Impact of Female Gender Leadership on Staff Engagement in Colleges of Education in Nigeria

Gender stereotype affects institutional dynamics and gendered disparities as well as staff engagement. Underrepresentation of women in managerial roles can impact staff engagement, and this issue is understudied, especially in developing economies like Nigeria. There is a necessity to study this phenomenon in the context of Nigerian colleges of education. It is based on this assumption that the study set out to examine the impact of female gender leadership on staff engagement in Nigerian colleges of education. The study employed a quantitative methodology for gathering data, and a simple random sampling method was employed to prevent sample bias. The collated data was analysed using the hierarchical regression estimation method. Also, the researcher used Cronbach’s alpha and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for reliability and validity tests, respectively. The model estimations revealed that female gender perceptions, female gender restrictions, female gender demands, and female gender representation had positive and significant impacts on employee engagement in colleges of education in Nigeria. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient showed high reliability for all scale items, and the KMO and Bartlett’s tests confirmed sample adequacy and goodness-of-fit. In line with work engagement theory, the study concluded that female gender leadership contributes significantly to employee engagement, with authentic, collaborative and supportive leadership fostering employee engagement. The study highlights the practical policy implications following the findings of the study.