Influence of Lecturer’s Transformational Leadership Skill Enhancement on University Students’ Academic Culture, Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70619/vol6iss1pp39-53-798Keywords:
Academic culture, development initiatives, leadership skills, transformational leadershipAbstract
This study aimed at examining university lecturers’ transformational leadership impact on students’ career planning and Academic culture, with the enhancement of their leadership skills as the overall goal. Student participants in the study were from the second year at five public universities in Kenya. Using the Qualtrics Platform, the researcher identified a sample of 354 from a total population of 4436 as appropriate for the actual research. The study findings, based on the study parameters and research problems, indicated that lecturers’ transformational leadership strongly influences students’ academic culture and career planning. Besides facilitating resource management and resilience in overcoming academic-related obstacles, it also brings clarity of direction, integrity, and the development of academic skills, while fostering interdisciplinary abilities and self-discipline through guidance and mentorship. Transformational leadership further facilitates students’ adaptation to diverse academic environments and promotes academic exchange among themselves. The study recommends that, to build on the effectiveness of the transformational leadership dimensions highlighted, universities should invest in leadership development programs for educators and prioritize implementing culturally responsive practices. Besides, they need to ensure students from diverse demographic backgrounds can access leadership development initiatives.
References
Antera, S. (2022). Being a vocational teacher in Sweden: Navigating the regime of competence for vocational teachers. International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training, 9(3), 269–293.
Arshad, M. Z., & Arshad, D. (2018). Intellectual capital and SMEs performance in Pakistan: The role of environmental turbulence. International Journal of Entrepreneurship, 258–279.
Awais, A., Fu, N., & Jones, S. (2024). Developing students’ resilience during the crisis: A moderated model linking college support, study demands, student resilience, and students’ change-oriented behaviors. Higher Education Quarterly, 78(3), 565–585.
Bass, B. M. (2018). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. Free Press.
Burns, J. M. (2021). Leadership and followership. Leadership, 18, 18–23.
Chen, Y. A. (2021). Study on the correlation between teacher autonomy and learner.
Feraco, T., Resnati, D., Fregonese, D., Spoto, A., & Meneghetti, C. (2023). An integrated model of school students’ academic achievement and life satisfaction. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 109–130.
Fiorilli, C., Benevene, P., De Stasio, S., Buonomo, I., Romano, L., Pepe, A., & Addimando, L. (2019). Teachers’ burnout: The role of trait emotional intelligence and social support. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2743.
Guan, P. P. (2019). Career construction theory: Connotation, framework, and application. Progress in Psychological Science, 23(12), 2177–2186.
Han, Y., Ni, R., Deng, Y., & Zhu, Y. (2023). Supply and demand of higher vocational education in China. PLoS ONE, 18(10), e0293132.
Hardy, I., & Liu, S. (2022). Complex connectivities: Policy networks and vocational education reform in China. International Journal of Educational Research, 115, 102045.
Khan, M. L., Salleh, R., Javaid, M. U., Arshad, M. Z., Saleem, M. S., & Younas, S. (2023). Managing butterfly career attitudes. Sustainability, 15(6), 5099.
Khan, W. A., Hassan, R. A., Arshad, M. Z., & Kashif, U. (2020). Does innovation affect firm performance in developing countries? Jurnal Pengurusan, 59, 117–127.
Lim, J., & Moon, K. K. (2024). The effect of emotional labor on psychological well-being. Behavioral Sciences, 14(3), 167.
Liu, S., & Hardy, I. (2023). Understanding Chinese national vocational education reform. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 75(5), 1055–1077.
Liu, M., & Song, G. (2018). Research on the innovation mechanism of university management. Economic Research Introduction, (8), 177–178.
Marimuthu, N. V., Chethiyar, S. D., Arshad, M. Z., Devarajah, K., Damodaran, Y. K., & Arshad, M. A. (2023). Factors affecting work values towards career choices among university students. In Proceedings of the Global Conference on Entrepreneurship (pp. 765–788). Springer.
Ossiannilsson, E. S. (2022). Resilient agile education for lifelong learning post-pandemic. Sustainability, 14(16), 10376.
Pounder, J. (2018). Quality teaching through transformational classroom leadership. Quality Assurance in Education, 22(3), 273–285.
Qi, W., Zhang, Y., & Arshad, M. Z. (2025). Sustainable education in action. Acta Psychologica, 254, 104846.
Robinson, V. M., Lloyd, C. A., & Rowe, K. J. (2008). The impact of leadership on student outcomes. Educational Administration Quarterly, 635–674.
Song, J. W., & Sun, Z. Q. (2017). The mediating variables of transformational leadership behavior. Progress in Psychological Science, 17(1), 147–157.
Tian, G. X., & Zeng, Y. J. (2021). The emotional puzzlement of first-time teachers. Research on Teacher Education, 33(4), 68–75.
Tian, J. (2021). The impact of transformational leadership behavior on teacher burnout. Psychological Development and Education, 37(5), 743–751.
Wang, J. (2015). Psychological capital, organizational commitment, and work engagement of teachers. Education Monthly, (1), 97–101.
Wang, G., & Wang, Z. (2023). Vocational education: A poor second choice? Oxford Review of Education, 408–427.
Wang, Y., Arshad, M. Z., & Arshad, D. (2025). Proactive eco-initiatives in healthcare. Acta Psychologica, 255, 104921.
Xu, Y. B., & Luo, L. (2022). Relationship between leadership behavior and class atmosphere (Doctoral dissertation, Jiangxi Normal University).
Xue, E., & Li, J. (2022). Exploring the type-based vocational education system. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1670–1680.
Zhang, Y. (2019). Transformational leadership behavior in higher education institutions. Management Observation, (16).
Zheng, Y. L. (2022). Motivation model for university teachers' job engagement. Technology and Industry, 21(4), 64–71.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 John Ouru Nyaegah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
