Improving Quality of Administration Process in HEIs: Professional Competence Perceived by Academic Staff in Ukraine

Abstract

Abstract Research purpose. The research purpose of this paper was to explore the evaluation of skills by academic staff to improve the quality of the administration process in higher education institutions (HEIs) from two perspectives. Firstly, the authors investigated whether there are statistically significant differences between the genders of academic staff in higher education institutions regarding the evaluation of their skills and competencies. Secondly, the study aimed to determine if there are statistically significant differences in competencies perceived between academic staff of STEM sciences and those with academic experience in other sciences in terms of assessing their professional competencies. The purpose was determined by the impact of self-assessment of professional competencies on the improvement of administrative processes. Design / Methodology / Approach. The survey, using the authors` developed questionnaire, was distributed in Ukraine from 2019 to 2023. 374 respondents were surveyed. To test hypotheses, the authors employed the Mann-Whitney U test for gender-related hypotheses and the Kruskal-Wallis test for hypotheses related to the area of scientific and academic activities. Findings. Due to the analysis carried out in the present research, the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test showed that there is no statistically significant difference between the gender groups and their professional competencies evaluation, which leads to the rejection of the first hypothesis. The second hypothesis was also rejected, as based on the Kruskal-Wally’s test there is no statistically significant difference between the perception of the professional competencies among the academic staff of STEM and other sciences. Originality / Value / Practical implications. Unlike other studies, this research specifically focuses on the differences between the self-assessment-based perceptions by genders and STEM sciences academic staff compared to representatives of other branches of science at HEIs in Ukraine. The practical value is achieved by the research thus ensuring administrative staff with defined competencies and self-assessment criteria. The research findings then will allow us to link competencies to administration processes and offer training and development opportunities based on identified competency gaps. The feedback mechanism might be established based on the research data and these self-assessment results might be incorporated into the performance evaluation processes, thus improving the quality of the educational process and its administration in HEIs. Practical implications are related to the state and period of the research, due to the present war in Ukraine.