MOJEM: Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Management

NAVIGATING POST-PHD CAREER TRANSITIONS: SELF-LEADERSHIP AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT AMONG ALUMNI OF A MALAYSIAN PUBLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITY

2026-04-15T09:56:43+08:00

Global higher education institutions have undergone significant changes as a result of the growth of PhD programs; however, the scarcity of academic employment has made post-PhD career transitions increasingly problematic. Although doctoral enrollment and research output have increased at Malaysia's public research universities, structured training for a variety of job paths has not received sufficient attention. In the first year following graduation, this study investigates how doctorate graduates handle early professional transitions. Fifteen doctoral graduates from five different fields, education, science, engineering, business and accounting, and languages and linguistics, were interviewed semi-structuredly using a qualitative interpretative methodology. Findings reveal three dominant transition patterns: planned academic continuity, strategic industry transition, and adaptive career redirection. Disciplinary opportunity structures significantly shaped perceived career options, with STEM and Business alumni demonstrating stronger industry integration compared to Education and Languages graduates. Despite structural constraints, alumni exercised proactive agency through goal structuring, skill repositioning, and psychological resilience. Self-leadership emerged as a central mechanism in managing uncertainty and professional identity reconstruction. While participants acknowledged strong research preparation, they reported limited structured institutional career support and reliance on supervisor-dependent guidance. The study integrates Career Construction Theory, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and Self-Leadership Theory to conceptualize career transition as an interaction between personal agency, disciplinary contexts, institutional preparation, and labor market conditions. The findings highlight the need to embed structured career development frameworks within doctoral programs. By providing contextual evidence from a Malaysian public research university, this study contributes to doctoral education reform discussions and offers cross-disciplinary insights into strengthening career readiness in contemporary higher education environments.

INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENT RETENTION AND PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIAN HIGHER EDUCATION: EVIDENCE FROM LEARNING ANALYTICS

2026-04-15T10:04:30+08:00

This study examines how institutional and organisational factors influence Student Performance in Malaysian higher education institutions (HEIs), with particular emphasis on the role of student retention and its interaction with key moderating variables. Employing a quantitative research design, data were collected from 450 students across 14 public and private HEIs in Malaysia using a structured survey instrument. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was applied to examine the direct relationship between student retention and Student Performance, as well as the moderating effects of academic integration, financial integration, social integration, and student motivation. The findings indicate that student retention has a significant positive relationship with Student Performance. Financial integration and student motivation demonstrate strong moderating effects, strengthening the relationship between retention and performance. In contrast, academic and social integration show more limited direct influence but contribute through interaction effects. From a leadership and institutional management perspective, the results highlight the importance of data-driven decision-making in designing targeted strategies that enhance student persistence and academic outcomes. Institutional leaders play a critical role in strengthening financial support systems, fostering inclusive learning environments, and promoting motivational frameworks that support sustained student engagement. The study contributes empirical evidence to the literature on student success in Malaysian higher education, providing practical insights for policymakers and institutional leaders seeking to improve both retention and academic performance through integrated governance and organisational strategies.

INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP TOWARDS BLENDED LEARNING: EFFECTS ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING SATISFACTION

2026-04-15T10:12:51+08:00

Teacher instructional leadership constitutes a critical management function in tertiary education, particularly within hybrid learning environments that require effective coordination of instructional modalities. This study explores how perceived teacher instructional leadership influences university students’ satisfaction with hybrid learning, with student engagement serving as a key mediating factor. Based on a survey of 696 undergraduate students at local colleges and universities in Guangxi, China, using a quantitative approach and employing a stratified random sampling design, structural equation modeling revealed that perceived teacher instructional leadership has a significant influence on both student engagement and hybrid learning satisfaction. Additionally, student engagement positively impacts hybrid learning satisfaction, and it partially mediates the relationship between perceived teacher instructional leadership and hybrid learning satisfaction. This study aims to investigate the impact of teacher instructional leadership based on soft management approaches on student engagement and satisfaction. The results contribute to the literature on educational leadership and management by focusing on leadership approaches in the hybrid learning contexts of local colleges and universities in China.

GENDER, COMMUNICATION STYLE AND ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP: EXAMINING MANAGERIAL PATTERNS IN OPEN HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE

2026-04-15T10:19:04+08:00

Leadership effectiveness in open and distance higher education institutions, which often have complex technology-embedded governance structures, depends heavily on the communication patterns of their academic managers across diverse administrative and academic networks. The intersection of academic leadership, gender, and communication style is a critical area of investigation, particularly within open and distance learning institutions. This study investigates the gender based differentials in communication styles of academic managers in Open Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan. 224 academic managers (Heads of Departments, Program Coordinators, and Courses Coordinators) from 1 Public sector and 2 private sector universities were selected through Multi-Stage Cluster Random Sampling. This study is based on Situational Leadership Theory, and the Communication Styles Inventory for Academic Managers (CSIAM) was used after piloting and validation to collect data. Semi-structured interviews of academic managers confirm that communication styles directly inform leadership practices and managerial strategies. Findings revealed that the differences in communication styles of male and female managers were not statistically significant in both directive and collaborative clusters. Both female and male academic managers showed hybrid communication patterns in open and distance higher education institutions in Pakistan, suggesting that governance structures and organisational roles are more powerful antecedents of communication styles as compared to the gender identity of academic managers. This study recommended further exploration of the intersection of communication styles, quality assurance and enhancement, and organisational culture in the field of higher education management.