Academic educators' leadership styles and their associations with student engagement and critical thinking...

Educator leadership behaviors are widely recognized as an important component of the classroom environment and may be associated with student engagement and critical thinking disposition. In health sciences education, these competencies are fundamental to clinical reasoning and evidence-based decision-making. However, empirical evidence examining the associations among educator leadership styles, student engagement, and critical thinking disposition remains limited.

This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was conducted at a Saudi health sciences university. Quantitative data were collected from a stratified random sample of 351 undergraduate students across four health sciences colleges using the Leadership Style Questionnaire, the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale, and the University Student Engagement Inventory. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations, multiple linear regression, and bootstrapped cross-sectional indirect-effect analysis. Qualitative data were subsequently collected from 58 unique participants through 40 semi-structured interviews and four focus group discussions (28 participants, including 10 who also participated in interviews) and analyzed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis.

Students reported mean student engagement and critical thinking disposition scores above the scale midpoint. Democratic leadership demonstrated the strongest positive bivariate associations with student engagement (r = .363, p < .001) and critical thinking disposition (r = .402, p < .001), whereas laissez-faire leadership demonstrated comparatively weaker associations. In adjusted regression analyses, democratic leadership remained independently associated with student engagement (β = 0.39, p < .001) and critical thinking disposition (β = 0.15, p = .007), whereas laissez-faire leadership showed no statistically significant independent association with either outcome after adjustment for the remaining leadership styles. Bootstrapped indirect-effect analysis indicated that student engagement statistically accounted for part of the association between democratic leadership and critical thinking disposition. Qualitative findings converged with and expanded the quantitative results, with students describing participatory teaching behaviors, open dialogue, constructive questioning, collaborative learning, and clear instructional guidance as supporting engagement and reflective thinking.

Democratic educator leadership demonstrated the strongest positive associations with student engagement and critical thinking disposition. These findings suggest that participatory teaching approaches may represent valuable components of faculty development and educational practice. Longitudinal and multi-institutional studies are warranted to further examine the temporal relationships among educator leadership, student engagement, and critical thinking disposition.