1- Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran
2- Ph. D in Educational Administration, Department of Education, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran , m.razzaghi4673@gmail.com
Abstract: (6 Views)
Objective: In the dynamic environment of higher education, transformational leadership of university managers can play an important role in strengthening the psychological capabilities of faculty members and enhancing their professional performance. The present study was conducted with the aim of explaining faculty members’ job resilience and educational innovation based on transformational leadership of university managers with the mediating role of psychological capital.
Method: This study was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlational in terms of data collection method, based on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The statistical population consisted of all faculty members of Shahid Madani Azarbaijan University in the academic year 2025–2026, totaling 282 individuals. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan table, 163 participants were selected as the research sample using simple random sampling. To measure the research variables, the standard questionnaires of Bass and Avolio’s (2000) transformational leadership, Connor and Davidson’s (2003) job resilience, Johnson’s (2000) educational innovation, and Luthans, Youssef, and Avolio’s (2007) psychological capital were used. The face and content validity of the questionnaires were confirmed, and their reliability coefficients were estimated using Cronbach’s alpha as 0.86, 0.82, 0.88, and 0.91, respectively. Data analysis was conducted at two levels: descriptive and inferential statistics, using SPSS version 26 and PLS software.
Results: The results indicated that transformational leadership had a direct and positive effect on job resilience (β=0.30), educational innovation (β=0.35), and psychological capital (β=0.62). Furthermore, psychological capital had a direct and positive effect on job resilience (β=0.54) and educational innovation (β=0.48). In addition, the findings showed that psychological capital played a significant mediating role in the relationship between transformational leadership and job resilience (β=0.33) as well as educational innovation (β=0.30).
Conclusion: The findings revealed that transformational leadership of university managers has a significant effect on enhancing faculty members’ job resilience and educational innovation. Moreover, psychological capital, as a mediating variable, strengthens this effect and improves faculty members’ ability to cope with occupational challenges and provide innovative ideas in the teaching and learning process. Therefore, focusing on the development of transformational leadership behaviors among university managers and strengthening faculty members’ psychological capital can provide the foundation for improving educational quality and university effectiveness.
Type of article:
Research |
Subject:
Special Received: 2026/06/18 | Accepted: 2026/07/1 | ePublished ahead of print: 2026/08/7