Exploring the Impact of Teaching Styles and Leadership Styles on Student Engagement in Higher Education Institutions in Sweden

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact leadership and teaching styles have on student engagement in higher education institutions in Sweden. Additionally, this study aims to examine how the Covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of digital technologies have impacted student engagement. Finally, we aim to provide recommendations for universities to enhance student engagement. Method: This thesis uses a qualitative method in the form of a case study and the primary data is collected through semi-structured interviews with a variety of students and teachers. To interpret and analyze the information we conducted a thematic analysis by coding all the necessary information.  Conclusion: It can be concluded that leadership styles and teaching styles significantly impact student engagement. Both the students and teachers showed that an interactive and variety of teaching methods in combination with feedback and an engaging leadership style keep the students motivated and engaged with their studies at university. Finally, the model related to student engagement seems to be relevant and provides a prompt visual representation that explains it rather accurately and is easy to understand.