Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
The roles of department chairs in higher learning institutions in the People's Republic of China
Abstract
The purposes of the study were to (1) identify Chinese department chairs' major roles and responsibilities through analysis of the time they spent on their tasks, (2) assess the importance of their scholastic and administrative roles based on their perceptions, and (3) examine the relationship between selected factors that influenced the roles of department chairs in Chinese institutions of higher learning. Two hundred and fifty six department chairs participated in this study. These chairs were randomly selected from a population of 2560 department chairs in 307 Chinese universities and colleges. 208 responses were usable for analysis, which accounted for a return rate of 81%. A researcher-designed survey instrument was used to rate major chair roles and measure the average time chairs spent on their roles and responsibilities. Variables used in the study included chairs' age, term of service, length of service, professional rank, earlier administrative experience, type of institution, and size of their academic department. The statistical tests of the research questions required t-tests, ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis One Way ANOVA. Multiple Regression analysis was applied to continuous variables to identify significant predictors of the time chairs spent on various roles. Five of the nine research questions yielded statistically significant t-test or ANOVA results. Statistical significance was found between chairs' age and the time they spent on administrative roles. Chairs' years of service were found to have a statistically significant relationship with the time they spent on budgetary affairs. Chairs' term of service was found to aid in the prediction of the time they spent on research roles. The size of the department was a statistically significant predictor of the time chairs spent on their teaching roles. Training programs for chair development may be supported by these findings.
Subject Area
School administration|Higher education|Bilingual education|Multicultural education
Recommended Citation
Bao, Julie Qiu, "The roles of department chairs in higher learning institutions in the People's Republic of China" (1991). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9208100.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9208100