Relationship between leadership styles and faculty job satisfaction in Taiwan

This was a descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaires. The main purposes of this study were to examine the nursing faculty's perceptions of nursing deans' and directors' leadership styles, and to understand how well the perceptions relate to faculty job satisfaction levels. The transformational leadership theory and a direct-effects model supported the research framework of this study. A random sampling technique was employed to collect data from 18 schools with nursing programs. A total of 400 questionnaires were mailed directly to the selected faculty members at the school address. A number of 286 questionnaires were returned, representing a 72.96% response rate. Findings indicated that Taiwanese nursing deans and directors tend to display transformational leadership more frequently than the transactional leadership and the laissez-faire in their workplace. In addition, Taiwanese nursing faculty members reported moderate levels of satisfaction in their jobs. Regardless of each school's organizational characteristics, nursing deans and directors performed transformational leadership more frequently than the transactional leadership and the laissez-faire. The contingent reward, passive management-by-exception, and individualized consideration leadership styles of nursing deans and directors were significant predictors of nursing faculty job satisfaction in Taiwan. This study helps pave a path for Taiwan's researchers to understand the importance of setting up a leadership training program for nursing leaders.