LEADERSHIP STYLE AND JOB SATISFACTION OF ACADEMIC STAFF IN SRI LANKAN STATE UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between leadership styles (Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles) and the job satisfaction of permanent academic staff of the Sri Lankan state universities. Leadership styles have a stronger effect on the attitude of employees towards their job satisfaction. The role of the leaders in today’s higher education institutes has changed, and the success of any sector relies on the leadership styles practised by the leaders. This study adopted a quantitative research approach, and the academic staff members in the management faculties of the state universities in Sri Lanka were considered the sample. Initially, a self-administrated questionnaire was distributed among all 860 academic staff members in management faculties. However, the final sample was 200 academic staff members of management faculties in Sri Lankan state universities. The multiple regression analysis was performed to test the hypothesis and make inferences. The findings revealed that the transformational leadership style has a significant positive impact on job satisfaction, whereas the transactional leadership style has no significant impact on the job satisfaction of academic staff members in the Sri Lanka state universities. This study covers the area which lacks academic research, the impact of the leadership style on the job satisfaction of academics. The study results may contribute to social change by making academics aware of the effective leadership style that promotes higher job satisfaction among university academic staff.