Humble Leadership and Personality Traits in Academic Leaders: A Pathway to Curriculum Co-Creation in UK Higher Education

Abstract: Leadership is a critical factor in how individuals work toward achieving organizational objectives. It is widely acknowledged that leaders in Higher Education (HE) face unique challenges and perform distinct roles compared to their counterparts in the corporate world. As a result, Higher Education is beginning to rethink their traditional approach to managing institution and a call for student to engage in the designing process. Humble leadership is instrumental in reaching these goals. This paper explores the impact of personality traits and humble leadership on team effectiveness, specifically among leaders in Higher Education and examines how the curriculum in UK higher education can be co-created. The study employs a mixed method research design through surveys and focus group, aiming to describe and explain the current state of leadership by evaluating the spectrum of humility and personality traits in this context. A total of 30 respondents were targeted through convenience and purposive sampling techniques, with a response rate of 77%, sufficient for drawing conclusions and generalizing findings. The results indicate that subordinates strongly agree that their leaders demonstrate humility. Furthermore, the study examines the personality traits of these leaders, revealing that those with low levels of neuroticism are less affected by negative feedback or criticism and are better equipped to handle challenges and setbacks with greater adaptability. Spearman’s rho correlation (0.749) shows a strong positive link between student engagement and satisfaction (p = 0.001), indicating higher engagement leads to greater satisfaction. Consequently, the study concludes and recommends that humble leadership and positive personality traits, particularly agreeableness and openness, among university staff significantly contribute to enhanced team effectiveness. Rich qualitative data were collected from the same group of surveyed participants through a focus group session involving three (3) university staff members, two (2) students, and two (2) employability experts. This session was conducted as part of a co-creation process aimed at developing a learning curriculum. Key themes identified through thematic mapping during the session included skill gaps between what students learn in school and what is required by the industry, technology advancements such as ChatGPT in writing essay, student needs as they are viewed as active participants rather than passive recipients of education, employability among others. Curriculum co-creation between university staff, student and industry voice has become increasingly popular in recent years. The author research indicates that curriculum co-creation has the potential to bring together diverse perspectives and expertise to address complex social issues, generate innovative solutions, and foster mutual learning and knowledge exchange.