Dynamics of Total Quality Management to Improve Student Outcomes in Private TVET Colleges in Gauteng, South Africa

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges can provide students with the knowledge and skills they need for future jobs. The study aimed to determine the mediation effects of total quality management (TQM) dimensions on employee performance and student learning outcomes. The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive quantitative design, where the research collected 349 responses from a pool of colleges in Gauteng, South Africa. The results show that training has the largest mediation effect size, with 55.1% of employee performance's effect (total effect) on learning outcomes mediated by training. Knowledge and process management (34.8%) and customer focus (34.6%) also had a high mediation effect; however, no mediation effect was found with employee participation. This study helps the management of TVET colleges identify priority areas when they engage in the journey of TQM. The theoretical implication is that even though all the dimensions of TQM are critical in the organisation, they can be prioritised based on context and the environment where the implementation is taking place.