Development of Manager‐Academics at Institutions of Higher Education in Catalonia

Abstract

Managers at Spanish universities are having to deal with increasingly complex managerial tasks as a result of current changes in higher education. This paper presents the results of a study into the professional development of deans and department heads at universities in Catalonia. At management level, these universities are typically based on an elected, rotating model rather than an appointed or permanent one. The findings from 23 qualitative interviews and a focus group identified three phases in the development of academic management: learning and contextualization, development of functions, and the institutional projection and transmission of management tasks.

Governance in Spanish Universities

“…Interviews were conducted at four public universities: Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, and Universidad de Barcelona. A further strategy to ensure the validity of the data was the triangulation of the information provided by each group of informants, as each of the three types of informants was able to provide information on the same research question from a different perspective In addition, all three types of participants had previously participated in similar research (Castro & Thomas, 2011). Three different respondent perspectives were obtained and analyzed:…”

“…The administrative level includes personnel who provide support and assistance to academic activities as well the institutional activities of management. The academic level includes both teaching and research personnel (Castro & Tomàs, 2011). In broad terms, the management of Spanish universities may best be characterized overall as an elected, rotating model.…”

Competencias directivas en la gestión universitaria en Colombia

“…Algunas investigaciones distinguen dos tipos de directivos, de acuerdo con las referencias al Académico Directivo (Manager-Academic) o al Directivo Académico (Academic-Manager), donde el primero abarca a los profesores o investigadores que asumen cargos directivos en universidades, cuyas creencias están centradas en el profesionalismo, el conocimiento y la autonomía profesional (Bedoya et al, 2020;Castro y Tomàs, 2011;Deem, 2003;Winter, 2009), mientras que el segundo agrupa a los sujetos que asumen roles directivos en instituciones de educación superior con modelos corporativos gerenciales, y sus trayectorias proceden del sector productivo (Blenkinsopp y Stalker, 2004;Hellawell y Hancock, 2001). Así mismo, otras investigaciones referencian a los Profesionales de Educación Superior (High Education Professionals), "Paraacadémicos" o Tercer Espacio como nuevos roles en la dirección universitaria (McFarlane, 2011;Schneijderberg y Merkator, 2013;Whitchurch, 2013).…”

O papel do professor-gestor em uma instituição federal de ensino superior de Alagoas: um estudo na UFAL/Campus Arapiraca

“…Quando o professor atua no papel de gestor, quer seja como reitor ou pró-reitor, por exemplo, entra em cena o papel de professor-gestor -aquele no qual o professor ou pesquisador desempenha papel de gestor no ensino superior, seja temporariamente ou permanentemente (CASTRO;TOMÀS, 2011). Ou seja, mesmo assumindo a posição de dirigente, esse indivíduo não deixa de ser professor (ÉSTHER, 2007) e, portanto, a dupla atividade constitui o cerne do papel de professor-gestor.…”