ABSTRACT

The role of the Head of Department is at the heart of tertiary education; it is where institutional policy and procedure are predominately enacted. The extant literature on the nature and challenges of such roles is almost exclusively from the Western world. The research that this article reports on examined the leadership and management structures and staff progression routes in Bangladesh colleges. The project then explored the roles and challenges facing Heads of Department in the colleges. Four focus groups were held comprising of a total of 26 Heads of Department from Bangladesh colleges. Findings indicate that the Bangladesh higher education system is highly centralised, from the Ministry of Education and the National University. Participants report their role as primarily paper-based administration with little autonomy. The challenges they face involve dealing with acute staffing shortages, student political activists and no preparation and development in the form of training. These roles and challenges differ from roles in higher education in the literature.

摘要

系主任的角色是高等教育的核心；这是主要制定机构政策和程序的地方。有关此类角色的性质和挑战的现有文献几乎完全来自西方世界。本文报道的研究检查了孟加拉国大学的领导和管理结构以及员工晋升途径。然后，该项目探讨了大学系主任面临的角色和挑战。举行了四个焦点小组会议，其中包括孟加拉国大学的26位系主任。研究结果表明，孟加拉国高等教育体系是教育部和国立大学高度集中的。参与者报告了他们的角色，主要是基于纸质的管理，几乎没有自治权。他们面临的挑战包括应付严重的人员短缺，学生政治活动家以及没有通过培训的形式进行准备和发展。这些角色和挑战不同于文献中高等教育中的角色。