Academic centered or non-academic centered? Two explanatory frameworks for the selection of administrators and deans in journalism or communication schools at leading universities in Mainland China

School administrators play crucial roles in the contemporary transformation of journalism and communication education. How to select the most appropriate school administrators and deans has received strong public scrutiny. To explain the selection behavior of school leaders, the present study proposes two frameworks: the academic-centered and the non-academic-centered framework. The purpose of the research article is to examine the extent to which academic and non-academic as well as other personal attributes of candidates predict or explain selection outcomes for journalism faculty leadership positions. The sample for this empirical research on the selection of journalism and communication school leaders consists of 204 job candidates in Mainland China. The results indicate that we should attach importance not only to the academic-centered framework but also to the non-academic-centered framework and should integrate them to better explain school leadership selection. In the selection of journalism and communication school leaders in Mainland China, academic attributes are prerequisites, while non-academic attributes, especially government service experience, are important factors, and demographic attributes (innate characteristics) are necessary factors. The author also notes that gender and racial bias can create structural imbalances, which require further study.