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The aim of this paper is to define what creative transformational leadership means in the context of higher education exploring some of the challenges and opportunities of being an educational leader in institutions which are internationalising and competing in a global market. The authors explore some previous studies which have suggested that ‘transformational leadership’ is the most effective model of leadership, especially in a business context, whereas many educational papers focus on ‘creative leadership’ This paper suggests that creative transformational leadership might be the ideal approach, analysing what constitutes creative transformational leadership from the perspective of higher education leaders and how they perceive these approaches using in-depth e-interviews. A sample of international academics was recruited from the authors’ professional online networks and an online link to a list of ten interview questions was emailed to participants. The sample consisted of Rectors, Vice Rectors, Deans, Heads of Departments and Heads of Programmes (Bachelors and Masters) in Higher Education. There were 28 respondents from 15 countries, but some of the academics were working in an institution in a country which was not their country of origin and several had experience of teaching in more than one country, so the sample was truly international. The findings reveal that the contextual dimension of leadership in higher education plays an important role, especially the rapidly changing social and technological environment, which affects both staff performance and student needs. Other challenges include institutional constraints and lack of resources. However, both the theoretical and empirical research suggest that creative transformational leadership could offer an important approach for the future of higher education in this dynamic, global environment.

This paper provides a review of the literature on the evaluation of two learning approaches in higher education: problem-based learning (PBL) and student-centred learning (SCL). We were interested in dissemination of these learning approaches in higher education in both developing and developed countries. We identified 47 experimental and quasi-experimental studies published before March 2020, from medical, engineering and other fields of higher education. Historically PBL has been mostly applied in medical, health and related disciplines. Over the years, PBL and SCL have been successfully applied in other disciplines as well. Articles on university policy-making and historical-analytical ones are included too. Around 70% of the articles have an experimental design. Sample sizes range from 15 to 1404 persons, including both students and tutors. Most of the studies report positive outcomes. We aimed to show whether PBL and SCL can be effectively applied in engineering and other fields worldwide (in both developing and developed countries), as many polytechnic and engineering universities are debating concerning new learning approaches. It is evident from the articles in the review that these approaches need to be adapted depending on the field of education and the initial conditions (evaluation rules, level of familiarisation with these approaches of students) in the university. Besides, most authors are interested in the modernisation of these approaches.