Transformational leadership competency: a cross-sectional study of medical university graduates in China

Figures & data

Table 1. General characteristics and statistics among groups of 851 medical graduates in Capital Medical University studied in 2020–2021.

Category/variable	N (percentage /%)	SRLS		EILI		SLPI
		Mean (SD)	t or F/P	Mean (SD)	t or F/P	Mean (SD)	t or F/P
Demographic characteristics
Gender (F vs. M)			0.26/0.80		0.79/0.43		0.11/0.92
Male	287 (33.73)	278.70 (36.49)		100.0 (15.87)		126.06 (20.24)
Female	564 (66.27)	278.06 (33.85)		99.13 (14.99)		125.91 (18.98)
Household registration district (R vs. U)			1.62/0.11		1.74/0.08		1.46/0.15
Urban area	575 (67.57)	279.61 (34.35)		100.04 (15.51)		126.63 (19.51)
Rural area	276 (32.43)	275.49 (35.45)		98.13 (14.76)		124.57 (19.13)
Grade (F vs. S)			−1.38/0.17		−0.26/0.79		0.32/0.75
Senior	277 (32.55)	275.90 (36.51)		99.22 (15.82)		126.27 (20.20)
Freshmen	574 (67.45)	279.42 (33.83)		99.51 (15.74)		125.82 (19.02)
The only child (Y vs. N)			1.88/0.06		1.56/0.12		1.20/0.23
Yes	461 (54.17)	280.32 (36.23)		100.17 (16.09)		126.69 (20.38)
No	390 (45.83)	275.85 (32.77)		98.54 (14.25)		125.11 (18.17)
Degree level (D vs. M)			−1.02/0.31		−1.26/0.21		−1.63/0.10
Master	599 (70.39)	277.49 (34.46)		99.00 (15.42)		125.26 (19.30)
Doctor	252 (29.61)	280.14 (35.39)		100.44 (14.94)		127.63 (19.57)
Degree category (P vs. S)			1.40/0.16		0.67/0.51		1.04/0.30
Scientific degree	247 (29.02)	280.87 (35.98)		99.97 (15.98)		127.04 (20.14)
Professional degree	604 (70.98)	277.21 (34.19)		99.19 (15.91)		125.52 (19.09)
Political party members (Y vs. N)			2.26/0.02*		0.73/0.47		0.43/0.67
Yes	245 (28.79)	282.49 (31.86)		100.02 (15.23)		126.42 (18.94)
No	606 (71.21)	276.57 (35.73)		99.18 (15.32)		125.78 (19.60)
Social activities
Organizational involvement
Student cadre (Y vs. N)			6.61/<0.001*		6.34/<0.001*		5.30/<0.001*
Yes	488 (57.34)	285.09 (34.63)		102.32 (13.25)		129.06 (16.84)
No	363 (42.66)	269.10 (37.78)		95.52 (16.92)		121.80 (21.73)
Position (secretary as baseline)			3.13/0.045*		3.45/0.03*		0.89/0.41
Secretary	359 (73.56)	283.03 (36.76)		101.44 (13.97)		128.48 (16.72)
Chairman	77 (15.78)	291.35 (31.77)		105.67 (14.53)		131.19 (18.10)
Clerkship	52 (10.66)	290.03 (27.89)	0.03^#	103.38 (12.67)	0.01^#	129.90 (15.78)
Duration of act as student cadre (<1 semester as baseline)			9.02/<0.001*		5.24/0.01*		4.10/0.02*
<1 semester	57 (11.68)	280.53 (32.42)		101.91 (13.36)		128.44 (17.15)
1–2 semesters	203 (41.6)	279.44 (32.99)		100.21 (13.65)		126.71 (16.55)
Longer than 2 semesters	228 (46.72)	291.27 (26.62)	0.02*/<0.001^#	104.30 (12.59)	0.001^#	131.31 (16.80)	0.01^#
Join student organizations (Y vs. N)			7.72/<0.001*		6.42/<0.001*		5.62/<0.001*
Yes	337 (39.60)	288.81 (29.35)		103.32 (13.14)		130.31 (16.66)
No	514 (60.40)	271.36 (36.26)		96.86 (16.45)		123.11 (20.53)
Social/community involvement
Social practice (Y vs. N)			4.14/<0.001*		3.99/<0.001*		3.64/<0.001*
Yes	750 (88.13)	280.47 (32.84)		100.35 (14.48)		127.03 (18.46)
No	101 (11.87)	261.94 (43.31)		92.50 (19.52)		118.02 (23.97)
Voluntary service (Y vs. N)			3.89/<0.001*		3.99/<0.001*		3.42/0.001*
Yes	748 (87.90)	280.31 (33.11)		100.37 (14.45)		126.98 (18.50)
No	103 (12.10)	263.49 (42.15)		92.56 (19.11)		118.61 (23.84)
Part-time job (Y vs. N)			2.17/0.03*		1.89/0.06		2.69/0.01*
Yes	481 (56.52)	280.54 (32.64)		100.30 (14.36)		100.30 (14.36)
No	370 (43.48)	275.33 (37.14)		98.27 (16.43)		98.27 (16.43)
Leadership knowledge learning
Leadership curricula (Y vs. N)			1.71/0.09		1.15/0.25		1.14/0.26
Yes	59 (6.93)	285.71 (33.21)		101.63 (14.93)		128.73 (18.49)
No	792 (93.07)	277.72 (34.81)		99.26 (15.31)		125.76 (19.46)
Training for student cadres (Y vs. N)			2.28/0.02*		2.77/0.01*		2.27/0.02*
Yes	130 (26.64)	290.30 (28.66)		105.06 (12.42)		131.92 (16.49)
No	358 (73.36)	283.20 (31.14)		101.33 (13.41)		128.03 (16.87)
Lectures on leadership (Y vs. N)			5.66/<0.001*		5.30/<0.001*		4.69/<0.001*
Yes	181 (21.27)	291.01 (37.81)		104.68 (13.65)		131.90 (16.96)
No	670 (78.73)	274.83 (34.96)		98.00 (15.42)		124.36 (19.72)

^* Indicates comparison to baseline, p < 0.05; ^#Indicates from up to down in the same group, last vs. middle, p < 0.05. Statistically significant differences in the scores of the three scales between different groups are presented in Supplemental Table 1.

Table 2. Univariate logistic regression results of 851 medical graduates in Capital Medical University studied in 2020–2021.

Variable	SRLS		EILI		SLPI
	OR (95% CI)	p	OR (95% CI)	p	OR (95% CI)	p
Demographic characteristics
Gender (F vs. M)	0.78 (0.51–1.19)	0.24	0.78 (0.59–1.05)	0.10	0.83 (0.62–1.10)	0.19
Household registration district (R vs. U)	1.41 (0.88–2.24)	0.15	1.41 (1.04–1.90)	0.03*	1.35 (1.01–1.80)	0.04*
Grade (F vs. S)	1.14 (0.73–1.78)	0.57	0.86 (0.64–1.15)	0.30	1.03 (0.77–1.37)	0.86
The only child (Y vs. N)	0.54 (0.35–0.84)	0.01*	0.69 (0.53–0.92)	0.01*	0.81 (0.62–1.06)	0.13
Degree level (D vs. M)	1.03 (0.65–1.62)	0.91	0.75 (0.55–1.01)	0.06	0.72 (0.54–0.97)	0.03*
Degree category (P vs. S)	1.11 (0.70–1.76)	0.66	0.82 (0.61–1.11)	0.20	0.78 (0.58–1.05)	0.10
Political party members (Y vs. N)	1.32 (0.85–2.04)	0.22	1.08 (0.79–1.46)	0.64	0.97 (0.72–1.31)	0.84
Social activities
Organizational involvement
Student cadre	1.95 (1.25–3.06)	0.01*	1.71 (1.28–2.27)	<0.001*	1.74 (1.32–2.29)	<0.001*
Position (chairman as baseline)	0.98 (0.40–2.40)	0.97	0.62 (0.31–1.27)	0.19	0.58 (0.29–1.20)	0.14
Duration of act as student cadre (1–2 semesters as baseline)	1.21 (0.71–2.06)	0.48	1.46 (1.00–2.14)	0.05	1.75 (1.19–2.56)	0.01*
Join student organizations (Y vs. N)	2.27 (1.49–3.44)	<0.001*	1.87 (1.41–2.48)	<0.001*	1.73 (1.31–2.29)	<0.001*
Social/community involvement
Social practice (Y vs. N)	3.69 (1.33–10.25)	0.01*	1.79 (1.12–2.84)	0.01*	1.76 (1.14–2.72)	0.01*
Voluntary service (Y vs. N)	2.96 (1.17–7.44)	0.02*	1.84 (1.16–2.93)	0.01*	1.74 (1.13–2.67)	0.01*
Part-time job (Y vs. N)	1.30 (0.85–1.99)	0.22	1.19 (0.90–1.57)	0.23	1.18 (0.90–1.55)	0.23
Leadership knowledge learning
Leadership curriculum (Y vs. N)	1.34 (0.64–2.81)	0.44	1.52 (0.90–2.59)	0.12	1.49 (0.88–2.54)	0.14
Training for student cadres (Y vs. N)	1.54 (0.90–2.62)	0.11	1.45 (0.97–2.17)	0.07	1.45 (0.97–2.18)	0.07
Lectures on leadership (Y vs. N)	2.12 (1.36–3.32)	0.001*	2.20 (1.58–3.08)	<0.001*	2.13 (1.52–2.98)	<0.001*

The univariate logistic regression analysis picked up factors for multiple factor logistic regression, cut off value equals to p < 0.05, indicated as ‘*’ in Table 2. For the duration of act as student cadre variable, after comparison, we concluded the model was better if we rule it out.

Table 3. Multivariate logistic regression results of 851 medical graduates in Capital Medical University studied in 2020–2021.

Variable	SRLS		EILI		SLPI
	OR (95% CI)	B/p	OR (95% CI)	B/p	OR (95% CI)	B/p
Household registration district (R vs. U)	0.97 (0.57–1.68)	−0.03/0.92	0.81 (0.57–1.17)	−0.21/0.26	0.77 (0.55–1.10)	−0.26/0.15
The only child (Y vs. N)	1.77 (1.07–2.91)	0.57/0.03*	1.30 (0.93–1.81)	0.26/0.13	1.07 (0.77–1.48)	0.07/0.68
Degree level (D vs. M)	1.02 (0.64–1.62)	0.02/0.94	1.43 (1.05–1.96)	0.36/0.02*	1.45 (1.07–1.97)	0.37/0.02*
Student cadre (Y vs. N)	1.19 (0.71–2.02)	0.18/0.51	1.20 (0.86–1.68)	0.18/0.29	1.30 (0.94–1.80)	0.27/0.11
Join student organizations (Y vs. N)	1.74 (1.07–2.83)	0.55/0.03*	1.49 (1.07–2.07)	0.40/0.02*	1.33 (0.97–1.85)	0.29/0.08*
Social practice (Y vs. N)	2.29 (0.75–6.97)	0.83/0.15	1.29 (0.74–2.23)	0.25/0.37	1.33 (0.79–2.22)	0.28/0.29
Voluntary service (Y vs. N)	1.50 (0.55–4.14)	0.41/0.43	1.28 (0.74–2.21)	0.25/0.38	1.21 (0.73–2.02)	0.19/0.46
Lectures on leadership (Y vs. N)	1.65 (1.03–2.65)	0.50/0.04*	1.82 (1.28–2.58)	0.60/<0.001*	1.78 (1.26–2.53)	0.58/<0.001*

The multivariate logistic model is statistically significant (for each model, p < 0.001), x² = 34.56, 50.38, 45.38 for SRLS, EILI, and SLPI, respectively. The only child were 1.77 times more likely to score high on the SRLS scale than non-only child. Participants who joined student organizations were 1.74 times more likely to score high on the SRLS scale than those who did not and so on.

Table 4. The multivariate linear regression results of 851 medical graduates in Capital Medical University studied in 2020–2021.

Independent variable	Partial regression coefficient		Standard regression coefficient beta	t	p	Collinearity statistics
	B	Standard error				Allowance	VIF
Constant term	−1.86	1.99		−0.94	0.35
SRLS	0.13	0.01	0.23	10.19	<0.001*	0.32	3.13
EILI	0.93	0.03	0.73	32.51		0.32	3.13

The regression equation could be established as SLPI = −1.86 + 0.13*SRLS + 0.93*EILI (F = 2674.44, p < 0.001, R² = 0.86).

Data availability statement

Additional data can be accessed via request at [URL] with doi:10.5281/zenodo.7847746.