics that inspired this study was actually quite small and very
diverse in their reasons for critiquing educational models, the accreditation process, and
veterinary organizations. A study on the roles that organizational critics play on the
discourse of the organization would contribute to what is known about how charismatic
leaders are developed.
Further examination of the role of the charismatic leader in professions like
veterinary medicine would be helpful in understanding group conflict. These leaders may
have held formal positions at some time during their activism, which raised their profile
and ability to recruit like-minded individuals to their cause. A study of whether and how
these leaders affect change across their respective professions would provide knowledge
on how best to engage these individuals on shared values that improve the profession
holistically. Another study on charismatic leaders might attempt to quantify the role of
intervening values on shared group values in developing an alternative view of veterinary
educational models and accreditation.
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Finally, resistance to change in academia is an oft-discussed topic; one study
participant even discussed his own resistant behaviors while working on a faculty
committee. A study on how values influence faculty behavior on, for example,
curriculum committees might provide insight on issues that trigger resistant behavior
because of perceived values misalignments. Such a study would be useful for academic
leaders by providing a rounded view of faculty and what drives their commitment to a
particular frame of reference.
Conclusion
Values shape how individuals make sense of their world. They are the
underpinnings of individual and social identities, and they guide behaviors within
organizations, serving as a complement to the more rationalized decision-making
described by Max Weber (1992). The findings from this study provide a values-based
understanding of group conflict related to veterinary educational models and
accreditation. Veterinary leaders have a deep affinity for their profession and share
several core values that allow the group to work to advance the profession. That said,
numerous values play a role in creating conflict within this group at both the identity and
policy view-point levels.
The reality is that academic leaders will continue to innovate new ways to deploy
the professional veterinary curriculum. These changes will trigger discomfort in corners
of the profession for any number of reasons. Some leaders will place greater value on
retaining existing educational mechanisms because of strong traditional values; others
will embrace new educational models as a way of supporting the public identity of the
105
profession and its long term sustainability. It is also true that some leaders will lobby for
the use of accreditation to control academic innovation and that their reasons for doing so
will not differ dramatically from those leaders who embrace innovation without
reservation.
The findings from this study offer a modest explanation for the kinds of views
which can be used by organizations to explore ways to enhance values alignment and
reduce conflict. Future research can build on these findings in several theoretical areas
including organizational development, values theory, identity theory, and leadership. The
researcher is hopeful that this research will also enhance the dialogue about the future of
veterinary medical education and the role of veterinary leaders in supporting the
educational enterprise.
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124
APPENDIX A
Veterinary Leaders Survey
Part 1: The statements below describe some people. Please read each description and
think about how much each person is or is not like you.
Please select the number to the right that shows how much the person in the description is
like you.
1 = Not at all like me, 5 = Very much like me
Learning things for himself and improving
his abilities is important to him 1 2 3 4 5
Obeying all the laws is important to her. 1 2 3 4 5
Being creative is important to him/her. 1 2 3 4 5
It is important to him to form his own
opinions and have original ideas. 1 2 3 4 5
He strongly values the traditional practices
of his culture. 1 2 3 4 5
He believes he should always do what
people in authority say. 1 2 3 4 5
Doing everything independently is
important to him 1 2 3 4 5
Following his/her family’s customs or the
customs of a religion is important to
him/her.
1 2 3 4 5
It is important to her to follow rules even
when no one is watching 1 2 3 4 5
It is important to him to make his own
decisions about his life. 1 2 3 4 5
Freedom to choose what he does is
important to him. 1 2 3 4 5
125
Part 2: The statements below present positions about issues related to veterinary medical
education. Please select the number that most closely reflects your level of agreement
with each statement.
1 = Completely Disagree, 5 = Completely Agree
The accreditation of new DVM professional
education programs in the US is a good thing
for the profession.
1 2 3 4 5
Colleges of veterinary medicine primarily
using a distributive model of clinical
education can produce competent day one
veterinarians.
1 2 3 4 5
I would rank my knowledge of accreditation
practices regarding the AVMA’s Council on
Education as high.
1 2 3 4 5
Problem based learning can be effectively
used as a primary teaching method for the
basic sciences in veterinary medicine.
1 2 3 4 5
The traditional model of a veterinary medical
school is the best education model to produce
a competent day one graduate veterinarian.
1 2 3 4 5
The accreditation of non-traditional DVM
professional education programs is a good
thing for the profession.
1 2 3 4 5
Distance learning education can be effectively
used in the DVM professional education
program.
1 2 3 4 5
I am an: 1 = Association Leader
2 = Academic Leader
This study will include a second phase exploring the findings of the data
collected in this survey. The second phase includes a one hour interview.
If you are interested in participating phase two, please forward an email
with your contact information expressing your interest to
Thank you.
126
APPENDIX B
Phase Two Interview Guide
1. Describe the changes you have seen in veterinary medical education during your
career.
2. How do the changes make you feel about the future of veterinary medical
education?
3. What motivates you to speak publicly about veterinary medical education?
4. What is your understanding of accreditation?
5. What role do you think accreditation should play in managing or adapting to
change in veterinary medical education?
6. How would you describe your role as a leader in veterinary medicine?
7. How does your role as a leader relate to your activism in veterinary medical
education?
8. How representative do you believe your views about veterinary medical education
are across the profession?
127
APPENDIX C
Schwartz Values Continuum with Conceptual Definitions (Schwartz et al., 2012)
Values Conceptual Definition
Self-direction –
Thought
Freedom to cultivate one’s own ideas and abilities
Self-direction – Action Freedom to determine one’s own actions
Stimulation – Excitement, novelty, and change
Hedonism – Pleasure and sensuous gratification
Achievement – Success according to social standards
Power – Dominance Power through exercising control over people
Power – Resources Power through control of material and social resources
Face – Security and power through maintaining one’s public image
and avoiding humiliation
Security – Personal Safety in one’s immediate environment
Security – Societal Safety and stability in the wider society
Tradition – Maintaining and preserving cultural, family, or religious
traditions
Conformity – Rules Compliance with rules, laws, and formal obligations
Conformity –
Interpersonal
Avoidance of upsetting or harming other people
Humility – Recognizing one’s insignificance in the larger scheme of
things
Benevolence –
Dependability
Being a reliable and trustworthy member of the ingroup
Benevolence – Caring
Devotion to the welfare of ingroup members
Universalism – Concern Commitment to equality, justice, and protection for all people
Universalism – Nature Preservation of the natural environment
Universalism –
Tolerance
Acceptance and understanding of those who are different from
oneself