Author(s)

Shi Yu ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ The School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China

Corresponding Author

Shi Yu

ABSTRACT

As complex organizations, colleges and universities are structured around academic departments as their core units for educational activities. Within these departments, grassroots administrative staff undertake numerous responsibilities yet frequently encounter multifaceted role dilemmas. Research indicates that the operational efficacy of departmental administrative organizations—including their characteristics of authority, role positioning, and power allocation—is influenced and disrupted by a multiplicity of factors. This paper aims to investigate the role dilemmas faced by grassroots administrative staff in academic departments and to explore potential optimization strategies. We propose a management paradigm shift from process control to objective-oriented governance, the implementation of flatter organizational structures, the decentralization of managerial authority, and an operational reform centered on academic priorities. These measures are intended to enhance administrative efficiency and contribute to the modernization and high-performance governance of universities.

KEYWORDS

Academic departments, Grassroots administrative staff, Role dilemmas, Adaptation strategies, University governance

CITE THIS PAPER

Shi Yu. The Role Dilemma and Adjustment of Grassroots Administrative Personnel in Colleges and Universities: A Study from Chinese Mainland. Transactions on Comparative Education (2026). Vol. 8, No.1, 39-53. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/trance.2026.080106.

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