Towards creative transformational leadership in higher education: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to define what creative transformational leadership means in the context of higher education exploring some of the challenges and opportunities of being an educational leader in institutions which are internationalising and competing in a global market. The authors explore some previous studies which have suggested that ?transformational leadership? is the most effective model of leadership, especially in a business context, whereas many educational papers focus on ?creative leadership? This paper suggests that creative transformational leadership might be the ideal approach, analysing what constitutes creative transformational leadership from the perspective of higher education leaders and how they perceive these approaches using in-depth e-interviews. A sample of international academics was recruited from the authors? professional online networks and an online link to a list of ten interview questions was emailed to participants. The sample consisted of Rectors, Vice Rectors, Deans, Heads of Departments and Heads of Programmes (Bachelors and Masters) in Higher Education. There were 28 respondents from 15 countries, but some of the academics were working in an institution in a country which was not their country of origin and several had experience of teaching in more than one country, so the sample was truly international. The findings reveal that the contextual dimension of leadership in higher education plays an important role, especially the rapidly changing social and technological environment, which affects both staff performance and student needs. Other challenges include institutional constraints and lack of resources. However, both the theoretical and empirical research suggest that creative transformational leadership could offer an important approach for the future of higher education in this dynamic, global environment.