Gauging the leadership roles of higher education leaders in advancing quality imperatives via structural equation modelling

Abstract

This study examines the leadership roles of operational-level leaders in navigating quality imperatives, involving 1,029 academic staff from three public universities in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was employed, and data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS-4. Although current quality assurance practices remain misaligned with these imperatives, the study confirms that leaders play a crucial role in navigating them. Findings also demonstrate the importance of leadership in integrating quality imperatives to underpin quality improvement across higher education institutions. The study highlights the need to challenge top-down quality assurance models and foster distributed, participatory leadership cultures. It introduces a quality imperative inventory capturing four leadership dimensions that offer both a conceptual framework and a practical tool for linking leadership practices with context-specific and international demands. The study presents a leadership model that embeds quality imperatives into leadership practices, enabling institutions to shift from compliance-driven quality assurance systems to sustainable, inclusive, and trust-based quality cultures, positioning quality as an institutional value rather than an externally imposed requirement. This model provides theoretical insight and practical guidance for sustainable quality improvement in national and global higher education landscapes. Recommendations include empowering leaders, integrating the four imperatives into existing quality assurance systems, reviewing leadership policies, and advancing research through cross-national, longitudinal, and stakeholder-inclusive approaches.