Leadership, Talent Management and Innovation in Higher Education

This study examines how leadership influences innovative work behavior among faculty in higher education, with particular attention to the mediating role of talent management and the moderating effects of gender and teaching experience. Adopting a quantitative research design, data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 429 faculty members working in six TVET universities. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to ensure representative participation across academic ranks and disciplinary areas. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships, while bootstrapping procedures assessed mediation effects and multigroup analysis examined moderation. The findings indicate that transformational leadership directly enhances innovative work behavior and strongly predicts faculty perceptions of talent management practices. Talent management, in turn, exerts a significant positive effect on innovative work behavior and partially mediates the leadership–innovation relationship. Moreover, the results reveal that gender and teaching experience condition several structural paths, suggesting that leadership and talent practices are experienced differently across faculty groups. These findings underscore the importance of leadership-driven talent management systems in fostering innovation while highlighting the need for more differentiated and inclusive approaches to faculty development. By integrating mediation and moderation perspectives, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of how leadership shapes innovation within higher education as a social and organizational process. Received: 19 December 2025 / Accepted: 31 January 2026 / Published: March 2026

Higher education · Mediation · Moderated mediation · Moderation · Perception · Structural equation modeling · Talent Management · Transformational leadership · Human Resource and Talent Management · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Organizational Leadership and Management Strategies