This paper explores the effect of transformational leadership on student motivation through psychological empowerment. Transformational leadership is strongly linked to the motivation of the students. Psychological empowerment has a mediated significant impact on the student’s motivation. The COVID-19 (pandemic) is an extensive global health disaster of our time and one of the most significant challenges we have faced in 2020. The causal links between perceived transformational leadership and student motivation at several Chinese institutions were examined in this research. This research evaluated the role of psychological empowerment in mediating the relationship between transformational leadership and student motivation. This research used a survey to collect data from 350 foreign and domestic students in Chinese universities. Respondents were asked to answer questions from the 5-point Likert scale regarding transformational leadership, psychological empowerment, and student motivation. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS-23) macro process and AMOS-23 were used to analyze the model’s measurement for the findings. It was hypothesized to investigate if the connection between transformational leadership and the motivation of students was influenced through psychological empowerment. This research found that psychological empowerment mediated the effect of transformational leadership on the student’s motivation. Psychological empowerment of students is not only indispensable for improving student motivation but also mediates the connection between student motivation and transformative leadership. Implications and interpretations are also discussed for research.
Keywords: Transformational Leadership, psychological empowerment, student’s motivation
