Abstract

MELO ROJAS, Gina Marcela  and  HERNANDEZ HERRERA, Claudia Alejandra. University students and their perceptions regarding the leadership exercised by management personnel. RIDE. Rev. Iberoam. Investig. Desarro. Educ [online]. 2023, vol.14, n.27, e519.  Epub Oct 27, 2023. ISSN 2007-7467.  https://doi.org/10.23913/ride.v14i27.1571.

The objective of the present work is to analyze the perceptions of the students in relation to the types of transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership, to determine the type of leadership that prevails in an academic unit of higher education at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional of Mexico. A quantitative study was carried out using a non-probabilistic sample, where 796 students from six academic programs participated. The data was obtained through the CELID questionnaire and was analyzed using the SPSS software; exploratory factorial analysis and the Kruskal-Wallis test were applied. It was found that the most prevalent leadership in the academic unit was laissez-faire, followed by transactional leadership and, finally, transformational. Additionally, in relation to transformational leadership, young people gave low marks to pride, respect and trust towards the work of management personnel. Likewise, there was evidence of insufficient training, lack of motivation and, therefore, a very low culture related to success. In turn, in relation to transactional leadership, it was evidenced that the authorities avoid making changes to what is established. Regarding laissez-faire leadership, deficiencies were found in communication and in the ways to locate managers. It is concluded that it is necessary to implement actions to increase the credibility and confidence in the leaders of that academic unit, together with the development of intensive training programs for leaders for future management.

Keywords : Leadership styles; higher education institutions; students; managers; followers.