Professional Empowerment of Highr Education Managers: A Paradigmatic Model

Empowerment has been mostly considered a human resource strategy in recent decades, endeavoring to promote the effectiveness, productivity, and satisfaction of managers. Given the pivotal role of higher education authorities in adopting the rapid transformations in the global landscape, updating their knowledge and skills seems to be indispensable. This study endeavors to develop a professional empowerment model, specifically customized to needs of higher education authorities.

The present research is applied in terms of its purpose and qualitative grounded theory in terms of its implementation method. It was conducted using Strauss and Corbin's approach. A purposeful sampling method was adopted, and 10 educational directors from universities of medical sciences and Islamic Azad universities were selected as a sample from the population through the snowball technique based on the principle of theoretical saturation. To determine the validity and reliability of the data, the review of the participants and the review of non-participating experts were used.

The findings during the three stages of open, central and selective coding indicate 12 main categories and 50 sub-categories, which in this study in the framework of the paradigm model are as follows: causal factors (organizational and individual factors), the central phenomenon, background factors (insightful leadership, talent management and organizational performance management), intervening factors (organizational and individual limitations, and managerial factors), strategies (educational transformation and empowerment of managers) and consequences (excellence and self-management).

The formulation of a professional empowerment framework for higher education managers across various organizational levels holds immense potential to significantly contribute to the advancement and development of higher education managers nationwide. By embracing this framework, higher education institutions and higher education managers can effectively navigate the complexities of the modern educational landscape and achieve their educational and research goals with greater efficiency and resource optimization.