Leadership: challenge or need in faculty development of the universities

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to present the importance of professor leadership and raise some ideas for improving leadership in these professionals. To this end, 23 professionals from 9 countries were interviewed, being university professors and managers with experience as professors. The results should help the universities’ managers to deliberate and implement a leadership program for their faculty. It was possible to raise some ideas for improving leadership in these professionals and we present a guideline to put these theories into practice. This guideline has six step and it must be understood as a guide, not as a rule. Finally, it is important to take into consideration that providing an opportunity for professors to develop their leadership skills will give them the chance to grow and all stakeholders will benefit.

Keywords

• leadership
• professor as leader
• faculty development
• management
• education