Evolving Researcher Identity within the Shifting Landscape of Educational Leadership and Management: A Critical Self-Inquiry

Limited attention has been given to researchers' identity as active agents shaping scholarly inquiry in educational leadership. This article presents a critical self-inquiry into the researcher’s scholarly identity and its alignment with the evolving field of educational leadership and management. It explores how personal, contextual, and intellectual influences have shaped the researcher’s research trajectory. Theoretically framed and underpinned by scholarly identity theory, located within a constructivist paradigm and grounded in qualitative methodology, the study employs a critical self-inquiry design drawing on reflective journal entries and curated literature – randomly selected from five ranked quantile one journals in the field. Thematic analysis was used to interrogate the alignment between the researcher’s development and empowerment-oriented agenda, and broader trends in the literature within a 30-year period. Findings reveal a convergence between the researcher’s scholarly focus and emerging calls for context-responsive, equity-focused, and transformative leadership models. The key contributions of the article summarily underscore the value of reflexivity in educational research, demonstrating how a conscious engagement with researcher identity can enhance scholarly relevance, epistemological clarity, and the impact of leadership research in dynamic and often inequitable educational landscapes.