Leadership in Higher Education: Systematic Review of Styles, Impacts, and Challenges (2015–2025)

Abstract

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) face increasing pressure to develop leadership capable of responding to complex contexts characterized by technological transformations, demands for educational quality, and social equity requirements. Despite sustained interest in academic leadership, the scientific literature remains conceptually and methodologically fragmented, limiting an integrated understanding of dominant leadership styles, their impacts, and emerging challenges. This study aimed to systematically analyze the scientific literature on leadership in higher education, identifying the main leadership styles, their effects on institutional and faculty outcomes, and the most relevant contextual challenges during the 2015–2025 period. A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, searching the Web of Science, Scopus, Scielo, Redalyc, Dialnet, and Google Scholar databases. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 20 articles were selected for qualitative synthesis. The findings reveal a predominance of transformational leadership, positively associated with faculty job satisfaction, institutional performance, pedagogical innovation, and change management. However, leadership effectiveness is conditioned by critical challenges such as digital transformation, gender gaps in leadership positions, and the need to strengthen equity, diversity, and inclusion policies. It is concluded that transformational leadership represents a strategic axis for HEI development, although it requires sustained institutional support through training and mentoring programs to address contemporary challenges.