Investigating the Moderating Role of Cultural Intelligence between Leadership Styles and Academic Engagement in Chinese Education

Abstract

Leadership behaviour plays a significant role in determining the academic activities of students. However, most of the studies are focused on administration rather than students. Furthermore, a small amount of research has been conducted concerning the impact of personal cultural capabilities on the connection between leadership and student engagement. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the moderating role of cultural intelligence between the five leadership styles and academic engagement.  This study adapted the quantitative cross-sectional survey design. Students in Chinese public universities who were reported to have teacher education programs participated in the study (n=358). The analysis of the relationships between the leadership styles, cultural intelligence, and academic engagement has been performed with the help of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). It is possible to state that transactional, transformational, and democratic leadership styles have a significant and positive impact on academic engagement, and transactional leadership demonstrates the most prominent one. On the contrary, laissez-faire and autocratic leadership forms have unfavourable impacts on engagement. Cultural intelligence does not anticipate academic engagement but moderates the impact of transformational, democratic, and laissez-faire leadership styles significantly. The results indicate the significance of the supportive and participative leadership practices in increasing the engagement of students. It shows that the cultural intelligence of students determines the impact of leadership behaviours on their learning outcomes within culturally diverse higher education settings.