Abstract
This Dissertation in Practice (DIP) includes three sections: the proposal, the submission ready manuscript, and a practitioner recommendation plan grounded in the study’s results. Section One presents the proposal, including the introduction, literature review, purpose, research questions, and methodology. Section Two provides the completed manuscript developed from the study. Section Three offers practitioner recommendations, reflections, and a leadership philosophy informed by the study’s findings. The purpose of this quantitative, non experimental survey study is to examine the relationship between museum leaders’ self-reported transformational leadership practices and their initiation and leadership of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) activities. The study uses the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) to assess transformational leadership behaviors and examines both the relationship between leadership practices and the number of DEAI activities reported, as well as differences in leadership practices among leaders who initiated, led, or both initiated and led DEAI activities. The study’s aim is to strengthen museum leaders’ capacity to advance DEAI efforts by increasing the field’s understanding and application of evidence based transformational leadership practices through professional development, training, and collaboration with state, regional, and national museum organizations.