This study aims to understand the factors that influence faculty members’ participation in
decision making within the framework of the academic department as a social organization. From this
perspective, the researcher argues that how faculty members view the formal and informal structures
of the department directly and indirectly affect their participation in decision making. Faculty
members' characteristics, such as age and gender, also influence their perceptions and their
participation in decision making. Through the path model developed by the researcher, a total of 185
faculty members who enrolled during the first semester 2006/ 2007 term at Jordanian Universities
participated in the study, and by using a 12-item survey, this study shows that elements of a
department’s formal and informal structures and of faculty members’ attributes directly and
indirectly influence self-reported participation. Most notably the variables which exhibit substantial
influence on participation in decision making include two measures of the formal structure as reported
by faculty members: (chairperson-faculty interaction and faculty members’ perception of the
chairperson as the authority of knowledge); one measure of the informal structure: (faculty members’
fear of peer disapproval), and two measures of faculty members’ attributes: (age and confidence). The
most important finding to be taken from this investigation pertains to chairperson-faculty interaction
outside of the department.
Publication Date
1/13/2007
Publisher
International Studies in Educational Administration
أيمن أحمد ابراهيم العمري | Aieman Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Omari | 13191