Examining the relationship between humble leadership and organizational commitment in higher education institutions

The objective of this research is to examine the relationship between the perceptions of humble leadership among academic staff working in higher education institutions towards their managers and their levels of organizational commitment. Recent shifts in leadership approaches have led to an increased emphasis on people-oriented, participatory, and values-based leadership styles, particularly humble leadership. Conversely, organizational commitment is regarded as a strategic factor in terms of both institutional effectiveness and employee performance. In this context, the research analyzed the effects of humble leadership on the sub-dimensions of organizational commitment: moral commitment, self-interested commitment, and coerced commitment. Furthermore, the distinctive effects of the participants' demographic characteristics on these perceptions were also evaluated. The present study adopted a relational survey model and employed quantitative data collection methods. The study sample consisted of 476 academic staff members employed at three different state universities. The Modest Leadership Scale, adapted to Turkish by Kerse et al. (2021), and the Organizational Commitment Scale, translated into Turkish by Ergün and Çelik (2005), were utilized in the data collection process. The analysis was conducted using a variety of statistical methods, including descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlation analysis. The findings indicated a positive and moderate relationship between perceived humble leadership and moral commitment. Conversely, a negative and moderate relationship was identified between humble leadership and coercive commitment. The investigation yielded no statistically significant relationship between humble leadership and self-serving commitment. Furthermore, a substantial disparity was identified in leadership perception and organizational commitment levels based on specific demographic variables. The findings of the study reveal that humble leadership in higher education institutions is an effective leadership approach in increasing the organizational commitment of academic staff; accordingly, it indicates that university administrators need to review their leadership styles.