Personal profile
Professional information
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)
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 4 Quality Education
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SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
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SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Active
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Professional Development Initiatives for Education Sector Leaders
LU, J. (PI), PERCHE,, J.-O. (Team Member), Song,, Z. (Team Member), GUMUS, S. (CoI), WANG, H. (CoI) & WALKER, A. D. (CoPI)
01/03/24 → 31/05/28
Project: Research project
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“Social Justice Leadership for Learning”: A New Conceptualization of School Leadership
GUMUS, S. (PI), QIAN, H. (CoI), DeMatthews,, D. (CoI), Shaked,, H. (CoI) & Tan,, C. Y. (CoI)
01/01/24 → 30/06/26
Project: Research project
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Exploring the role of context for social justice leadership: Perceptions, practices, and challenges through the lens of ecological systems theory
GUMUS, S., XU, N., BERKOVICH, I., BUYUKGOZE, H. & DEMATTHEWS, D., 2026, In: Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. 35, p. 435-445Research output: Contribution to journal › Articles › peer-review
2 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Financial literacy education, confidence, and digital financial behavior among adolescents: Evidence from 19 countries
HO, C. S. M., GUMUS, S., CHOI, S. & BARAJEEH, B., Jan 2026, In: International Journal of Consumer Studies. 50, e70188.Research output: Contribution to journal › Articles › peer-review
Open Access -
From confidence to impact: How school leaders’ self-efficacy moderates the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational learning in K-12 schools
GUMUS, S., LU, J., BANOGLU, K. & WALKER, A. D., 2026, In: Journal of Educational Administration. 64, 1, p. 14-30Research output: Contribution to journal › Articles › peer-review
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A review of empirical research on equitable school leadership practices for students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds
TAN, C. Y., GUMUS, S., XU, N. & AN, A. Q., Jul 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Educational Review.Research output: Contribution to journal › Articles › peer-review
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Challenges in implementing instructional leadership: Insights from Turkish school principals
CANSOY, R., GUMUS, S. & WALKER, A. D., 2025, In: Educational Management Administration & Leadership. 53, 5, p. 991-1015Research output: Contribution to journal › Articles › peer-review
12 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)