Pathways of Servant Leadership in Lecturers' Work Engagement and Innovative Behaviour
The Evidence From Chinese Higher Vocational Colleges
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21446554 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dan Hu (0000-0002-9391-8990, School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia), Lei Mee Thien (0000-0001-8626-9825, School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0141-8211 • E-ISSN: 1465-3435 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ejed.70506 |
| OpenAlex | W7128498408 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 45 |
As a positive leadership style, servant leadership draws attention to its role in motivating innovative behaviour and work engagement. Based on the self‐determination theory, this study focuses on validating servant leadership in the higher vocational college lecturers' work engagement and innovative behaviour. The link considered the mediating role of psychological empowerment and perceived organisational support, as well as the moderating effect of leader‐member exchange. The data were collected from 725 lecturers in Chinese higher vocational colleges. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results revealed that servant leadership positively affects lecturers' work engagement and innovative behaviour. The mediating effects of psychological empowerment and perceived organisational support, as well as the effect of leader‐member exchange, are all significant. This study provides new empirical evidence for Chinese higher vocational education reform, and presents theoretical and practical insights for future servant leadership research
Empirical research · Empowerment · Servant · Servant leadership · Structural equation modeling · Vocational education · Work (physics) · Work engagement · Educational Leadership and Innovation · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Workplace Spirituality and Leadership
Scale Development and Construct Clarification of Servant Leadership
Job demands, perceptions of effort‐reward fairness and innovative work behaviour
Burnout and Work Engagement of Academics in Higher Education Institutions: Effects of Dispositional Optimism
Perceived organizational support.
Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models
Exploring the communities of learning policy in New Zealand using social network analysis
The Measurement of Work Engagement With a Short Questionnaire
Determining Sample Size for Research Activities
Fostering Public Sector Employees’ Innovative Behavior
The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits
Servant leadership and academics' engagement in higher education
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |