Open AccessLeadership has been conceptualized variedly in the literature with various implications for those who lead and the people and organizations they lead. In this paper a thorough appraisal of the literature on the evolving conceptualization of leadership and its specific implication for leadership in vocational technical education is presented. A case is made in the paper that though vocational technical education is part of general education, it differs in many significant ways, hence the need to assess its leadership uniquely from that of general education.
This study is particularly important because of the significance of vocational technical education as a conduit in the provision of practical know-how, first, for the good of the society, and second, for addressing the mass educated unemployment prevalent in many economies these days. Vocational technical education, no doubt, will fall short of meeting its mandate without effective leadership.