Transformational leadership and the psychological empowerment of female leaders in Saudi higher education: an empirical study

Abstract

This study empirically investigates the correlation between leaders’ transformational leadership (TL) behaviors and subordinates’ psychological empowerment (PE) in Saudi universities. It also explores whether supervisors’ gender is associated with TL and PE. In this study, 154 female faculty members who hold leadership positions in Saudi universities rated the TL and PE behaviors of their direct supervisors using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire–5X and the Physiological Empowerment Questionnaire. The results indicate that TL is significantly correlated with PE. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between genders in implementing TL and PE practices. The findings suggest that universities should have more women in leadership positions and that various fundamental initiatives are needed to encourage further empowerment and development of female leaders.