The role of servant leadership in career optimism of Saudi employees in universities

Author: Seyaf ALOMAR

  • Thesis download: available for open access on 3 Oct 2027.

ALOMAR, Seyaf , 2024 The role of servant leadership in career optimism of Saudi employees in universities, Flinders University, College of Business, Government and Law

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Abstract

The study is important because it explores the entire impact of servant leadership on the career optimism of Saudi Employees that contribute to positive career outlooks and professional development in the region of Saudi Arabia. This mixed methods thesis focused on Regression and thematic analysis for data analysis and provide a structured framework for data interpretation. A sample of 286 responses were selected for the analysis, while 22 respondents participated in semi-structured interviews. The population sample was the employees working in the Universities of Saudi Arabia. Preliminary results identify that servant leadership is a highly positive predictor of career optimism. These results highlight the significant impact that leadership style has on employees' perceptions of their career paths.

By exploring this connection further, research has shown that servant leadership and career exploration simultaneously contribute significantly to career optimism. Career exploration is considered to play a partially mediating, albeit influential, role in Universities of Saudi Arabia. The contribution of this study is effective for the Saudi based Universities through which they can strengthen their servant leadership mechanism to have proper career optimism within their premises. The new contribution of this study in the literature is to add the blend of Saudi context in the previous studies that were merely focused on the European and American side. Moreover, the focus specifically on the Universities instead of organizations is instead a valuable contribution in the previous literature, as it was not evaluated thoroughly before.

Keywords: Servant leadership, career optimism, Saudi employees

Subject: Education thesis

Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2024
School: College of Business, Government and Law
Supervisor: Adela McMurry