THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP STYLES AND THE MOTIVATION OF HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS BY GENDER IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between leadership styles and the motivation of high school teachers by gender in Saudi Arabia. This study focused specifically on high school teachers. There were 271 respondents, the first purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the different leadership styles and intrinsic versus extrinsic work motivation of teachers. This was achieved through two multiple linear regressions; one with intrinsic motivation as the dependent variable, and one with extrinsic motivation as the dependent variable. Each regression had the three leadership styles as independent variables. Another purpose of this study was to determine whether the relationship between leadership styles and work motivation differs by the gender of the teacher. This was achieved through conducting the same two multiple linear regression analyses as above, but this time interactions were computed between each leadership style and gender. The two regression models were run with each including the three leadership styles, the gender, and the interactions between each leadership style and gender as an independent variable were used to analyze the results. The results show that there is a significant relationship between the transactional and transformational leadership styles and the intrinsic work motivation. Also, the results indicate that there was not a significant relationship between gender and intrinsic work motivation among teachers. Finally, the results of this study support the need for further research, because intrinsic and extrinsic factors are important to motivate teachers in Saudi Arabia. The school management should implement a leadership style that inspires, motivates, and encourages teachers to perform well at their jobs. There needs to be a focus on teacher and leader development, collaborative approaches, and organizational theory. Teacher training programs should be aligned with school initiatives and policies to ensure there is consistency with the implementation of the leadership practices.