Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Educational Leadership Scale for Faculty Members: Insights From the Network Analysis Perspective

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Educational Leadership Scale for Faculty Members (ELSF) in Arabic. The scale was rigorously tested using both traditional methods—exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)—as well as advanced network techniques, including exploratory graph analysis (EGA) and centrality measures. The study sample consisted of 350 faculty members (56% male, 44% female) from various universities, with a mean age of 42.3 years (SD = 7.8). Participants represented a range of academic disciplines, and all were involved in educational leadership roles within their respective institutions. EFA revealed a five-factor structure that explained 68.4% of the total variance. CFA further confirmed the model's adequacy, with fit indices showing a good model fit (CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.06). The ELSF, comprising 22 items across these five dimensions, demonstrated strong internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.89. Additionally, EGA supported the factor structure identified by traditional methods, reinforcing the stability and consistency of the scale. Centrality measures highlighted Item 18 as the most influential, with betweenness, closeness and strength centrality scores of 0.45, 0.78 and 0.62, respectively, within the ‘Research-Ethical Leadership’ subscale. These findings affirm the ELSF's credibility as a robust tool for assessing educational leadership among faculty members. The scale's strong psychometric properties suggest it is well-suited for application in diverse academic settings, including potential use across Arabic-speaking countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Oman and Kuwait.