The evidence - based decision - making ability of university leaders is thepsychological characteristic that university leaderscarry out a series of cognitive and behavioral activities centered on effective evidenceconsciously in the decision - making process. Based on the analysis of the basic concept and composition of evidence - based decision - making, this paper proposes that theevidence - based decision - making ability of university leaders can be divided into three dimensions: evidence - based cognitive a? bility, evidence integration ability, and evidence application ability, and each dimension can be subdivided into 10 sub - elements. Evidence - based decision - making ability of leading cadres in universities is a prerequisite for the realization of effective governance of universities, the foundation of scientific decision - making in universities, the professional core competence of leading cadres in univer? sities, and an important guarantee for the realization of the research and decision - making support function of the institution. It is also suggested that the evidence - based decision - making ability of university leaders should be improved by carrying out evidence - based decision - making education and training, establishing evidence - based decision - making evidence acquisition mechanism, and impro? ving evidence - based decision - making evaluation and assessment mechanism.