Leading Against the Grain: How Power Distance Shapes Servant Leadership’s Impact on Academic Staff Job Satisfaction in Chinese Universities

Academic staff job satisfaction is critical for sustaining teaching quality, research productivity, and institutional development in Chinese higher education. Rising workloads and hierarchical administrative structures have raised concerns about declining job satisfaction among university academics. Although servant leadership is widely associated with positive employee outcomes, its effectiveness in high power-distance educational systems such as China remains underexplored. This study examines the relationship of servant leadership on academic staff job satisfaction in Chinese universities, with power distance as a moderating factor. Survey data were collected from 824 academic staff members across public universities in Beijing and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results indicate that servant leadership has a positive relationship with job satisfaction, but this relationship weakens at higher levels of power distance, suggesting that hierarchical cultural norms shape how leadership behaviors are perceived and enacted. The study contributes to China-focused education research by demonstrating that leadership effectiveness is culturally contingent rather than universally applicable. Practically, the findings emphasize the need for culturally responsive leadership development and institutional policies that promote participative practices, enhance academic staff well-being, and strengthen organizational effectiveness in Chinese higher education.