From professor to academic head of department: a study about managerial competence development of these professionals in a public university

Abstract

This basic interpretative and qualitative research answers how professors from Dentistry School in Araçatuba/UNESP develop their management skills to act as university head of department, that is, what these professors understand by being a competent head of department and what knowledge they mobilize for the fulfillment of their function. The semi-structured interviews revealed that the conception given to the job by the heads of departments is functional, that is, being a head of department means to supervise and control technical attributes. The theoric knowledge is limited to having knowledge of the laws of the University. As for the practical knowledge, the administration routines could be in charge of the administration staff while the skills for the know-how-to are developed by means of observation of the co-workers actions and through their past experiences at the University. The most outstanding psychological factors are demand for results and problems with personal relationships between professors and staff. The motivation for college administration is merely financial. The results of this study may contribute to the theory by abandoning prescriptive approaches and focusing their discussion on the image that the head of department builds about himself as a manager in their social practices at work.