Professional Competencies of Depatment Heads in Universities and Higher Education Institutions: A Study Based On a Systematic Review

The purpose of this research was to identify the professional competencies needed by the heads of departments in universities and higher education institutions through the review of studies conducted in this field.The current research was done with a descriptive-analytical approach and using the method of document-library study.In this regard, using the systematic review method in a meta-synthesis and qualitativeapprouch, all the sources related to the professional competence patterns of the managers of educational groups in universities and higher education institutions during the years 2000 to 2023 were investigated.Initially, the number of these sources was 3725, of which 135 sources were selected based on the title.Then 67 sources were selected based on the abstract, and finally 35 sources were studied as related sources.Then, by using interpretive analysis method, it was tried to identify and classify the professional competencies of the managers of educational groups of universities and higher education institutions.Lincoln and Goba criteria were used to ensure the validity of the results.The results obtained from the analysis of various information sources indicate that the most important competencies of the managers of educational groups of universities and higher education institutions include individual competencies (personal competence and moral competence), managerial competencies (self-management, Human resource management, executive management, and cognitive competencies), professional-specialized competencies (educational, research, and information technology), and trans-organizational competencies (awareness of politics, cultural intelligence, and economic insight).