Leadership practices among Saudi female leaders in higher education : a focus on authentic transformational leadership

Abstract

Leadership literature suffers from a lack of indigenous perspectives and a heavy American and Western viewpoint. In a global world, with many cross-cultural interactions, it is important to contribute to diversity in research through more local perspectives, akin to ideas of glocalization and indigenization. With little research on educational leadership from the context of Saudi Arabia, its perspectives contribute to a broader understanding of leadership in different cultures.

The purpose of this study was to explore leadership practices among Saudi female leaders in public higher education based on authentic transformational leadership theory and the theoretical framework of The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®.

This thesis combined qualitative and quantitative research methods. Empirical data was collected from 6 semi-structured interviews and 7 questionnaires. A thematic narrative analysis method was used, which enabled rich descriptions and theorisation of the findings. The sample included Saudi female leaders from the following positions: vice-deans, heads, and supervisors.

Research findings reveal that the participants define their leadership practices in accordance with authentic transformational leadership and The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®. This particularly applies to the five practices in the following order: Model the Way, Encourage the Heart, Enable Others to Act, Inspire a Shared Vision and Challenge the Process. Participants describe authentic and admired leaders as honest and transparent, with firm core values and beliefs that confirm with their words and actions. In extension, the participants strive to embody these characteristics, indicating a conscious aim to align the core values and beliefs with their own practices. In addition, the findings endorse additional aspects to the theory in the Saudi context. Firstly, that values and actions in leadership practices are closely intertwined and influenced by Islam. Secondly, despite aspiring to lead exemplary and authentically, surrounding circumstances may hinder participants from implementing the preferred practices, resulting in risk-averse tendencies and less experimenting.

Finally, this study contributes to conceptualizing leadership practices and authentic transformational leadership theory in Saudi Arabia, by presenting a theoretical model that combines previous research with the new findings. Further research is suggested connected especially to organizational culture and its impact on authentic transformational leadership.