A Structural Model of Servant Leadership, Teachers’ Job Participation, and Administrators’ Innovative Behavior at Liaoning University
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Abstract
Background and Aim: Higher education institutions in China are facing increasing pressure to enhance administrative effectiveness and innovation amid rapid organizational and technological change. Servant leadership, emphasizing service, empowerment, and ethical conduct, has been recognized as a leadership approach suited to academic contexts. However, empirical evidence regarding its influence on administrators’ innovative behavior, particularly through participatory mechanisms, remains limited. This study aims to examine the direct effect of servant leadership on administrators’ innovative behavior and to investigate the mediating role of teachers’ job participation at Liaoning University, China.
Materials and Methods: A quantitative research design was employed using survey data collected from 352 university administrators at Liaoning University in 2024. The research instrument measured servant leadership, teachers’ job participation, and administrators’ innovative behavior using five-point Likert-scale items. Data were analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to assess measurement validity and to test direct and indirect relationships among the variables.
Results: The CFA results indicated satisfactory construct validity and reliability. SEM analysis revealed that servant leadership had a significant positive direct effect on administrators’ innovative behavior (β = 0.28, p < .001). In addition, servant leadership significantly influenced teachers’ job participation (β = 0.61, p < .001), which in turn positively affected administrators’ innovative behavior (β = 0.52, p < .001). Mediation analysis confirmed that teachers’ job participation partially mediated the relationship between servant leadership and administrators’ innovative behavior, with a significant indirect effect (β = 0.32, p < .001). The overall model demonstrated good fit with the empirical data.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that servant leadership enhances administrators’ innovative behavior both directly and indirectly through teachers’ job participation. This partial mediation highlights the importance of combining servant-oriented leadership with participatory governance practices to foster innovation in higher education administration. Universities seeking to strengthen administrative innovation should promote servant leadership while actively encouraging teachers’ involvement in institutional decision-making and collaborative processes.
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