Lecturers' commitment to teaching entrepreneurship: do transformational leadership, mindfulness and readiness for change matter?

• Published in: Journal of applied research in higher education 2021-01, Vol.13 (1), p.164-179
• Main Authors: Yeap, Sock Beei, Abdullah, Abdul Ghani Kanesan, Thien, Lei Mee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; College professors; Communication Skills; Communities of Practice; Departments; Educational Change; Educational Practices; Employees; Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurship education; Epistemology; Group Structure; Higher Education; Institutional Mission; Intention; Interpersonal Relationship; Job Performance; Job Satisfaction; Leaders; Leadership; Leadership Qualities; Literature Reviews; Principals; Professional Training; Resistance to Change; Self Efficacy; Structural equation modeling; Students; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Transformational Leadership
• ISSN: 2050-7003; 1758-1184
• DOI: 10.1108/JARHE-12-2019-0311

PurposeThis study aims to examine the influence of transformational leadership and mindfulness on lecturers' commitment to teaching entrepreneurship with mediating effect of readiness for change in polytechnics.Design/methodology/approachThe study used the cross-sectional survey method. The sample participants were 171 lecturers from polytechnics. Data were analysed by using partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach.FindingsFindings indicated that readiness for change mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and commitment to teaching entrepreneurship. Transformational leadership and mindfulness had no significant influence on commitment to teaching entrepreneurship. Readiness for change did not mediate the relationship between mindfulness and commitment to teaching entrepreneurship.Practical implicationsHigher education should be aware of the importance of lecturers' readiness for change. This is because readiness for change is the mediator of the relationship between transformational leadership and commitment to teaching entrepreneurship.Originality/valueThe study sheds light on the explanation of mediating effect of readiness for change to influence the relationship between transformational leadership and lecturers' commitment to teaching entrepreneurship in the Malaysian polytechnic context.