Human Capital Leadership: Principals Leading Schools' Human Capital

Effective management and development of human capital among educational staff are paramount to encourage teacher retention and satisfaction and to achieve successful educational outcomes, especially in the wake of the recent global health crisis. Nonetheless, the extant scholarly discourse concerning the development of human capital within educational milieus remains scarce, particularly with respect to the leadership inherent to the roles of principals. To address this scholarly lacuna, our qualitative study investigated the perceptions and practices of principals for managing human capital within school contexts. Drawing on data collected from 60 secondary principals in Israel, employing maximal differentiation sampling, our research identified three cardinal dimensions that encapsulate principals’ conceptualizations of human capital development: the essence of their leadership role, the domains needing development, and the parties responsible for such development. Noteworthy among our findings are the importance of integrating social-emotional dimensions into human capital development initiatives and the shared accountability for human capital development among principals, mid-level school leadership, and staff. By illuminating these dynamics, our study offers theoretical and practical implications for principals seeking to optimize human capital development strategies, especially given the shortage of highly qualified teachers seeking employment or retaining positions in today’s schools.