Despite the reforms to improve the quality of China's higher education and to adopt certain Western leadership theories, the heroic leadership model is still dominant in Chinese higher education institutions. Therefore, employing educational leadership may be complex in traditional Chinese culture. Thus, this special issue brings four articles together to enhance our understanding of educational leadership within the Chinese context. Specifically, the issue begins by exploring educational leadership in terms of Chinese philosophy and considering its definition and role. The issue goes on to examine the gender issues related to educational leadership. This introduction discusses the topic, introduces the articles, and presents the contributions of the special issue articles.