Academic Leadership Styles and Faculty Members’ Job Satisfaction at the King Saud University

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate and examine the relationship between academic leader department heads leadership styles and job satisfaction of full-time faculty members at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. Three-hundred eighteen academic leaders participated in a survey. The data were analyzed using linear regression. The dependent variable was Job Satisfaction and the independent variables were the Transformational Leadership Score, Transactional Leadership Score, and Laissez-Faire Leadership Score. Results show there is a statistically significant positive association between job satisfaction and the transformational leadership. There is a statistically smaller significant association between job satisfaction and transactional leadership. Laissez-faire Leadership reduces job satisfaction among faculty members. Keywords: Job Satisfaction, Leadership style, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia (KSA).