The existing leadership style literature focuses mostly on private companies in western nations. In comparison, less studies on leadership styles have been conducted in higher education institutions in emerging countries such as Malaysia and China. Thus, there is a dearth of understanding about the preferred leadership styles in the public higher education sector among these countries.By applying in-depth interviews with 12 public higher vocational college teachers and group leaders in Zhejiang Province of China, this study analyzed qualitative data to propose strategies for improving leadership styles in higher vocational colleges of China.The participants primarily suggested improvement measures in the following areas: establishing effective communication mechanisms,fostering teamwork and innovation, optimizing decision-making processes and participatory practices, strengthening leadership training and assessment, and cultivating a strong team culture. Thus, the investigation of leadership style theories and practices offers valuable new perspectives for advancing the management practices of higher vocational colleges.
Lu, X., & Smith, R. (2020). Leadership in Chinese higher education and the influence of sociocultural constructs. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 1-19.https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2020.1768827
Settles, I. H., Brassel, S. T., Soranno, P. A., Cheruvelil, K. S., Montgomery, G. M., Elliott, K. C. (2019). Team climate mediates the effect of diversity on environmental science team satisfaction and data sharing. PLoS One 14:e0219196. doi: 10. 1371/journal.pone.0219196.
Du, J., Li, N. N., & Luo, Y. Y. (2020). authoritative Leadership in Organizational Change and Employees’ Active Reactions: Have-to and Willing-to Perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 3076.
Yue, C. (2023). Educational Administrators’ Leadership Styles and Teachers’ Organizational Commitment: Inputs for a Work Engagement Program. Open Journal of Leadership, 12, 352-373. doi: 10.4236/ojl.2023.123017.
Zhang, W., & Wang, Z. (2022). Role positioning of professional leaders of “double higher institutions”, Competency structure model and lifting path. Hei Bei Vocational Education, 06(06), 80–85.
Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American journal of theoretical and applied statistics, 5(1), 1-4.
Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful Sampling for Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis in Mixed Method Implementation Research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42(5), 533-544.
Hou, J., Wen, Z., & Cheng, Z. (2004). Structural Equation Modeling and Its Applications. Beijing: Educational Science Press.
Chen, W., Liu, J. J. (2015). Introduction to Social Research Methods, Beijing: Tsinghua University Press.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational leadership and organizational culture. Public administration quarterly, 112-121.
Hu, Y. Q.(2015). Educational and Psychological Research Methods. Xiangtan: Xiangtan University Press.
Hofstede, G.(1993). Cultural Constrains in Management Theories. Academy of Management Executive,7(1), pp.81-94.
Jabbar, R., Akmal, F., & Hassan, K. H. U. (2024). Exploring the Impact of Organizational Culture on Leadership Style in Higher Educational Institutions. Qlantic Journal of Social Sciences, 5(3), 109-124.
Burns, J. M.(1978).Leadership. Harper & Row, New York.
Bass, B. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, 18(3), pp.19-31.
Yu,Y., & Zhou, M. (2009). On the Approaches to Improving the Leadership of Primary School Principals. Shanghai Research on Education, (3), pp.74-75.
Wen, Z. (2023). Cultivation of Principals' Leadership in the New Era. Primary & Secondary School Administration, (3), pp.38-40.
Fullan, M. (2002). The change. Educational Leadership, 59(8), pp.16-20.
Klemsdal, L. (2025). Managing the Work Situation: A Phenomenological Approach to Organization and Management in a Complex World of Work. Taylor & Francis
Mo, Q., & Anis, S. N. M. (2025). A Qualitative Study on Different Types of Group Leader’s Leadership Style among Higher Vocational Colleges in Zhejiang Province of China. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 15(3), 2025–2034.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
