The purpose of the proposed study is to explore the contribution of different types of continuing professional education (CPE) to the upward career mobility of current health services administrators working in a hospital setting. The objectives of the study were to determine the pattern of participation in CPE of a sample of hospital administrators, to ascertain the degree of upward career mobility over a 10-year period and to investigate the degree of association between these two factors as well as respondents' opinions concerning the impact of CPE on upward career mobility. / Data were collected by mailing a self-administered questionnaire to a national sample of senior-level health services administrators and to the chairpersons of the board from the same institutions. The sample of health services administrators was selected in such a manner as to eliminate confounding variables of education, length of professional experience and age. Respondents reported spending an average of 83 hours per year in formal varieties of CPE and over twenty times as much, or 1,673 hours per year, in informal varieties. In the informal domain, the greatest amount of time was spent in personal discussions, followed by personal reading. Most of the formal hours of CPE were spent in training provided during professional meetings. / The level of participation in CPE--both formal and informal--turned out to be significantly but weakly associated with indicators of the actual upward career mobility of these health services administrators. At the same time, both they and the board members responsible for hiring and firing them accorded CPE participation low causal weight in career success. Its principal effects seem due to the chance it offers to improve administrative competencies that contribute to professional development and to "network" with colleagues and influential parties who may support career advancement. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-04, Section: A, page: 0831. / Director: Peter Easton. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77128 |
| Contributors | Brown, Richard Lee., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 234 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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