Teachers’ perceptions of female principals’ leadership styles in basic education schools: an Omani perspective

Despite extensive research on educational leadership, studies examining female leadership in basic education schools within Oman remain limited particularly regarding its impact on teachers and school climate. Addressing this gap is crucial to inform leadership development and policy strategies in the context of Oman’s Vision 2040. This quantitative study seeks to identify the predominant leadership style of principals in basic education schools in the Sultanate of Oman from the teachers’ perspective.

It aims to examine its impact on teachers and assess the magnitude of its effect on educational performance and teacher outcomes. A questionnaire was administered to 202 female teachers using the convenience sampling method. The study applied the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), which consisted of four main dimensions: transformational leadership, transactional leadership, passive/avoidant leadership, and leadership outcomes.

Cronbach’s alpha showed good reliability, and Pearson correlations coefficients fell within acceptable limits. SPSS was used to compute means, standard deviations, one-way ANOVA, and Eta analyses. The results revealed that transformational leadership is the prevailing style, with high scores in expected leadership outcomes.

Additionally, the findings indicated a significant effect of leadership styles on teachers, highlighting the central role of school principals in enhancing teacher performance and fostering a positive learning environment. Based on these findings, the study recommends strengthening the adoption of transformational leadership among female school leaders and supporting training programs to develop leadership skills effectively. The research presented in this article received no funding from any agency or institution.

Colleg of Education, Department of Foundation and educational Administration, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman Fathi M. Abunaser & Maryam Khamis Rashid Al-Muzahimi Correspondence to Fathi M. Abunaser or Maryam Khamis Rashid Al-Muzahimi.

The authors declare no competing interests. This research received ethical approval from the Research Ethics Committee in Sultan Qaboos University (Ref No. REAAF/EDU/DEFA/2025/8) on March 20, 2025.