Impact assessment study of an executive education program for university leaders

University-based executive education programs continue to expand across the country, but program directors are unclear about how to articulate the impact and effectiveness of their programs. To help identify possible measurements for future studies, we conducted an exploratory case study of a university-based executive education program for higher education leaders and documented how participants discuss the benefits of program attendance. Based on thematic coding, we found that program participants reported impacts related to: (i) generalised learning (field knowledge and personal knowledge), (ii) perspective-taking, (iii) organisational socialisation, (iv) organisational strategies, (v) career trajectory, and (vi) affective changes to mood and confidence. These possible impacts suggest possible metrics around which program directors and researchers may wish to further operationalise and measure.