Education and Leadership. Romanian realities and experiences

 This book is about education and how education and training processes are led within the education system with a focus on Romania. The question this book aims to answer is what happens to higher education today?

The book Education and Leadership. Romanian realities and experiences is based on a doctoral research made by the author. It all started out of a personal interest in leadership, in general, and in academic leadership in particular. This interest was fueled by the various management positions the author held in academia, in research and training projects, and by a curiosity generated by her first doctoral studies and research in education, and later on, the first academic research project on the subject of leadership in business in Romania as an EU member country (LIDEROM project, conducted between 2007 and 2010). The author also won a Fulbright scholarship in 2005 with a proposal on Leadership abilities and styles - the impact of American practices on Romanian business communication. The Fulbright scholarship proved particularly relevant not only in results such as specialized articles, books[1] and in establishing professional contacts, but also in offering the author the opportunity to teach a full course in an American university (www.csusb.edu) and, thus, to better understand the system from inside. 

And last but not least, the Leadership and Organizational Communication course which the author has been teaching in the Master in Business Communication in English programme (www.mibcom.ase.ro) was one of fruitful discussions with Romanian and international students.

The higher education institutions play a significant role in the training and development of a country’s business people. A traditional and prestigious university like the Bucharest University of Economic Studies is undoubtedly the training school for this country’s leaders in the economic field, the ones that everybody hopes will make changes for the better, will become role models and will have followers.

The cover of the book is not random. The symbolism of the apple is very complex, but most often we look at it like the fruit that brought the world its access to knowledge, even if accompanied by hazards that can be avoided only through the right balance and the faith in good. In many cultures the apple is the symbol of health and natural freshness. The apple on the book cover is fresh, probably still healthy, but the worm of doubt is clearly visible. It is for us as a society and as people, to choose what to do with it - use it while it is still healthy or let it decompose and buy the perfect apples from the globalized supermarkets, even if they have no taste and are full of chemicals with still uncertain effects on our health? 

This book is easy to read, and it is addressed to all those interested in the topic - both researchers and the general public. It should ideally be read by the education and the financial allocations policymakers, but it is relevant to everyone who has a general interest in education and in the management of the society in which one lives.