Date of Conferral

8-31-2026

Date of Award

August 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

James Herndon

Abstract

With the rise of globalization and the growing demand for skilled workers, the number of foreign-born employees in the American workforce has grown significantly over the last 20 years. These numbers continue to grow, as the upward trend of foreign-born employees has been even more significant over the last 5 years. However, despite having a now more diverse workforce, there are still signs of discrimination and unequal treatment of migrants in the workplace. Such mistreatment has been linked to health-related, occupational, and psychological consequences and has been negatively associated with work engagement. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the impact of inclusive leadership and leader cultural intelligence on the work engagement of migrant employees. This phenomenon was explored through the lens of equity theory and social exchange theory, aimed at answering the following questions: to what extent does inclusive leadership predict migrant employee work engagement, to what extent does leader cultural intelligence predict migrant employee work engagement, and to what extent does inclusive leadership and leader cultural intelligence predict migrant employee work engagement. Survey data were analyzed using multiple linear regression, and the results indicated that inclusive leadership is a significant, unique predictor of migrant work engagement, whereas leader cultural intelligence is not. The overall model, however, was found to be significant. The findings provide practical implications for guiding HR policies and leadership trainings designed to promote inclusive leadership practices, mitigate workplace discrimination, and enhance outcomes for migrant employees.

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