Investigating the Duties of Head's Academic Departments in the World's Top Universities: Moving Towards Competence-Based Development in Iranian Medical Sciences Universities

The main idea of the current research is based on the principle that the decisive role of heads of academic departments in educational groups has been neglected in efforts to create transformation and achieve quality and excellence at universities. To address this scientific gap in the country, this research presents a development model for the heads of academic departments in Iran's Medical Sciences Universities.
This research is applied in terms of purpose and is classified as qualitative research based on thematic analysis for data collection. The statistical population of the study consisted of resources related to the heads of academic departments at the world's top universities and the development of these leaders. After reviewing the sources extracted from various databases, 45 resources were purposefully selected. Data were analyzed using coding and thematic analysis methods, and King et al.'s validation methods were employed to ensure data reliability.
After data analysis, 59 basic themes and 6 organizing themes were extracted from two global themes. The results indicated that the development model for heads of academic departments can be summarized in two global themes: "Academic Leadership" and "Administrative Leadership." The Academic Leadership theme comprises two organizing themes (Leadership of Educational Excellence and Leadership of Research Excellence). Additionally, the global Administrative Leadership theme includes four organizing themes (Administrative-Executive, Financial Management, Human Relations, and Human Resources Management).
The strength of the current research lies in its approach of moving from tasks to competence and from competence to growth. In other words, the model presented in this research can be applied in various fields, including the design of development programs, the formulation of job descriptions, and the establishment of criteria and indicators for the selection and appointment of heads of academic departments.