El desempeño de la dirección en la Universidad: El caso de decanos y directores de departamento

This article presents the outcomes of a research whose main objective is to examine the professional development of the individual officers of academic management in HE. More concretely, it aims to gain a deeper insight into the particularities of the professional development of deans and head of departments. The data, fundamentally qualitative in nature, come from interviews conducted with manager-academics, experts and managers-administrators. The results obtained indicate that three stages can be identified in the way manager-academics carry out their duties. An initial stage is characterised by the need to familiarise themselves with the post, and to understand the dynamics of the institution, during which a low-intensity of leadership is exercised. A second stage, covering the longest period of time, in which all the activity is orientated towards carrying out the project, is characterised by a high level of commitment to providing advice and support to the lecturing staff. The third stage is characterised by the preoccupation with ensuring the institutional hand-over and assessing the achievements attained.