Growing Older and Wiser: The Changing Skill Requirements of City Administrators

Abstract

Building a clear understanding of future skills and knowledge needs of municipal administrators is essential for designing masters programs in public administration (MPAs), strengthening mentoring relationship between seasoned municipal practitioner and apprentice, and ensuring that academia remains current with needs of practicing public administrators. Prior research has over-simplified knowledge needs of municipal administrators by failing to recognize effects individual (e.g., education level and experience) and contextual (e.g., population size and form of government) factors have on future skill and knowledge requirements. We argue that practitioners' skill and knowledge needs evolve as they gain experience, migrate from smaller jurisdictions, and interact with differing political environments. This study replicates and expands prior studies to directly model how individual and contextual characteristics affect skill and knowledge preferences of municipal administrators. The results show that both sets of characteristics have a significant impact on skill and knowledge needs of future municipal administrators. We also explore implications of these results for practitioners, apprentices, MPA program directors, and academics. Philosopher King and High-Powered Analyst: The Literature One of first studies of skill and knowledge needs was conducted in early 1970s by Watt, Parker, and Cantine (1973). After conducting workshops and surveys of 130 city and county administrators, they concluded that the role of urban administrator is more and more one of continuous and intensive involvement in all aspects of determining dimensions of governmental responsibility and response.(1) He becomes both philosopher king and high-powered (61). The philosopher king exemplifies art of public administration. In this view, municipal administrator is most comfortable operating within a political and social context that includes promoting citizen participation, inviting disadvantaged into decision-making process, managing city councils, making policy, and communicating with general public and community groups. The high-powered analyst exemplifies science of public administration, which relies more on financial management, computer applications, report writing, and policy analysis. Of two perspectives, art rather than science of public administration dominates Watt, Parker, and Cantine's vision for future role of municipal administrators. Kerrigan and Hinton (1980; 1995) replicated work of Watt, Parker, and Cantine through two surveys of municipal administrative officers conducted during late 1970s and 1980s. In their interpretation of survey results, Kerrigan and Hinton highlighted importance of art of public administration. This art involved skills such as sizing up community politics, assessing community needs, handling interpersonal relations, negotiation, and consensus seeking. Reflecting on rank order importance of different skills and knowledge, they concluded that the results point out importance of `art' of public administration and, generally, tend to place less emphasis on `science' of public administration' (Kerrigan and Hinton, 1980, 473). Although these conclusions are consistent with disfavor felt for politics-administration dichotomy (Rabin and Bowman, 1984; Svara, 1985), advocatory managerial roles (Marini, 1971), and more contemporary efforts to define city management profession as one grounded in community values and politics (Nalbandian, 1989), there is contrary evidence questioning preference for art over science. A study of 1,243 public authority managers found a preference for technical skills over politics and negotiation (Mitchell, 1991). Others (Hy, Waugh, and Nelson, 1987) foresee analytical techniques and computer applications increasing in importance to enhance accountability to public and to respond to continuing demand for effectiveness and efficiency in public enterprise. …

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