Research On The Impact Of Paternalistic Leadership On Work Engagement Of University Teachers

Currently,Chinese education has entered a new stage of modernization and construction.In the context of vigorously improving the quality of higher education,university teachers,as the main bearers and backbone of teaching and research work,are directly involved in the cultivation of innovative,integrated and applied talents,as well as the development of the country and the progress of society.Therefore,exploring the factors influencing work engagement of university teachers and its mechanisms can offer a reference for formulating intervention policies to stimulate teachers’ work engagement.Based on social exchange theory and resource conservation theory,this study introduced paternalistic leadership,a leadership style rooted in China,as the independent variable to explore the influence mechanism of paternalistic leadership on work engagement of university teachers.By reviewing the literature of of paternalistic leadership,work engagement,job craft,work-family enrichment,and power distance,the current status and relationships among these variables were sorted out.The research model was constructed accordingly.Specifically,we explored the direct influence of paternalistic leadership on work engagement of university teachers;the mediating role of job craft and work-family enrichment between paternalistic leadership and work engagement;and the moderating role of power distance on job craft.A total of 209 valid samples were collected through a questionnaire survey of teachers in more than ten universities in Guangdong Province.The data were subjected to common method bias test,reliability and validity test,descriptive statistics,correlation analysis,and hypothesis test using SPSS21.0 and AMOS 26.0 statistical analysis software.The following conclusions were drawn:(1)Benevolent leadership and moral leadership had a significant positive effect on work engagement of university teachers,while authoritarian leadership did not have a significant predictive effect on work engagement of teachers.(2)Job craft and work-family enrichment mediated the relationship between benevolent leadership and work engagement in parallel.Specifically,the mediating effect of job craft in the relationship between benevolent leadership and work engagement accounted for 71.2% of the total effect;while the mediating effect of work-family enrichment accounted for19.06% of the total effect.(3)Job craft and work-family enrichment were mediated the relationship between moral leadership and work engagement in parallel similarly.Specifically,the mediating effect of job craft in the relationship between moral leadership and work engagement accounted for 55.14% of the total effect;while the mediating effect of work-family enrichment accounted for 14.63% of the total effect.(4)Power distance had a positive moderating effect on job craft,which in turn moderated the mediating effect of job craft in the relationship between benevolent leadership and work engagement.The same went for moral leadership.This study proposes recommendations for management practices in universities: strengthening managers’ awareness of benevolent and moral leadership,encouraging teachers’ job crafting behaviors,developing teachers’ work competence,caring for teachers’ physical and mental health,and implementing differential management for teachers with different power distance orientations.