The relationship between instructor leadership styles and student motivation and academic performance in public universities of Amhara Regional State

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between instructors’ leadership styles and students’ academic performance and motivation in public universities in Ethiopia’s Amhara Regional State, guided by Bass and Avolio’s Full-Range Leadership Theory (FRLT). Despite the recognized importance of educational leadership, empirical research in this area is limited in Ethiopia. Using a correlational quantitative design, we surveyed 321 third-year undergraduate students from four public universities with a validated 44-item Likert-scale questionnaire. Pearson correlation analysis revealed strong, statistically significant associations between transformational leadership (r = .734, p < .01) and transactional leadership (r = .717, p < .01) with student motivation. Both leadership styles also exhibited moderate positive correlations with academic performance (r = .612 for transformational and r = .589 for transactional, p < .01). A significant correlation (r = .678, p < .01) between the two leadership styles indicates that instructors often blend these approaches. The findings suggest that both leadership styles independently enhance student motivation and academic performance, with transformational leadership having a marginally stronger effect. The study advocates for integrating both leadership approaches to meet diverse student needs and recommends including leadership training in faculty development programs to improve learning outcomes in resource-constrained environments.