The vocational college leaders` strategic leadership practices, organizational bureaucracy and in-service training as determinants for students` aspiration outcomes

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between strategic leadership practices and mediating factors on students’ aspiration outcomes among Malaysian students as perceived by vocational college leaders. Strategic leadership practices were measured and assessed through organizational bureaucracy, and in-service training effectiveness on students’ aspiration outcomes. The study utilized 417 vocational college leaders’ completed questionnaire survey out of 500 targeted distributions to vocational college leaders throughout 65 vocational colleges all over Malaysia. The statistical techniques employed in this study involved descriptive statistics using SPSS version 21.0, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and a full-fledged Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with Analysis of Moments Structures (AMOS) software version 20.0 to address the research questions and to test the research hypotheses. The results of CFA demonstrate that the constructs of the strategic leadership practices are presented by seven distinct factors, organizational bureaucracy by five distinct factors, in-service training effectiveness by five distinct factors, and students’ aspirations by six distinct factors. This research found that organizational bureaucracy and in-service training effectiveness have a direct causal effect on students’ aspirations. Further analysis shows that organizational bureaucracy and in-service training effectiveness have an indirect mediation effect on strategic leadership practices and students’ aspirations as perceived by these vocational college leaders. Theoretically, the study found that organizational bureaucracy positively influences the Malaysian students’ aspiration outcomes. There are some implications for the study which the Ministry of Education should embrace. As this is the first research of its kind in Malaysia, the students’ aspiration outcomes will be of importance for the success of the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. This study also recommends more research on the additional underlying constructs to authenticate the developed model of TVESAI.