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Impact of Place/Space on Rural Community College Human Resource Management: A Systematic Review

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Title: Impact of Place/Space on Rural Community College Human Resource Management: A Systematic Review
Language: English
Authors: Christine M. Cain (ORCID 0000-0002-3820-2754)
Source: Journal of Education Human Resources. 2024 42(1):5-25.
Availability: University of Toronto Press. 5201 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON M3H 5T8, Canada. Tel: 416-667-7810; Fax: 800-221-9985; Fax: 416-667-7881; e-mail: journals@utpress.utoronco.ca; Web site: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/jehr
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 21
Publication Date: 2024
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Two Year Colleges
Descriptors: Community Colleges, Rural Schools, Rural Environment, Human Resources, Personnel Management, Leadership, Teacher Persistence, Faculty Recruitment, Employment Problems, Strategic Planning
DOI: 10.3138/jehr-2023-0049
ISSN: 2562-783X
Abstract: In the following systematic review, the author examines how rural community college leaders address the unique challenges and strengths of working in a rural environment as they strive to retain, support, develop, compensate, and invest in their employees. Factors such as geographic isolation, small population sizes, and close-knit social networks require the rural leader to rely more heavily on locally available resources and existing infrastructure to support leadership decisions. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses alongside Flora and Flora's 2008 Community Capital Framework, this systematic review synthesizes research that addresses human resource issues and explores human capital investment strategies employed by rural community college leadership. This article has important implications for future leadership development and training strategies across the community college sector, making clear the need for contextualized, strengths-based research that utilizes the experiences of rural community college leaders.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2024
Accession Number: EJ1410851
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0184509163;[mmhi]01jan.24;2025Apr17.13:59;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0184509163-1">Impact of Place/Space on Rural Community College Human Resource Management: A Systematic Review </title> <p>In the following systematic review, the author examines how rural community college leaders address the unique challenges and strengths of working in a rural environment as they strive to retain, support, develop, compensate, and invest in their employees. Factors such as geographic isolation, small population sizes, and close-knit social networks require the rural leader to rely more heavily on locally available resources and existing infrastructure to support leadership decisions. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses alongside Flora and Flora's 2008 Community Capital Framework, this systematic review synthesizes research that addresses human resource issues and explores human capital investment strategies employed by rural community college leadership. This article has important implications for future leadership development and training strategies across the community college sector, making clear the need for contextualized, strengths-based research that utilizes the experiences of rural community college leaders.</p> <p>Keywords: community college; human resource management; rural; recruitment; retention</p> <p>Context plays an important role in how community colleges support, retain, and develop their employees. For rural community colleges, in particular, geographic location is an important consideration for human resource management (HRM) decision-making due to the unique needs, conditions, and cultures of rural life ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref1">16</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref2">22</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref3">34</reflink>]). The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the importance of employee well-being, satisfaction, and retention for any business and industry leader. However, the pressure and scrutiny placed on rural community college leaders are compounded for small rural communities that rely on their local community college for educational and economic support ([<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref4">32</reflink>]). Human resource management (HRM) refers to the process of employing, training, compensating, retaining, and developing policies relating to the personnel of a business or organization ([<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref5">21</reflink>], Section 1.1, para. 2). Although HRM is an important skill for any community college leader, the increasing expectations of "having to do more with less" takes on significant meaning for rural community college leaders who already rely on a small number of employees, limited resources, and declining state appropriations ([<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref6">34</reflink>]).</p> <p>Rural leaders face both common and unique challenges to their HRM approach. Issues such as difficulty filling upper-level management positions ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref7">11</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref8">12</reflink>]) and struggles with staff recruitment and retention ([<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref9">37</reflink>]) are some of the most prominent concerns of leadership. While these obstacles are not exclusive to rural leaders, there are many structuralized and context-specific barriers that can exacerbate HRM issues in a rural context. Some examples include gaps in local infrastructure, such as a lack of available public services, housing, public transportation, and childcare ([<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref10">26</reflink>]). Other examples focus on cultural mismatch, where external candidates struggle with hyper-visibility and managing the multiplex social relationships of employees that comes with leading in a small close-knit community ([<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref11">10</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref12">36</reflink>]).</p> <p>Alongside these context-specific struggles also comes a unique set of assets. Community colleges provide a variety of services and are important for sustaining high-quality economic, educational, and social opportunities for community members ([<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref13">29</reflink>]). In turn, rural community colleges are generally held in high regard amongst community members, which generates strong citizen buy-in, unique community partnerships ([<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref14">32</reflink>]), and successful grow-your-own (GYO) recruitment initiatives with the local community college ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref15">12</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref16">17</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref17">33</reflink>]). The interdependent and self-reliant nature that is both a requirement and a characteristic of rural communities has required many rural community college leaders to develop unique and innovative methods that tap into existing resources and talent to support the shifting demands of higher education today ([<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref18">22</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref19">29</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref20">32</reflink>]).</p> <p>When preparing aspiring community college leaders for what it means to lead in times of scarcity, rural community colleges provide a unique example of leadership that has already faced, and continues to face, many challenges other colleges are now encountering ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref21">33</reflink>]). Sharing rural leadership experiences is key for understanding human resource issues and translating management solutions to other contexts within the community college sector. A comprehensive look at rural community college HRM practices has the potential to maximize leadership effectiveness across the community college sector and prepare future leaders for ways they can utilize available human resources for institutional reinvestment.</p> <p>The following systematic literature review uses rurality as a contextual lens to explore the impact of geography on human resource issues and management decisions in a community college setting. The purpose of this review is to consolidate existing research that addresses the unique challenges and assets of the rural context as community college leaders work to support their employees. Human resource management (HRM) and leadership decision-making around employee hiring, benefits, professional development, and retention are typically viewed as internal to the organization. For many rural community colleges, the success and long-term impact of internal decisions rely on generating external support, requiring leaders to comprehensively understand and consider how internal college affairs affect their local workforce and community base ([<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref22">29</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref23">32</reflink>]). Further exploration and inclusion of rural community college HRM decisions are required to ensure that existing human resource literature includes contextual and environmental considerations that might affect leadership decision-making. This review examined 126 journal articles published over the past 10 years to present a comprehensive summary of how rural community college leaders balance their location's unique strengths and challenges as they recruit, train, support, develop, and work to retain their employees. The research questions for this study are</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> What rural community college HR issues have been explored at length? Where are the gaps in the existing research literature?</item> <p></p> <item> What form or forms of human capital investment are utilized by rural community college leaders to address HR issues and support college personnel?</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0184509163-2">Theoretical Framework</hd> <p>The Community Capitals Framework (CCF) developed by [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref24">14</reflink>] is the theoretical framework grounding this literature review. The CFF was created as a strengths-based model for identifying how investments in various forms of capital interact and manifest across rural systems to increase rural communities' effectiveness and future sustainability ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref25">13</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref26">14</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref27">15</reflink>]). It was developed to help researchers analyze how rural community members leveraged individual capital to build more sustainable and vibrant communities. The CCF identifies seven forms of capital contributing to a community's economic, social, and environmental well-being ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref28">14</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref29">15</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref30">25</reflink>]). The seven forms of capital are natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built (structural; see Figure 1). CCF posits that investments in any one form of capital can potentially increase other forms of capital within the organizational system.</p> <p>Graph: Figure 1: Source.[<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref31">41</reflink>]. Adapted figure of the Community Capitals Framework from[<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref32">14</reflink>]. © 2016 Winkler et al. This image is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). Available from https://doi.org/10.3390/su8030284.</p> <p>Similar to the flow of capital depicted by Community Capitals Framework ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref33">14</reflink>]), HR managers and employers invest in current employees with the hope it will result in various improvements across the institution ([<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref34">23</reflink>]). Every organization uses a variety of forms of capital, or assets, that hold value and purpose to meet its aspirational and strategic goals ([<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref35">21</reflink>]). As this review focuses on HR practices, human capital ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref36">2</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref37">3</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref38">35</reflink>]) is a primary concern. However, community college leaders use various forms of capital (financial, political, social, community, cultural, etc.) to support and increase employee and institutional success ([<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref39">21</reflink>]). To better understand how community college leadership employs and leverages various forms of capital in their HRM decisions, this study uses the CFF ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref40">14</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref41">15</reflink>]) to conceptualize how rural community college leaders invest, build, and distribute human capital, and to examine where they see benefits of those investments across the institution and surrounding rural community.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-3">Methods</hd> <p>This study utilizes a systematic review methodology to examine existing literature on rural community college HRM. [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref42">18</reflink>] defines a systematic literature review as a "review of existing research using explicit, accountable research methods to collate and synthesize study findings" (p. 1). To ensure transparency and systematic selection of studies in this review, the data collection and reporting structures were guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 ([<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref43">30</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref44">31</reflink>]). The PRISMA guidelines were created to facilitate transparent and thorough reporting of systematic review methods. To complete my qualitative analysis of the HR issues, leadership response, and information presented in the literature, I used a framework analysis ([<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref45">7</reflink>]) for data synthesis.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-4">Data Collection</hd> <p>Data collection was conducted in three phases using the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and checklist ([<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref46">30</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref47">31</reflink>]): identification, screening, and inclusion.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-5">Identification</hd> <p>First, I determined the study's scope, search terms, and inclusion criteria. I limited my review to include peer-reviewed scholarly articles published over the past 10 years (2012–2022). Records were sought from the following databases: Google Scholar, ProQuest, and EBSCO. The <emph>Journal of Education Human Resources</emph> (<emph>JEHR</emph>), <emph>Community College Journal and Research and Praxis</emph> (<emph>CCJRP</emph>), and <emph>Community College Review</emph> (<emph>CCR</emph>) were also included in the search as scholarly journals that focused explicitly on education HR or community college research. I then chose to include articles with "rural" in the title to eliminate studies where rurality is not the primary focus. The way that each study chose to define "rural" was left to the authors' discretion. However, I collected data on how rurality was defined in each study during the data extraction phase to better understand differences in rural distinctions ([<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref48">24</reflink>]). I then conducted a Boolean search that scanned article titles and abstracts for keyword combinations using the search terms "rural" in the title and "community college" OR "two-year college" OR "technical college" in the keywords or abstract. HR terms were not used in the initial Boolean search and were instead incorporated into the "screening" and "inclusion criteria" phases. The number of articles generated from across all databases and journals totaled 157. I removed all duplicate articles (<emph>n</emph> = 31) that appeared across multiple databases and journals (see Identification Phase in Figure 2). A total of 126 articles entered the screening phase.</p> <p>DIAGRAM: Figure 2: Source.[<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref49">30</reflink>]. © Page et al. This image is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). Available from https://doi.org/10.31222/osf.io/v7gm2Note. JEHR = Journal of Education Human Resources; CCJRP = Community College Journal and Research and Praxis; CCR = Community College Review.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-6">Screening Process and Article Inclusion</hd> <p>Using the established search criteria, I conducted three phases of record screening: abstract record screening, retrieval of the full article, and article eligibility screening. The first round of record screening was conducted by reading the abstracts of all articles to identify if the study still met the required criteria. The first phase of screening included any literature that (a) was published after 2012, (b) included "rural" and variation of "community college" in the title/abstract search, (c) was an article published within a peer-reviewed journal, and (d) occurred within the U.S. All search results that did not meet this criterion (books, reports, reviews, dissertations/theses) were excluded during this phase (see Screening: Phase I, Figure 2). The second screening phase was to find full access to each publication (see Screening: Phase II, Figure 2). In Phase III, all abstracts (<emph>n</emph> = 54) were reviewed for keywords and concepts related to "human resource management," "human resources," "HRM," "H.R.," and key HR areas (staffing, recruitment, retention, worker policy, professional development, etc.). Of the 54 articles, 30 did not meet the required human resource topic search criteria (see exclusion criteria in Screening: Phase III, Figure 2), bringing the total number of studies included in this systematic review to 24. All eligible and available articles were read in full for the data extraction phase.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-7">Data Extraction</hd> <p>Data was collected from the 24 articles based on the study's research questions. Using the PRISMA 2020 checklist, I created a reporting form/spreadsheet that included the following sections:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> Author and publication information</item> <p></p> <item> How rurality was defined and centered in the study</item> <p></p> <item> Conceptual/theoretical frameworks used</item> <p></p> <item> What HR issue or area of HRM was addressed</item> <p></p> <item> PRISMA checklist items to evaluate methods, risk assessment, study limitations, and results of the study</item> <p></p> <item> Findings related to human capital investments and outcomes using the CCF ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref50">14</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref51">15</reflink>])</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0184509163-8">Data Analysis</hd> <p>A framework synthesis method was used to analyze data for this review. Framework synthesis, or "best fit" framework synthesis, provides a method for synthesizing and assessing existing qualitative research, where the researcher starts by creating a priori themes and coding data from existing conceptual models ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref52">4</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref53">7</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref54">39</reflink>]). The CCF ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref55">14</reflink>]) served as the foundational model for this study, so initial a priori themes were generated for the first round of coding using key terms within the model (i.e. social capital, human capital, etc.). Although the process of data extraction and coding did not lead to an adaptation of the types of capital presented in the CCF, the analysis brought forward important questions on the direction and dispersion of human capital investments and the role of structural and systemic barriers in leadership perception of HR issues.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-9">Findings</hd> <p>The findings section begins with a brief overview of the journal source and geographic characteristics of the articles included in the systematic review to provide readers with a general sense of the rural literature represented in my review. I then provide a thematic analysis using the study's research questions and conceptual framework to frame the discussion.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-10">Sample Source and Geographic Origin</hd> <p>My sample includes research published in eight different journals. The majority of the articles (<emph>n</emph> = 20) were published in journals with a community college focus (84%), with eight articles from <emph>CCJRP</emph>, six articles from <emph>CCR</emph>, five from <emph>New Direction for Community Colleges</emph>, and one from <emph>Community College Enterprise</emph>. There were also two rural education journals (8%), one school public relations journal (4%), and one journal on Latino/a/e education (4%).</p> <p>Across the study sample, I coded 10 different geographic indicators cited by authors as the location/context of their data. Table 1 includes studies using a national sample alongside nine other geographic regions cited in each study, ordered from most to least number of occurrences.</p> <p> <bold>Table 1:</bold> Rural Locale Characteristics Included in Review Literature</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Region or State Specified</th><th align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">n (%)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">National Sample</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">9 (38%)</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Midwest</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">4 (17%)</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Mountain West</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2 (8%)</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">North Carolina</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2 (8%)</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">East</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2 (8%)</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Northeast</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1 (4.2%)</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Appalachia</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1 (4.2%)</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Florida</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1 (4.2%)</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">California</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1 (4.2%)</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Did Not Specify</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1 (4.2%)</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0184509163-11">A Blending of Rural Definitions</hd> <p>The body of literature within this review includes a variety of definitions and classifications on how each study defines "rurality," if it was defined at all. Although most studies indicated a region of the country (see Table 1), not all studies were clear on how rurality was determined. Most qualitative articles (<emph>n</emph> = 6) did not clearly align or cite a definition of rurality provided by government entities commonly used in research, such as the Census Bureau or the National Center for Education Statistics. Instead, rurality was communicated using descriptors; by providing a region, small local population, the number of students the community college served, or proximity to large cities in the area to depict the rural context. Descriptive rural definitions were found in studies with smaller samples, with many studies using a case study design. Quantitative work included in this review (<emph>n</emph> = 15) referenced both the Carnegie Classification system (2021) and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data distinctions on rural to determine their rural 2-year postsecondary institution sample.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-12">RQ1: What rural community college HR issues have been explored at length? Where are the gaps...</hd> <p>Due to the small final sample size (<emph>n</emph> = 24) in this systematic review, no one HRM issue has truly been explored at length. However, the most cited HR issues were coded under four categories: staffing, retention, training and development, and the effect of outside/external forces. The effect of outside and external forces served as a running thread throughout many of the individual discussions of any one HR issue, so this analysis centers primarily on staffing, retention, and training and development themes.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-13">Staffing and Recruitment</hd> <p>Staffing needs and the successful recruitment of qualified staff were viewed as having a significant impact on the operation of the college. A community college vice president in the Mountain West articulated that "most of what we spend money on is people ... so the strategic plan really drives our discussion about staffing and then staffing drives budget," ([<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref56">36</reflink>], p. 94). Issues related to human capital production and availability, such as the effective recruiting of external members and staffing of upper-level leadership positions, were heavily coded during analysis ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref57">12</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref58">20</reflink>]). Rural community college leaders found that a lack of exposure to the differences when leading in a rural community versus urban or suburban institutions was a barrier to recruiting and ensuring the success of external hires ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref59">11</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref60">12</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref61">32</reflink>]). Leadership expressed a need for context specific training during professional leadership development opportunities and doctoral programs to help prepare future leaders for the demands and expectations that comes with joining a rural community.</p> <p>There was a strong focus on "sustainability and responsibility," where the local community college's role as an employer was central to the function and well-being of the area. Rural community college presidents across the literature stated that they were considered essential providers of local services and financial stability for the community, and that these responsibilities could often weigh heavy. Not only are community colleges educating local citizens, but "many rural community colleges are the largest employers in their towns or counties, implying that their role and identity is defined as a place where local residents can earn a living" ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref62">27</reflink>], p. 335). Although a heavy reliance on local talent has some limitations, the prevalence of local and internal staff hiring in HRM was a central feature and overall seen as an advantage for the rural college.</p> <p>Rural leadership cited that local hires were likely to remain employed at the college for longer, resulting in a widespread source of institutional knowledge, awareness of college procedures, and long-standing connections among staff ([<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref63">37</reflink>]). Employees were also likely to hold multiple identities within the community and therefore have access to various social, cultural, civic, and political institutions within the local town, which adds to the social and cultural capital that the community college can access through their employees ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref64">16</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref65">32</reflink>]). This does not mean no HR issues were generated due to the prevalence of long-standing staff and close local relationships. High levels of professionalism were considered essential for the rural community college culture and HRM practices to combat issues such as favoritism, nepotism, or breaches of personal information ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref66">11</reflink>]).</p> <p>Rural community college leaders reported that local applicant pools and internal hires were used to fill most open positions at their colleges ([<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref67">36</reflink>]), which can provide necessary stability and workforce longevity for many rural colleges. However, for community colleges to support their current employees interested in moving up, managers had to focus their resources on providing employees with additional certifications, work experiences, and degrees to qualify for internal promotions (which is expected for many mid- to upper-level management positions) ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref68">12</reflink>]). Leadership responses to employees' need for professional development varied across rural community colleges included in the literature review. Although employee education and upward movement was desired, HR managers recognized that providing resources for degree-attainment is costly. There were many instances, especially in the case of upper-level administrative positions, where leaders felt an external candidate pool would provide a larger selection of candidates who already held terminal degrees and required work experiences.</p> <p>To address staffing issues and support the leadership pipeline within the college, leaders found that directing current employees who were interested in moving up or pursuing a leadership position needed to be an intentional and institutionalized part of the HRM process. Some examples included using mentoring programs, intentional networking events, and on-the-job training to support employee development ([<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref69">9</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref70">12</reflink>]). To address many of the gaps left by limited funds, rural community college leaders supported both their staff and their local partners by institutionalizing community involvement in the employee development process ([<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref71">40</reflink>]). Many rural colleges leveraged local organizations- nonprofits, corporate businesses, philanthropic organizations, industry, and small businesses- to create work groups and projects that could provide community college employees with opportunities to gain leadership skills and expand their development goals ([<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref72">34</reflink>]). By encouraging staff to serve on local boards and seek out community partnerships that aligned with institutional and individual goals, it provided staff with important leadership experiences that might not be readily available at the college level. These initiatives also helped to strengthen the ties between community college and rural community itself.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-14">Retention</hd> <p>Retention issues for rural community colleges included in this review tended to be isolated to specific populations of employees. Employees whom rural community college leaders cited as difficult to retain were mid- to upper-level administration, external or nonlocal hires, and those who belonged to racial, ethnic, and religious minoritized populations that were not reflected in the existing rural community. Conversation on the pending shortage of leaders and difficulties hiring these positions was a prominent theme. Given the large proportion of retirement-age upper and mid-level leadership at community colleges across the country, in addition to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, pending retirements have accelerated ([<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref73">10</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref74">11</reflink>]). Difficulty retaining mid- to upper-level leadership on the academic side of the institution was especially difficult, as many faculty had a limited interest in keeping long-term administrative roles that took them away from the classroom.</p> <p>Rural communities tend to be composed of highly interrelated and multiplex groups, where local members have lived in the town for generations and know each other through multiple touchpoints within the community. This series of external factors can be extremely difficult for the local community college to address as the institution is only one piece of the puzzle in establishing the local culture, norms of inclusion, and welcoming outside members to the community. That is not to say that rural communities are monolithic; many rural communities exhibit a wide array of racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural norms. However, external employees' misconceptions of local cultural and social capital were also cited as a source of institutional mismatch. For example, in [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref75">36</reflink>], leaders cited extremely high levels of accountability where they were hyper-visible both during their jobs and in their free time outside work. This hypervisibility contributed to the pressure to conform to local norms regarding constant communication and a blurred sense of work–life balance, where it was common for local community members to inquire about college-related issues and concerns in social and non-work-related settings.</p> <p>Even in instances where rural communities did not face systemic issues that affect employees moving to the area, such as housing and childcare availability, leadership stated that external hires are a difficult population for rural community colleges to retain because of employees' unfamiliarity with rural life and the natural adjustment period that comes along with an influx of new people, ideas, and expectations ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref76">27</reflink>]). The recommendations of existing community college leaders and researchers resulted in some colleges adopting a comprehensive marketing and strategic plan that communicated clearly the more subtle points of their campus culture. For example, using in-depth descriptions of the college and community culture in job advertisements ([<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref77">37</reflink>]) and taking care to present an honest, accurate, and in-depth look at their institutional culture (good and bad) allowed rural institutions to be more intentional and transparent in how they informed potential candidates on their campus and local town. Leaders also utilize the strong sense of community pride that is common among rural communities to communicate the benefits of rural living during interviewing, which included discussions of institutional flexibility and responsiveness, points of collaboration between the college and community, communal support, etc. ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref78">27</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-15">Training and Development</hd> <p>HR issues regarding training and development were also deeply connected to issues of hiring and recruitment throughout the literature. As previously discussed, internal hiring is a common practice and HRM strategy cited by many of the community college leaders in this study. The nature of hiring and rehiring current employees is that increasing human capital depends directly on what the administration can and is willing to invest in their employees (vs. increasing human capital simply by bringing in new and differential types of talent). Internal hiring can be a benefit to leaders because employees are trained and developed in ways that fit their exact institutional culture, but an institution that engages in mostly internal hires also has to navigate difficulties in times of change if the majority of staff all have the same work and institutional experience. One important theme within the literature on professional development focused explicitly on faculty development. Mid- to upper-level leadership positions on the academic side of the college, such as deans, program directors, and provost positions, are often sourced from current faculty ([<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref79">5</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref80">12</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref81">20</reflink>]). Rural community college leaders specified that faculty members with strong teaching skills were often encouraged to enter leadership roles. However, leadership roles generally require additional professional development and administrative training that is different from traditional faculty development focused on curriculum development and teaching.</p> <p>Although national development opportunities are key for leaders across the community college sector, rural college leaders also require contextual learning. Assorted policies and the norms surrounding institutional culture and HR issues are unique to each campus location. Leadership development hosted at the institutional level is especially effective for faculty training, where on-site training considers the specific institutional context and needs that will be unique to those who fill the internal positions ([<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref82">32</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref83">40</reflink>]). One example of expansive faculty development was the establishment of traveling faculty positions ([<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref84">40</reflink>]), which allowed faculty to serve the region more broadly and work with stakeholders in ways that provided flexibility to expand their local impact while working to meet higher-level policy interests or initiatives set by the institution's strategic plan.</p> <p>Expected limitations to career advancement and opportunity barriers were often related to the structural issues and norms seen more broadly in U.S. society. For example, traditional gender roles affected career precedence, where married women were more likely to be the trailing spouse/partner ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref85">12</reflink>]), which can affect training and advancement opportunities for married women working in community colleges ([<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref86">38</reflink>]). The need for both highly customizable and continuing education ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref87">16</reflink>]) to meet the needs of women, parents, religious and ethnic minorities, and many minoritized employee groups were cited as important to challenging broader societal norms that manifested at the local community college level. Whether it is due to intentional hiring practices or the limitations of a local hiring pool, many rural colleges in the literature have demonstrated they are willing to go against national norms and have hired significantly more young and female candidates in upper-level leadership positions than the national average ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref88">12</reflink>]).</p> <p>This imperative to ensure institutional fit for employees is evident in the discussion on leadership pipelines within rural community colleges. Limited resources require that leadership consistently think ahead and strategize their HR investments to match pending retirements and open positions in key areas of the college. The discussion and use of grow-your-own (GYO) leadership programs ([<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref89">9</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref90">10</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref91">12</reflink>]), expanding and encouraging staff to take advantage of local opportunities for development ([<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref92">40</reflink>]), and implementing strong exit plans for upper level administration ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref93">12</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref94">37</reflink>]), were all methods that community college leaders used to provide support to staff in ways that also offset the college's limited fiscal resources.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-16">RQ2: What forms of human capital investment are utilized by rural community college leaders t...</hd> <p>The purpose of any HR management strategy aims to maximize employees' efficiency, utility, and skill to generate benefits across the institution ([<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref95">21</reflink>]). Many of the HR strategies and internal assets cited within community college literature could be reproduced as a function of capital. For example, when employees have a significant amount of personal knowledge (human capital) about their position and multiple functional areas within the college, are familiar with college history (cultural capital), and are deeply connected within the college and community (social capital), we often refer to that in higher education as having "institutional knowledge." In this literature review, employers used a variety of capital investment methods to support HR functioning, but they tended to rely on investments related to existing financial capital, human capital, social capital, and political capital to address HR issues and to support staff and faculty development.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-17">Supplementing Financial Investments With Other Forms of Capital</hd> <p>Financial capital investments were central to addressing HR issues such as recruitment, retention, and professional development, but in many ways, they served as a foundation for problem-solving and needed to be supported by other forms of capital investment for long-term effectiveness. Supporting staff through professional development training, conference attendance, tuition reimbursement, and workforce development all required the use of financial capital. However, due to dwindling state allocations (Salomon‐Fernández, 2019) and the large proportion of the community college budget that goes into basic HR functions (salary and benefits), rural administrators had to be creative in their staff development, supplementing financial solutions with more creative problem solutions for existing HR concerns. For example, grow-your-own (GYO) leadership programs was one way that leadership was able to take on many HR issues related to filling hiring gaps and meet recruitment needs for open positions. GYO programs also assisted leaders who were working on changing the cultural and social norms within the college to better support human capital development in ways that aligned with new and developing institutional priorities.</p> <p>One state's public community college system developed a leadership development consortium in partnership with one of the state universities and a variety of higher education stakeholders, to improve leadership development of community college staff and faculty. It allowed the colleges to share the costs of providing necessary employee leadership training. Another example of how leadership leveraged existing talent was through mentoring programs. Through these programs employees were able to build skills, either as the mentor or mentee, to improve employee satisfaction, job preparation, and build rapport. These are just a few examples of the ways rural community college leaders in the study used multiple forms of capital that existed within their college or rural area to address HR issues. However, in all cases it was important that leaders leveraged multiple types of capital to target HR issues.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-18">Examining the Impact of Social and Cultural Capital</hd> <p>One area particularly relevant to rural community colleges is the need to invest in employee social and cultural capital for both local and nonlocal members. Understanding and appreciating the local and regional culture was cited as highly influential for rural community college leaders looking to support their employees and the community ([<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref96">36</reflink>], p. 92). The ability to anticipate how local norms affect HR functioning was cited as key to implementing effective leadership development and retention efforts across the college. For example, traditional workplace norms for employees with children may be less accommodating of career transitions that require a move of location or significant time spent at work during personal and family events, thereby discouraging parents from seeking promotions and degree-attainment. One benefit of the rural community college is their ability to be flexible and create customizable employment opportunities and positions that meet a variety of needs and lifestyles. For leaders who were interested in challenging and addressing existing barriers to work-life balance and promotion, there were great opportunities for rural leaders to challenge the status quo and influence current beliefs, values, behaviors, and identity formation at the individual and group levels of their organization that positively improved worker experience ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref97">27</reflink>]).</p> <p>Throughout the literature there was a call for community college leaders to customize and initiate community partnerships that could be tailored to fit the needs of the employee base. When discussing faculty development and the importance of building new member social and cultural capital, research by [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref98">40</reflink>] demonstrated how rural community colleges leveraged faculty development in ways that also supported the local community. "Instead of expecting the region to come to the college, the college has decided to go out to the region by designating several faculty positions as traveling faculty" ([<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref99">40</reflink>], p. 8). Other examples throughout the literature cited include encouraging faculty membership on local conservation boards or service agencies to build cultural and political capital investments ([<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref100">32</reflink>]) and increasing faculty connections with local industry to connect students with potential job opportunities ([<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref101">34</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-19">Discussion</hd> <p>Rural community colleges serve as a central pillar of stability in their communities. The institutional health and well-being of college employees are not only imperative for providing accessible higher education to rural regions, but it is vital to the survival and growth of the entire rural community. Throughout this systematic literature review process, research that spoke to the work of <emph>rural</emph> community colleges and focused directly on the HR needs of <emph>staff and faculty</emph> was difficult to find. A large portion of rural community college literature centers on community college students, presidential leadership development, and leadership competencies ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref102">1</reflink>]), which reflects the student-centered and localized mission of the community college. However, this also speaks to the need for future research that centers the experiences of mid- and lower-level community college administration, support staff, and faculty within HR conversations and community college leadership more broadly.</p> <p>Existing literature on HRM of rural community college leaders demonstrates that staff and faculty serve as important human capital for the organization, but they are also sources of social, cultural, and political capital. Research centering rural community colleges tells us that long-term staff are institutional knowledge holders, community members, cultural contributors, recruiters, and influencers at the college and within the community ([<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref103">36</reflink>]). Throughout the literature included in this review, leaders and HRM at the rural community college demonstrated a deep appreciation and knowledge of the local and regional culture ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref104">11</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref105">16</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref106">20</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref107">27</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref108">36</reflink>]). Using the CCF ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref109">14</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref110">15</reflink>]) as a framework for the rural community college, it stands that investing in current staff and institutionalizing practices that address and empower personnel might indirectly increase capital and mitigate issues in HR areas more broadly.</p> <p>What is more difficult to pin down is the actual choices and HRM decisions that can be attributed to positive HRM outcomes. The level of organizational separation between community college leadership and staff at larger and urban/suburban community colleges is often irrelevant at rural colleges due to the small size and variety of roles that employees have held within the college. One of the distinct benefits of the small and rural college is its ability to remain flexible and responsive to localized needs ([<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref111">36</reflink>]). For institutional agents responsible for HR development, the rural community college context provides the unique conditions for leadership creativity, flexibility, and customization that may not be readily available at other institutional types. Without a better understanding of the explicit ways rural leaders involve their staff in the mission and fabric of the institution itself, there is a gap in understanding how community college employees can influence the sustainability and well-being of their communities and colleges.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-20">A CCF for Rural Community College Leaders</hd> <p>Rurality encompasses a broad array of people and regions within the United States, but for many rural areas, the local community college is highly involved in the social, economic, and developmental aspects of rural life and community problem-solving ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref112">19</reflink>]). Rural community colleges serve as major employers, provide workforce development, collaborate with local partners, increase access to higher education, and provide physical space for community gatherings (Eddy & Murray, 2007). Studies have shown that rural community colleges often serve as the cultural and community hub that brings people together for leisure activities, cultural enrichment, economic development, and educational opportunities ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref113">8</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref114">20</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref115">28</reflink>]). As [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref116">28</reflink>] noted in their work on the importance of a local community college, "the key to a rural community's survival and success is a social engine that drives the community's economy and serves as a foundation for group identity formation and engagement" (p. 27). When the rural community college holds this pivotal role as an educational and cultural center, it provides important access and exposure to diverse ideas for students and community members alike. The CCF by [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref117">14</reflink>] has the potential to assist community college leaders who are interested in taking an asset-based approach to HRM. Using [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref118">14</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref119">15</reflink>] CCF would provide a framework for community college leaders to begin identifying and mapping how institutional investments affect the institution and the surrounding area. What needs to be clarified in future research are the ways that human capital investments are directed and a long-term view of how these investments interact and manifest across other forms of capital.</p> <p>Research demonstrates that investing in one area of capital can result in increased capital production across a variety of different areas ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref120">13</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref121">15</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref122">25</reflink>]), but for rural communities in particular it is even more important to discover how resource investment and expansion maps alongside other patterns of inequity and resource dispersal. Based on the issues and needs communicated by community college leaders throughout the literature, rural leaders require a better understanding and predictable way of conceiving how barriers and societal factors shape the patterns, flow, and dispersal of resources across an institution or community over time. Within the CCF ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref123">14</reflink>]), the overlapping nature of capital demonstrates that investments in any one capital can positively contribute to many others. This would allow the community college leader to map the institution's resource investments.</p> <p>An important consideration for expanding the current framework to rural community college leaders will be incorporating existing research on the movement/direction of human capital investments in rural community colleges to determine whether certain types of capital investments result in directional patterns across the other forms of capital cited within the model. Existing research on capital investments of community colleges may reveal predictable patterns in how community college leaders' investment choices influence capital and resource flow. For example, many of the physical buildings of a rural community college serve to support social and cultural capital by providing a space to organize sporting events, host large gathering spaces, provide residential housing for students, open fitness centers to the public, and so on ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref124">8</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref125">12</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref126">19</reflink>]). Gaining a better understanding of what capital investment choices generate certain types of capital gains, and who amongst the stakeholders within the institution or community require additional resource support, would allow community college leaders to be more effective in how they choose to spend their increasingly limited funding.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-21">Recommendations for Rural Community Colleges</hd> <p>Running threads throughout this HRM discussion are themes of self-sufficiency and interdependence. While these two ideas may seem at odds, it encapsulates the blurred lines that come with generations of close-knit relationships between rural colleges and their communities that occur due to geographic isolation and small size. For many rural colleges included in this review, they were depicted as "on their own," self-sustaining institutions that must rely heavily on their small pool of resources and the ingenuity of leadership and staff to meet the needs of their students and community ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref127">20</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref128">26</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref129">27</reflink>]). What makes this variation of independence complicated is that although rural community colleges are often isolated geographically, they are experts at forging close-knit relationships within their local communities and aligning state-based needs with the work of the community college.</p> <hd id="AN0184509163-22">Conclusion</hd> <p>Generating buy-in from stakeholders, especially internal stakeholders like an employee base, is essential for every community college leader. Heavy reliance on faculty, staff, and community members for college functions increases the pressure for many rural community college leaders to include a variety of opinions, needs, and concerns relating to the community college. For leaders unfamiliar with rural life, the necessity to include such a wide variety of opinions from both internal and external stakeholders may seem unnecessary, or even impossible, but there are many examples in the literature where this skill has streamlined institutional progress and helped rural colleges effectively navigate change. Employees across all leadership levels are essential contributors to the college, despite their absence from the literature. Leadership should continue to find creative ways for providing staff with opportunities to get involved in the college and local community. 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Information Age.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Starobin, S. S., & Bivens, G. M. (2014). The role of secondary school and community college collaborations to increase Latinas in engineering in a rural community.. New Directions for Community Colleges, 165, 17–23. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20087</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Thomas, J., O'Mara-Eves, A., Kneale, D. & Shemilt, I. (2017). Synthesis methods for combining and configuring quantitative data. In D., Gough, S., Oliver, & J., Thomas (Eds.). An introduction to systematic reviews (2nd ed., pp. 211–250). Sage.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Torres, V., Viterito, A., Heeter, A., Hernandez, E., Santiague, L., & Johnson, S. (2013). Sustaining opportunity in rural community colleges.. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 37(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668920903213040</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Winkler, R., Oikarinen, L., Simpson, H., Michaelson, M., & Gonzalez, M. S. (2016). Boom, bust and beyond: Arts and sustainability in Calumet, Michigan.. Sustainability, 8(3), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8030284</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Christine M. Cain</p> <p>Reported by Author</p> <p></p> <p>Christine M. Cain (she/her) is a doctoral candidate in education at Iowa State University. Although Christine has lived and worked in many areas of the country, growing up in rural Iowa was a key influence on her educational journey and formation as a rural scholar. Christine's research focuses on how the rural context informs students' educational experience and institutional practices across higher education.</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib22" firstref="ref2"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib34" firstref="ref3"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib32" firstref="ref4"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref7"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref8"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib37" firstref="ref9"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib26" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref11"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib36" firstref="ref12"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib29" firstref="ref13"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref16"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib33" firstref="ref17"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref24"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl16" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref25"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl17" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref27"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl18" bibid="bib25" firstref="ref30"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl19" bibid="bib41" firstref="ref31"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl20" bibid="bib23" firstref="ref34"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl21" bibid="bib35" firstref="ref38"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl22" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref42"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl23" bibid="bib30" firstref="ref43"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl24" bibid="bib31" firstref="ref44"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl25" bibid="bib24" firstref="ref48"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl26" bibid="bib39" firstref="ref54"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl27" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref58"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl28" bibid="bib27" firstref="ref62"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl29" bibid="bib40" firstref="ref71"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl30" bibid="bib38" firstref="ref86"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl31" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref112"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl32" bibid="bib28" firstref="ref115"></nolink>
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  Data: Impact of Place/Space on Rural Community College Human Resource Management: A Systematic Review
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
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  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Christine+M%2E+Cain%22">Christine M. Cain</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3820-2754">0000-0002-3820-2754</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Education+Human+Resources%22"><i>Journal of Education Human Resources</i></searchLink>. 2024 42(1):5-25.
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  Data: University of Toronto Press. 5201 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON M3H 5T8, Canada. Tel: 416-667-7810; Fax: 800-221-9985; Fax: 416-667-7881; e-mail: journals@utpress.utoronco.ca; Web site: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/jehr
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– Name: Pages
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  Data: 21
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2024
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Postsecondary+Education%22">Postsecondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Two+Year+Colleges%22">Two Year Colleges</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Community+Colleges%22">Community Colleges</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Rural+Schools%22">Rural Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Rural+Environment%22">Rural Environment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+Resources%22">Human Resources</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Personnel+Management%22">Personnel Management</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Leadership%22">Leadership</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Persistence%22">Teacher Persistence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Faculty+Recruitment%22">Faculty Recruitment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Employment+Problems%22">Employment Problems</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Strategic+Planning%22">Strategic Planning</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.3138/jehr-2023-0049
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  Label: ISSN
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  Data: 2562-783X
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: In the following systematic review, the author examines how rural community college leaders address the unique challenges and strengths of working in a rural environment as they strive to retain, support, develop, compensate, and invest in their employees. Factors such as geographic isolation, small population sizes, and close-knit social networks require the rural leader to rely more heavily on locally available resources and existing infrastructure to support leadership decisions. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses alongside Flora and Flora's 2008 Community Capital Framework, this systematic review synthesizes research that addresses human resource issues and explores human capital investment strategies employed by rural community college leadership. This article has important implications for future leadership development and training strategies across the community college sector, making clear the need for contextualized, strengths-based research that utilizes the experiences of rural community college leaders.
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  Data: 2024
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  Data: EJ1410851
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 21
        StartPage: 5
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Community Colleges
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Rural Schools
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Rural Environment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Human Resources
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Personnel Management
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      – SubjectFull: Leadership
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      – SubjectFull: Teacher Persistence
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      – SubjectFull: Faculty Recruitment
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      – SubjectFull: Employment Problems
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      – SubjectFull: Strategic Planning
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      – TitleFull: Impact of Place/Space on Rural Community College Human Resource Management: A Systematic Review
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              Y: 2024
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