The role of department head in Australian universities: changes and challenges

The role of the academic departmental head in Australian universities has been little explored. This article reports a study of the role by comparing key demographic data with a similar American-based study, and examining the role in terms of personal, professional, and organisational variables, and their relationships with the generic measures of role-conflict and role-ambiguity. Results indicate differences in the role classified by gender, type of initial appointment, age and willingness to serve (among other variables), and on such dimensions as job satisfaction, work stress, role-conflict and ambiguity, and publications record. Findings indicate a job where stress appears manageable, satisfaction is in short supply and maintaining an appropriate publications record is an ongoing pressure.