HYDERABAD: There is an urgent need to flatten hierarchies among teachers in Indian universities and provide them with higher autonomy to decide parameters on which their performance can be judged, points out a study by researchers from the Liberal Arts Department of IIT-Hyderabad. The researchers pointed out that this practice would help improve self-leadership, professionalism, and most importantly, intention to mentor younger colleagues.
The said conclusion was arrived at after conducting survey-based research among 88 Indian and 105 Spanish university teachers. The findings were published in the journal Cross-Cultural & Strategic Management. A press release by IIT-H said, “...teachers can be allowed to choose from different parameters like academic research, publication, teaching, socially relevant projects and industry-oriented research as their performance criteria. This will increase the sense of autonomy and control over their jobs and create a culture of mentoring.”
It further said, “Also, creating a flatter organisational structure can increase the level of interactions and collaborations among subordinates, which can bring in a sense of equality and empathy. This might also bridge the gap caused by diversity in age, tenure and background, and in turn, improve mentoring.”
The researchers found that even though the intention to mentor their younger colleagues was found to be higher among the Indian university teachers than their Spanish counterparts, Indian teachers valued position-based power more than the latter. The study was conducted by IIT-H in collaboration with Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.