Analyzing the Managerial Skills of Heads of Teaching Departments at Public Sector Universities of Malakand Division

The knowledge, competencies and managerial skills of manager plays important role in the success of an organization. The purpose of this study was to analyse the managerial skills of heads of teaching departments at public sector universities of Malakand division. The population of the study consisted of 69 heads and 484 faculty members in three public sector universities of Malakand division. Through stratified random sampling 45 heads and 210 faculty members were selected as sample of the study. A self-constructed questionnaire consisted of 21 Likert type items were used to collect the data from the respondents. The responses of the heads of departments were crossed checked trough faculty members responses. The reliability of the questionnaire was established through Cronbach’s alpha and found 0.83. Data were analysed by using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that heads of teaching departments’ managerial skills were ranging from average to high level. A significant differences were found between the perceptions of heads of teaching departments and faculty members regarding interpersonal, informational and decisional skills. Gender, age, academic qualification and administrative experience have no significant effect on managerial skills of heads of teaching departments. The study recommended that Higher Education Commission and university management must arrange capacity building programmes for heads of teaching departments to enhance their interpersonal, informational and decisional skills before appointing them as head of teaching department. Seminars, workshops and refresher courses may be worthwhile strategies to increase the managerial skills of heads of teaching departments.