Actionable companion · Leadership practice and organizational learning

From leadership research to district action: Gender differences in perceptions of leadership and their influence on motivation among faculty members of Taif University

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide. Proposed district actions are separate from the original authors’ findings and recommendations. Independent peer review of this guide is not asserted.

Evidence and transfer

Education-related source: verify which participants, institutions and outcomes were actually studied before district adoption. Source publication type: research-article. License and identity checks do not establish study quality or causality.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the source license:

This study investigates gender differences in perceptions of leadership styles and their impact on faculty motivation at Taif University, Saudi Arabia, within the context of Islamic higher education. Utilizing a quantitative research method approach, the researcher gathered survey responses from 74 faculty members at Taif University. The investigation focused on three main areas: the significant gender differences in perceptions of leadership styles among faculty members at Taif University; the tendency of female faculty members to perceive transformational leadership styles more positively than their male counterparts; and the more favorable response of male faculty members to transactional leadership styles compared to female faculty members. The results of this study revealed significant gender differences, with female faculty members showing a preference for transformational leadership, while male faculty members responded more positively to transactional leadership. By adopting these findings, leaders at Taif University can participate positively on faculty members' motivation. In addition to that leadership practices can move toward sustainability, ensuring the continuous development of faculty, students, and resources. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of gender-based perceptions of leadership in an Islamic higher education setting and offer strategies for enhancing faculty motivation through tailored leadership approaches.

A 90-day district inquiry

1. Days 1–15 · Appraise. Read the source methods, recruitment, comparator, outcomes and limitations. Record how the study setting differs from your district and which claim the design can support.
2. Days 16–30 · Design. Choose one recurring leadership practice described in the source. Map its participants, incentives and constraints to a district setting, then design a small reversible staff pilot with an accountable owner. Agree participation, privacy protections, baseline and stopping rules before starting.
3. Days 31–60 · Observe. Collect the pre-agreed measures, keep a log of implementation changes and invite confidential voluntary feedback. Preserve existing support for staff and learners.
4. Days 61–90 · Decide. Record implementation fidelity, staff review time, task quality and unintended burdens against a baseline. Use a comparison team where feasible and document alternative explanations before expanding. Make a dated decision to stop, revise or extend the inquiry.

Board decision brief

Present the local problem, source setting, evidence limits, intervention, responsible owner, total cost, measured changes and uncertainty. Separate staff perceptions, implementation measures and student learning outcomes.

Attribution and reuse

Fawziah B. Alharthi. Gender differences in perceptions of leadership and their influence on motivation among faculty members of Taif University. Frontiers in Psychology (2024-11-14). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1476526

Prepared 2026-11-07. Source authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract and source passages are attributed extracts; this editorial guide is offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license.