Administrative leadership styles and educational outcomes in government-owned technical colleges: evidence from Lagos state, Nigeria
Abstract
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions depend on effective leadership to coordinate teaching, staff development, practical learning and alignment with labour-market requirements. This study examined the relationship between administrative leadership styles and educational outcomes in government-owned technical colleges in Lagos State, Nigeria. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used with 129 respondents comprising principals, vice principals, heads of department, heads of section, teachers and recent graduates. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analysed using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, Cronbach’s alpha, Pearson product-moment correlation and simple linear regression. Transformational leadership was identified as the predominant leadership style (110 respondents; 85.3%), followed by innovative (8.5%), democratic (4.7%), visionary (0.8%) and transactional (0.8%) leadership. Administrative leadership was positively associated with staff productivity (r = .662, p < .001), student academic performance (r = .670, p < .001) and student placement in employment or entrepreneurial activity (r = .596, p < .001). Simple regression indicated that leadership explained 43.8% of the variance in staff productivity, 44.8% in student performance and 35.5% in placement. The findings support the relevance of transformational and adaptive leadership practices in technical education, while also indicating the importance of participation, mentoring, professional development, industry partnerships and technology-supported teaching. Because the design was cross-sectional and based on self-reported perceptions, the results should be interpreted as statistically significant associations and predictive relationships rather than causal effects. The study recommends systematic leadership development, participatory governance, stronger industry linkages and evidence-based institutional reforms