Developing Sustainable Leadership Practices in Saudi Arabian Universities: A Comparative Study between Public and National Universities

Abstract

This study examines sustainable leadership practices in Saudi Arabian universities, comparing public and national universities. A mixed-methods approach was employed, utilizing a questionnaire administered to 235 academic leaders (160 from public universities and 75 from national universities) and semi-structured interviews with 8 university vice presidents and deputies. The research identified key sustainable leadership practices and assessed their prevalence in both types of universities. Findings revealed that overall sustainable leadership practices were at a medium level in public universities (M=3.61, SD=0.57) and a high level in national universities (M=3.80, SD=0.50). Environmental contribution emerged as the top responsible factor in both sectors, while innovation and creativity stood as the least responsible factor. Significant differences were found between public and national universities in most dimensions, favoring national universities while there was no significant difference in social responsibility and environmental contribution made by both categories of universities. The study found out the following strategies that can build up, the practice of sustainable leadership, both sectors recognized the importance of training programs and performance evaluation standards. These findings provide important knowledge about sustainable leadership in higher education settings in the Saudi Arabian context and recommendations that can be useful to future research and practice for policymakers and university administrators to better develop sustainable leadership.