Profile of Prof GUMUS, Sedat - The Education University of Hong Kong


Professor	Department of Education Policy and Leadership

Contact

ORCiD

0000-0003-0453-3341

Phone

(852) 2948 6866

sgumus@eduhk.hk

Address

10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong

Website

https://pappl.eduhk.hk/rich/web/person.xhtml?pid=284346&name=GUMUS, Sedat

SDGs

4 - Quality Education
10 - Reduced Inequality
16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Research Interests

Leadership Development
Leadership Effectiveness
Organisational Behaviour
School Improvement

Teaching Interests

EDA7084: Educational Leadership: Theory, Research, and Practice (Doctoral Level)

EPA6095: Effective Educational Leadership (Master of Education)

EDA 6122: School Evaluation and Improvement (Master of Education)

EDA6108: Organizational Learning Field Study (Master of Arts)

EDA 6047: Organizational Behavior (Master of Arts)

Personal Profile

Professor Sedat Gümüş received his PhD from the Department of Educational Administration at Michigan State University, the United States, in 2012. After graduation, he worked at several institutions in Turkey and at Aarhus University in Denmark. He also served as a visiting scholar at the University of Georgia, the United States, from July 2015 to June 2016. Professor Gümüş joined The Education University of Hong Kong in 2021 as an Associate Professor and was Associate Head for Research and International Relations at the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership (EPL). He is currently serving as Associate Head (Internationalisation and Community Engagement) at EPL and Acting Director of The Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charitable Trust Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change (APCLC).

Professor Gümüş has over a decade of experience in educational leadership research in various contexts and has formed extensive networks with scholars and practitioners worldwide. He has co-edited one academic book and published over 70 journal papers and book chapters. His works have been featured in leading educational journals, such as Educational Administration Quarterly, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Educational Management Administration and Leadership, Educational Review, European Journal of Education, Higher Education, International Journal of Educational Research, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, and Teaching and Teacher Education.

Among his involvement in various international research projects, Professor Gümüş has led two significant projects as Principal Investigator. He recently completed a project on the effects of school leadership on student outcomes, funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, Denmark, and is currently leading a GRF project focusing on socially just instructional leadership in three different national contexts. As Co-Investigator, he is also currently involved in a donation project from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, aiming to support the sustainable development of Hong Kong school leaders to lead future-ready, inclusive schools.

Professor Gümüş received the prestigious Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award 2025 from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, and was named among Stanford University’s Top 2% Scientists in 2024. In 2025, he ranked 15th globally in leadership research by ScholarGPS among more than 50,000 scholars ranked in the topic based on productivity, impact, and quality in the prior five years. He has also been invited as a speaker to conferences and seminars in countries around the world, including Chile, China, Denmark, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Turkey, the UAE, and the United States.

Research Interests

Leadership Development
Leadership Effectiveness
Organisational Behaviour
School Improvement

Teaching Interests

EDA7084: Educational Leadership: Theory, Research, and Practice (Doctoral Level)

EPA6095: Effective Educational Leadership (Master of Education)

EDA 6122: School Evaluation and Improvement (Master of Education)

EDA6108: Organizational Learning Field Study (Master of Arts)

EDA 6047: Organizational Behavior (Master of Arts)

Research Outputs


Scholarly Books, Monographs and Chapters Arar, K., Turan, S., Gümüş, S., Sellami, A., & Mahfouz, J. (2024). Demystifying educational leadership and administration in the Middle East and North Africa/editorial introduction. K. ARAR, S. TURAN, S. GÜMÜŞ, A. SELLAMI & J.MAHFOUZ, Demystifying educational leadership and administration in the Middle East and North Africa: Challenges and prospects (1-11). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003334835-1 Arar, K., Turan, S., Gümüş, S., Sellami, A., & Mahfouz, J. (2024). Revisiting and reimagining educational leadership and administration in the Middle East and North Africa. In K. ARAR, S. TURAN, S. GÜMÜŞ, A. SELLAMI, & Julia MAHFOUZ, Demystifying educational leadership and administration in the Middle East and North Africa: Challenges and prospects (233-236). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003334835-13 Khalid ARAR, Selahattin TURAN, Sedat GÜMÜŞ, Abdellatif SELLAMI, Julia MAHFOUZ (2024). Demystifying educational leadership and administration in the Middle East and North Africa: Challenges and prospects. In K. Arar, S. Turan, S. Gümüş, A. Sellami, & J. Mahfouz (Eds.), Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003334835 Banoglu, K., & Gumus, S. (2022). Supporting technology integration in schools: In pursuit of new skills for school managers in the post-pandemic era. In J. Glanz (Ed.), Managing today’s schools: New skills for school leaders in the 21st century (pp. 37-49). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475862508/Managing-Today's-Schools-New-Skills-for-School-Leaders-in-the-21st-Century SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education
Journal Publications Hart, T.D., DeMatthews, D.E., & Gümüş, S. (2025). Defining and enacting social justice leadership: An examination of principal and assistant principal perceptions. Leadership and Policy in Schools. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2025.2462066 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education, 10 - Reduced Inequality, 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Banoglu, K., Karatas, I.H., & Gumus, S. (2025). School principals’ networking preferences for instructional and administrative advice-seeking relations: Insights from inferential social network analysis. Educational Management Administration and Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432241303673 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Hallinger, P., Banoglu, K., & Gumus, S. (2025). Scoping review of research on digital simulations and serious games in educational leadership and management. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 24(1), 178-199. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2024.2447315 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education, 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Hallinger, P., Banoglu, K., & Gümüş, S. (2025). Scoping review of research on digital simulations and serious games in educational leadership and management. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 24(1), 178-199. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2024.2447315 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Mertkan, S. & Gümüş, S. (2024). Review of systematic reviews in educational leadership and management: Methods used, topics explored and geographies covered. Educational Management Administration and Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432241291197 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Özdemir, N., Çoban, Ö., Buyukgoze, H., & Gümüş, S., & Pietsch, M. (2024). Leading knowledge exploration and exploitation in schools: The moderating role of teachers’ open innovation mindset. Educational Administration Quarterly, 60(5), 668-717. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X241281391 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education, 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Smith, S., Gumus, S., & Reimer, D. (2024). School leadership and students’ decisions about further education: Exploring the roles of goal setting and school socioeconomic composition. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 35(4), 457-485. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2024.2395259 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Cansoy, R., Gümüş, S., & Walker A.D. (2024). Challenges in implementing instructional leadership: Insights from Turkish school principals. Educational Management Administration and Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432241263915 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Laursen, R., Gümüş, S., & Walker, A.D. (2024). Navigating egalitarian culture and accountability pressures: Shared instructional leadership practices of Danish school leaders. Journal of Professional Capital and Community. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-01-2024-0014 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Christensen, A. A., Nielbo, K. L., & Gümüş, S. (2024). Exploring School Factors Related to Professional Learning Communities: A Machine Learning Approach Using Cross-National Data. Educational Studies, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2024.2369855 Bellibas, M. S., Gümüş, S & Chen, J. (2024). The impact of distributed leadership on teacher commitment: The mediation role of teacher workload stress and teacher well‐being. British Educational Research Journal, 50(2), 814-836. Gumus, S., Liu, Y., Bellisbas, M.S., & Lee, M. (2024). A global typology of school principals’ time use: Exploring the effects of contextual and individual factors. International Journal of Educational Research, 125, Article 102343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2024.102343 Tan, C.Y. & Gümüş, S. (2024). Editorial: How educational leadership promotes equity in student learning outcomes: International evidence. International Journal of Educational Management, 38(6), 1561-1562. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-10-2024-660 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education, 10 - Reduced Inequality Pietsch, M., Aydin, B., & Gümüş, S. (2023). Putting the instructional leadership–student achievement relation in context: A meta-analytical big data study across cultures and time. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231197434 Chen, J., Bellibaş, M.S., & Gümüş, S. (2023). Impact of school climate and resources on principal workload stress and job satisfaction: Multinational evidence from TALIS 2018 data. Journal of Educational Administration, xx, xx. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-08-2022-0128 Buyukgoze, H., Caliskan, O., & Gümüş, S. (2022). Linking distributed leadership with collective teacher innovativeness: The mediating roles of job satisfaction and professional collaboration. Educational Management Administration and Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432221130879 Gümüş, S., Çağatay Kılınç, A., & Bellibaş, M. S (2022). The relationship between teacher leadership capacity at school and teacher self-efficacy: The mediating role of teacher professional learning. School Leadership and Management, 42(5), 478-497. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2022.2123791 Özdemir, N., Gümüş, S., Kılınç, A. Ç., & Bellibaş, M. Ş. (2022). A systematic review of research on the relationship between school leadership and student achievement: An updated framework and future direction. Educational Management Administration and Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432221118662 Arar, K., Örücü, D., & Gümüş, S. (2022). Educational leadership and policy studies in refugee education: A systematic review of existing research. Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2022.2066632 Gümüş, S., Bellibaş, M.S., & Pietsch, M. (2022). School leadership and achievement gaps based on socioeconomic status: A search for socially just instructional leadership. Journal of Educational Administration. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-11-2021-0213 Smit, E. & Gümüş, S. (2022). Socioeconomic achievement gaps and the role of school leadership: Addressing within- and between-school inequality in student achievement. International Journal of Educational Research, 112, Article 101951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2022.101951 Gumuş, S., Şukru Bellibaş, M., Şen, S., & Hallinger, P. (2021). Finding the Missing Link: Do Principal Qualifications Make a Difference in Student Achievement?. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, Online Publication, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432211051909
Conference Papers Banoglu, K., Gumus, S., Karatas, I., Lu, J. (2025, April). Transitivity between School Principals’ Instructional and Administrative Advice-Seeking Relations in a Rural District: Friendship Matters. Presented at The American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2025 Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado. The United States. https://www.eduhk.hk/fehd/en/highlights.php?s=news_event&id=9348 Banoglu, K., Karatas, I., & Gumus, S. (2024, November). Principals' Networking Preferences for Advice Seeking Relations: Insights from Inferential Social Network Analysis. Presented at University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) 2024 Convention, November 23 2024, Los Angeles, California. The United States. Bellibas, M. S., Chen, J., & Gümüş, S (2023, April). The role of teacher workload stress and teacher well-being in linking distributed leadership to teacher commitment. Paper presented at 2023 Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association: "Interrogating Consequential Education Research in Pursuit of Truth", Chicago, USA. Pietsch, M., Aydin, B., & Gümüş, S. (2023, April). Putting the instructional leadership–student achievement relation in context: A meta-analytical big data study across cultures and time. Paper presented at 2023 Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association: "Interrogating Consequential Education Research in Pursuit of Truth"

Projects


Building an Instant Online Meta-Analysis Database on Leadership Research Leadership is connected to almost every aspect of individual, team and organizational success, from employee turnover to firm performance. Tens of thousands of primary articles have been published and hundreds of meta-analyses have been conducted. However, this exponential growth in discovery has hampered continued efforts, with dated, inconsistent and incompatible efforts at consolidation – the size of the field exceeds researchers’ ability to grasp it. However, there has been successful efforts at massive meta-analyses using the cloud-based meta-analytic system for different topics, such as “Organizational Justice.” Similarly, using a combination of AI and modern meta-analytic methodology, we will summarize an entire field in one single database, which acts as the default scientific gateway for business, public policy makers, researchers and the general public. Anyone can ask any question in their own language and get an instant customized answer based on the sum of the science collected. Project Start Year: 2025, Principal Investigator(s): GUMUS, Sedat SDGs Information: 4 - Quality Education
Professional Development Initiatives for Education Sector Leaders Initiated and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, co-created with The Education University of Hong Kong and offered in collaboration with the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching (CSET), Stanford Graduate School of Education, JC InnoPower Education Fellowship is a 15-month talent and sector development programme. It provides school principals and leaders with broad exposure to global trends, Mainland foresights and local best practices while also building their adaptive leadership skills to tackle ever-changing challenges in schools. Coupled with intensive coaching support and funding for initiate change, the training-and-learning model will bring new, existing, and recently retired senior educators together to share experience and expertise in a Community of Practice and to nurture school innovation and collaboration. In this way, the transformation towards a future-ready and inclusive school system in Hong Kong will be accelerated. For more details, please visit: https://www.eduhk.hk/hkjcipef Project Start Year: 2024, Principal Investigator(s): LU, Jiafang (GUMUS, Sedat as Co-Investigator)
“Social Justice Leadership for Learning”: A New Conceptualization of School Leadership This research aims to conceptualize a new leadership model called “social justice leadership for learning (SOLE)”, by combining social justice leadership and leadership for learning practices of school principals to better serve the diverse learning needs of disadvantaged students. More specifically, this study aims to (1) ascertain specific leadership for learning practices enriched by the social justice perspective in three participating jurisdictions (Hong Kong, China; Israel; and Texas, USA); (2) determine the role of contextual factors in the formation and implementation of such practices; and (3) develop and validate a social justice leadership for learning scale (SOLE-S) for each jurisdiction, as well as a common scale for future comparative studies. Project Start Year: 2024, Principal Investigator(s): GUMUS, Sedat
How Do School Leaders Create Equity in Student Learning? . Project Start Year: 2023, Principal Investigator(s): GUMUS, Sedat SDGs Information: 4 - Quality Education, 10 - Reduced Inequality
Exploring the Role of Context for Social Justice Leadership: Understandings, Practices, and Challenges across Diverse National and School Settings . Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): GUMUS, Sedat

Prizes and awards


Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation presents approximately 20 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards annually to internationally renowned academics from abroad in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in research. The award is named for German astronomer and mathematician Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784–1846) and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Date of receipt: /3/2025, Conferred by: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany)

Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation presents approximately 20 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards annually to internationally renowned academics from abroad in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in research. The award is named for German astronomer and mathematician Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784–1846) and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Date of receipt: /3/2025, Conferred by: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany)