Leadership Style of the Faculty Deans on Academic Staff Professional Development in Nigerian Universities.

Abstract

The purpose of the paper was to determine the influence of transformational and transactional leadership styles of the deans on academic staff promotion and professional development. Three research questions guided this study which used a correlational design that involved 210 academic staff purposely chosen from three federal universities in Nigeria. Two instruments were used in the collection of data which was analyzed using correlational coefficient. Results revealed a significant positive relationship of deans' transformational leadership style on academic staff promotion and professional development. There was a very weak correlation of the dean's transactional leadership style on staff promotion but a positive correlation was obtained on professional development. A significant positive influence of faculties on staff promotion and professional development was observed. The paper concludes that universities require academic leaders who can execute their job with professionalism, honesty, discipline and uprightness in realizing institutions objectives with exceptional managerial competencies and leadership capacities. The paper suggests that the deans of faculties in Nigerian universities should utilize transformational and transactional leadership styles in their administration to ensure that staff commitment and job satisfaction are enhanced and sustained.