Introduction
Growing population and energy demands, expanding food and fossil fuel
needs, falling quality of life, extremism and inequality are major
concerns of the world (Abas et al. 2015a, 2015b, 2017a, 2017b).
War on terror and terrorist activities on certain areas of the globe
lead to an increased mass immigration towards developed countries. Such
a scenario quest for an appropriate and effective education system on
planet Earth to solve the major challenges to humankind. “Education is
the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” (Nelson
Mandela) and so is the power of the hands that create and spread it. The
potential of the role of higher education (HE) and leadership has never
been realized in the dissemination of knowledge and country development.
Higher education
With a sharp increase in learners, governments and Higher Education (HE)
institutions all over the world have come under extreme pressure from
learners and their families for better access to education. Research
showed that the four overarching challenges faced by HE institutions
are: maintaining and improving education quality, increasing the
relevance of curriculum and coaching with market needs, and creating
financial resources (Yasmin et al. 2017). Privatization and
internationalization have, no doubt, become mantra of the day (Tilak
2015). The finances of HE are associated to marketing which amplified
considerably with the recent transformation of HE. The drastic effects
were the results of the intense rise of marketing and knowledge
(Shahjahan, Kezar 2013). Reliance on corporate revenue in absence of
policy may lead to distortion in research goals. Researchers
investigated the problems and factors responsible for low efficiency of
HE in different countries (Renehan 2015). Raffie A. Browne and Hong Shen
(2017) examined the challenges of low performance of HE and found that
issues like quality of education, approachability, location,
institutional costs and unemployment of graduates affecting HE. While
researchers felt it deem to increase the number of institutes to match
the accessibility and to provide scholarship to meet the needs of the
poor. Research also highlighted that a focus on theoretical knowledge
only may take learners’ motivation away particularly in subjects like
science and languages (Yasmin, Sohail 2018a, 2018b).
Pakistani context
Our poor people have no true representation in federal and provincial
assemblies, and the Vice-Chancellors (VCs) are appointed on the
political basis to support education privatization policies (Khanet al. 2015). VCs selection criteria are based on management
experience instead of academic credentials. As long as the VCs in
universities and executives in national organizations are not chosen on
merit there is no hope of any positive change. The honorable Chief
Justice of Pakistan has recently removed the VC of oldest and largest
university of Pakistan (University of the Punjab) along with three
medical and one Women University on the basis of ineligibility in terms
of their qualification and illegal practices (Bilal 2018). Regenerative
waves of academic entrepreneurial policies eventually become the victim
of their irrationalities. Research on HE was mostly limited to
administrative issues, challenges (Saint et al. 2003) while the
role of leadership was ignored. It is necessary to revisit the role and
responsibilities of our VCs in modern times. The present study would
address through investigation the following research questions:
- How do head of departments perceive the present situation of
engineering education in Pakistan?
- What is the perception of head of departments about the role of
leadership in engineering education?