Development and assessment of a transformational leadership inventory in higher education

Abstract

Student academic engagement is fundamental for excellence in learning and teaching. Indeed, engagement is critical for lecture attendance (Fowler & Zimitat, 2008), learning (Carini, Kuh, & Klein, 2006), and for their respective institution in terms of student satisfaction (Zhao & Kuh, 2004), retention (Horstmanshof & Zimitat, 2007), and academic performance (Fenollar, Roman, & Cuestas, 2007; Carini, Kuh, & Klein, 2006). However, with increasingly large and diverse cohorts, engagement of all students is proving difficult to achieve (cf., Hockings, Cooke, & Bowl, 2007). Consequently, innovative approaches in the learning environment are needed to enhance student academic engagement. One such possible approach is transformational leadership. Despite the considerable research on transformational leadership (TL: Bass, 1985), few studies have applied its theoretical framework to the context of Higher Education (HE). Further, those that have, tend to examine higher level leadership (e.g., departmental and university level leadership) rather than focusing on university lecturers who actually lecture students; that is those individuals who are central to students’ learning experience. In the first phase of the authors’ research program, students’ perceptions of what TL is in the context of HE were explored via focus groups. The next phase of the research program and the purpose of the proposed study is to develop a psychometrically valid measure of TL relevant to the HE context. The output from this project is relevant across all hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism subject areas. Specifically, the TL inventory is appropriate for examining a wide variety of research questions including, for example, the identification of areas of lecturing that may need to be targeted to maximise effectiveness with subsequent benefit to students. Having qualitatively investigated the current perceptions of lecturing in HE from both students’ and lecturers’ perspectives, the project has two core aims: 1.Using data gathered from the focus groups and the semi structured lecturer interviews a contextually relevant measurement of TL for HE will be developed. 2.To quantitatively assess the use of TL by lecturers in the HE setting as viewed by HE students.