Hedgehogs and Foxes at the Crossroads - Leadership and Diversity at the University of California - Leadership and diversity analysis

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Ben

Following Clark Kerr’s distinction between hedgehogs (visionary leaders who know “one big thing”) and foxes (shrewd leaders who know “many things”), this paper uses Kerr as the hedgehog archetype and David Gardner as the fox archetype to model two styles of leadership. It examines systemic excellence articulated during Kerr’s presidency and supported by the California Master Plan, alongside the rise of fox culture focused on resource pursuit. It argues that UC’s hedgehog concept of systemic excellence did not integrate diversity and calls for a revised concept for UC’s multicultural 21st-century role.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Hedgehogs and foxes as leadership models

Leadership, systemic excellence, and diversity

Systemic excellence under Clark Kerr

Fox culture under David Gardner

Call for renewed leadership vision

UC Berkeley Berkeley Review of Education Title Hedgehogs and Foxes at the Crossroads: Leadership and Diversity at the University of California Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5wg0x669](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5wg0x669) Journal Berkeley Review of Education, 2(1) ISSN 1947-5578 Author González, Cristina Publication Date 2011-01-01 [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Available online at [http://escholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre](http://escholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre) Hedgehogs and Foxes at the Crossroads: Leadership and Diversity at the University of California Cristina González 1 University of California, Davis Abstract Following Clark Kerr’s distinction between hedgehogs, or visionary leaders who know“one big thing,” and foxes, or shrewd leaders who know“many things,” this paper studies Kerr, an archetypical hedgehog, and David Gardner, a quintessential fox, as models for these two types of leaders. The paper also analyzes the hedgehog concept of systemic excellence, which was articulated during Kerr’s presidency and underpins the California Master Plan for Higher Education, and the rise of fox culture, with its focus on the pursuit of resources, which coincided with Gardner’s tenure as president. In addition, the paper examines diversity as an element that never became incorporated into the University of California’s (U. C.) hedgehog concept of systemic excellence, but rather has been dealt with in an ad-hoc, fox-like manner. The paper calls for a new hedgehog concept of systemic excellence for the University of California as the premier multicultural and international institution of higher learning in the 21st century. Keywords: Leadership, Diversity, Hedgehog Concept, Fox Culture, Clark Kerr, David Gardner, University of California While other countries are preparing their citizens for the demands of the knowledgebased global economy, the United States is privatizing its public institutions of higher learning, including the University of California (U.C.), which is facing the greatest crisis in its history.2 Drastic budget cuts are reducing students' ability to obtain a university education at a time when more people, including more women and minorities, require access to the highest levels of learning. The university must have diverse leadership in order to articulate and implement a new vision for a state that is at the crossroads of history. In this paper, I will examine the administrative contributions of some key past U.C. presidents with the purpose of conceptualizing what is needed today. Reviewing the 1 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Cristina González, Department of Spanish, University of California, Davis; 702 Sproul Hall, Davis, CA 95616. E-mail: [crigonzalez@ucdavis.edu](crigonzalez@ucdavis.edu) 2 This essay is based on a presentation delivered at the Symposium on the State of Public Education in California, held on March 12, 2010, at the University of California, Berkeley. I am grateful to the conference organizers for their kind invitation and warm hospitality. My paper is a continuation of a previous article titled “Hedgehogs, Foxes, Leadership Renewal and Succession Planning” (University of California, Berkeley: Center for Studies in Higher Education, 2007, CSHE. 17.07), with which it partially overlaps, and is a preview of some of the arguments contained in my book, Clark Kerr’s University of California: Leadership, Diversity and Planning in Higher Education (Transaction, 2011) . I thank the CSHE and Transaction Publishers for granting me permission to publish this essay. Berkeley Review of Education Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 69-84 70 González history of the U.C. from the point of view of leadership and diversity is necessary to begin to reflect about its future. How well we understand what has happened to us will determine how well we are able

FAQs

What leadership contrast does the paper examine?

The paper contrasts hedgehog leaders who focus on “one big thing” with fox leaders who pursue “many things.” It uses Clark Kerr and David Gardner as archetypes of these two approaches.

How does the paper describe systemic excellence at UC?

It describes systemic excellence as a hedgehog concept articulated during Clark Kerr’s presidency and linked to the California Master Plan for Higher Education.

How is diversity treated in relation to the hedgehog concept?

The paper argues that diversity did not become part of UC’s hedgehog concept of systemic excellence; instead, it was handled in an ad-hoc, fox-like manner.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Ben