Theses and Dissertations

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1057-8158

Advisor

Rush, Christine

Committee Member

Breen, Dallas

Committee Member

French, P.

Committee Member

Potter, Michael

Date of Degree

5-15-2026

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU Only 1 year

Document Type

Dissertation - Campus Access Only

Major

Public Policy & Administration

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine whether there is a relationship amongst perceived leadership styles, employee engagement, and organizational culture within the U.S. federal workforce. Using publicly available data from the 2023 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), first the study evaluates the relationship between perceived leadership styles and employee engagement and then assesses whether organizational culture mediates the relationships. Grounded in social exchange theory the study explores how the unique attributes of various leadership styles relate to employee perceptions and reciprocal engagement in federal agencies. Transformational and transactional leadership styles serve as independent variables, employee engagement which is the dependent variable is measured through the Office of Personnel Management’s Employee Engagement Index (EEI) and organizational culture which is the mediating variable is operationalized using items reflecting workplace norms and support structures. The study employed quantitative research design through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine these relationships. The findings support existing research that both transformational and transactional leadership styles significantly influence engagement; federal workforce relational factors and organizational reinforcement structures. Specifically, transformational leadership drives engagement by building positive workplace culture while transaction leadership influences engagement directly through rewards and clear expectation within the organizational context. A combination of the two may produce the strongest workforce outcomes while organizational culture significantly predicted engagement as a mediator. This dissertation contributes to the literature on the role of organizational culture in employee engagement behaviors and organizational direction for culture building as a potential engagement strategy. It emphasizes the importance of performance-based reinforcement structure in driving engagement directly. Finally, the study also establishes a baseline understanding of leadership, culture, and engagement to inform future longitudinal research.

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