Leadership Skills and Workplace Engagement among Academic Staff: Evidence from Public Universities in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Abstract

This‌ study investigates the relationship between university leader’s' skills and‌ academic staff workplace engagement within Ethiopian public universities. An explanatory‍ sequential mixed- method design, grounded in the pragmatism paradigm was employed. The quantitative data were collected from 48​8 academic staff among four public universities in the state of Amhara, Ethiopia,⁠ selected via multistage stratified sampling‌. Participants were completed validated surveys measuring​g leadership skills and workplace engagement. The quantitative data were analysed using inferential statistics and Structural⁠ Equation Modelling (SEM‍), and the qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis. The SEM results showed a solid, positive link between leadership skills and how engaged people are at work, with a coefficient of β=0.51. On the qualitative side, we found that support from leaders tends to be more reactive and sporadic, rather than being a consistent and proactive approach. This study makes a unique contribution by examining the leadership- engagement relationship in under-researched African higher Education context, employing a rigorous explanatory sequential design that integrates statistical testing with contextual qualitative insights. The study concludes with evidence-based recommendations for institutional transformation, including structured leadership development programs focused on consistent skill application, distributed leadership model, systematic support and recognition systems, and institutionalized continuous monitoring of engagement metrics.