The roles of department chairs in higher learning institutions in the People\u27s Republic of China

The purposes of the study were to (1) identify Chinese department chairs\u27 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\u27 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\u27 age and the time they spent on administrative roles. Chairs\u27 years of service were found to have a statistically significant relationship with the time they spent on budgetary affairs. Chairs\u27 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