Gender, Leadership Styles, and Employee Turnover Intention: Case of Higher Education

Abstract

As Qatar University is moving towards a transformational strategy, it is critical to understand that bringing about effective change within the institution is in the hands of both leaders and followers. Therefore, it is necessary to retain as much talent as possible. The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between two polar opposite leadership styles (transformational and transactional), and voluntary employee turnover intention, while taking into account the composition of leader and follower gender. A quantitative research approach was utilized in which a sample of 200 administrative employees participated. Participants evaluated their direct supervisors using a multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ) and indicated their turnover intentions using the turnover intention scale (TIS-15). The analysis of the collected data was initially conducted on an aggregate level, were transformational and transactional leadership styles were used. Followed by a further analysis on the dimensions making up transformational and transactional leadership styles. The results revealed a negative relationship between both leadership styles and employee turnover intention. While, multi-grouping stepwise regression indicated a noteworthy difference in gender compositions. Despite the insights gained from the research, the study was limited as findings are not generalizable due to the nature of the study as its sole focus was on administrative employees within a single higher education institute. The results shed light on the relationship between leaders and followers,whereby leaders should be able to adjust between the dimensions of both leadership styles as to cater to gender compositions.