Vocational administrator leadership effectiveness as a function of gender and leadership style

The purpose of this research was (a) to identify the degree to which vocational administrators use perceived transformational, transactional, and laissez faire leadership styles, and (b) to determine if the leadership behaviors differed between male and female vocational administrators. The research also sought to determine which administrator characteristics could best predict perceived leadership effectiveness.

The target population consisted of vocational administrators in Virginia and vocational teachers (raters) selected by each administrator to participate. From an accessible population of 134 administrators, 101 administrator responses and 260 usable rater responses provided data for statistical analyses which included Pearson product-moment correlations, t-tests, and stepwise multiple regression.

Data were collected using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) Form 5X developed by Bass and Avolio (1991). Two parallel rating forms were used: self and rater. Demographic information was collected from each administrator to provide a descriptive profile of the participating administrators.

Correlational analyses revealed that subscale items for transformational leadership (attributed charisma, idealized influence, inspirational leadership, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration) were significantly related to perceived leadership effectiveness for both self-ratings and raters (others). Transactional subscales had lower correlations with leader effectiveness. A significant relationship was revealed between the transactional subscale items of contingent reward and management-by-exception-passive with effectiveness, with management-by-exception-passive having a negative correlation. The intercorrelations of subscale items were positive for both transformational and transactional leadership styles.

The t-test analyses for self-ratings revealed Significant differences for intellectual stimulation and effectiveness between male and female administrators. The t-test analyses of rater (other) data revealed no significant differences by gender.

Multiple regression analysis provided the following prediction equations: (1) Self-perceived effectiveness was best predicted by the gender and transformational leadership variables, and (2) Rater-perceived effectiveness was best predicted by transformational leadership.