Antecedents of trust in higher education: testing the effect of servant leadership, organizational justice and perceived organizational support

Nowadays higher education institutes play a key role in improving productivity and providing occupational skills and enhance the nation’s ability to compete in a global knowledge-based economy. The existence of trust climate in these institutions is the key element for doing right the mission and the goals. This study tries to examine the most important variables that impact organizational trust (faculty trust on deans). The sample was 295 faculty members of four universities in Tehran (Iran). Data were collected through four questionnaires and structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data and test a theoretical model. The results indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between servant leadership and trust on dean. Also the results supported the positive effect of organizational justice on trust on dean. In addition, the results suggest that faculty members’ perceptions of organizational support positively influence trust on dean.