Date

5-20-2026

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Chair

Brittney Littrell

Keywords

leadership style, communication, job satisfaction, virtual teams, community college

Disciplines

Higher Education | Psychology

Abstract

Advances in technology enable the creation of virtual workspaces, allowing geographically dispersed virtual employees to collaborate in teams and complete tasks. We must understand the advantages and challenges that virtual teams encounter. This research examines the relationships among leadership styles, perceived effective communication, and job satisfaction within virtual teams, specifically in community colleges. Transformational, servant, and authentic leadership styles of virtual leaders in higher education were evaluated. Participants include full-time and part-time virtual faculty from community college institutions. Data was collected through online surveys. A quantitative correlation research design was employed to explore the experiences of virtual faculty working at a community college. Results of data collection and a correlational analysis indicated positive relationships amongst the independent and dependent variables. However, further regression analysis revealed issues of multicollinearity with both sets of variables. Therefore, results indicate that transformational leadership style is the strongest predictor of job satisfaction and authentic leadership style is the strongest predictor of perceived effective communication. This study investigates how leadership style affects perceived effective communication and job satisfaction in virtual community college settings. This research can help community colleges as they seek to hire the right leaders into virtual leadership roles.

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