| SMART JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT STUDIES |
VOL. 22 |
NO. 2 |
PAPER 8 |
DOI: 10.34293/2321-2012.2026.0002.8 |
CROSS-NATIONAL AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN LEADERSHIP ORIENTATIONS AND SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA |
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| Ahmad Fadhly Arham*, Nor Sabrena Norizan*, Nornajihah Nadia Hasbullah**, Agustan Syamsuddin*** and Ahmad Firdhaus Arham**** |
| * Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Melaka, Malaysia Center of Vision, Algorithm and Management Analytics (C-VAMA), Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
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| ** Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Sabah, Malaysia |
| *** Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar, Indonesia
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| **** Pusat Pengajian Citra Universiti, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
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| Grounded in the transformational and self-determination theory, this study examined crossnational and gender perspectives on leadership styles and self-directed learning (SDL), among university students in Malaysia and Indonesia. As the workforce is becoming more challenging and diverse, future leaders are expected to build on their character and leadership and become more self-driven and self-disciplined. Based on quota sampling, data were collected among 421 students in Malaysia and Indonesia. Inferential analyses were performed to identify any significant differences in the mean scores of different leadership styles and self-directed learning across gender and countries. The findings indicated that Malaysian students scored significantly higher than their Indonesian peers, on both people orientation and transformational leadership. An analysis of gender revealed that the national context did play a more significant role in shaping leadership qualities than gender itself. Comparisons between males and females within the same country showed no significant differences, aligning with past research which suggests that gender gaps in higher education in Asia are less pronounced when leadership opportunities are equally provided. However, Malaysian females did demonstrate a notable advantage over their Indonesian counterparts in transformational leadership. These findings underscore practical implications for higher education leadership programmes in diverse settings. |
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