Academic Staff Transition into University Leadership Roles in a Ghanaian Public University

Abstract

Academic leadership skills are critical to the success or otherwise
of universities worldwide. However, leadership preparation
remains at the periphery in universities. Using questionnaire
responses from 21 Heads of Departments (HoDs) at a public
university, we examined HoD preparation and the impact on the
stressors they face in leading their departments once appointed.
The results indicate that: first, all HoDs performed academic
leadership roles, but about a half of them had not received prior
preparation before their appointments. Second, the
interdependence between HoDs’ leadership preparation and the
level of stressors they faced as middle-level university leaders
showed ambivalent outcomes. Inferential statistics showed that
only the stress of combining academic and administrative roles
was found to have a significant relationship with HoDs’ leadership
preparation (Chi-square=0.036, p=0.05). Other stressors such as
difficulty in people management, role ambiguity and
administrative role stress showed no significant relationship with
HoD preparation. We recommend carefully formulated training
and mentorship programmes on HoD leadership preparation
among universities, so that the competencies acquired can help
them overcome the stressors associated with leading their
departments.