Enhancing Talent Development through Strategic Industry Partnerships: A Moderated Mediation Model of Enterprise Support and Teacher Competence in Resource-Intensive Vocational Colleges in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi, China
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Abstract
Background and Aim: China's coal-oriented vocational institutions are facing mounting pressure to raise the standard of talent development in the face of rapid industrial transformation and growing demands for safety, digitization, and sustainable practices. Industry-education integration, or IEI, is a key strategy to bridge the gap between vocational training and labor market demands. However, little is known about how IEI improves educational outcomes, particularly in resource-intensive disciplines. This study aims to comprehend the internal dynamics of IEI by examining the moderating impact of instructors' professional competency and the mediating role of industry assistance on the caliber of talent development in coal-focused vocational schools.
Materials and Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed. The poll included 512 respondents from 15 coal-focused vocational colleges in China's three primary coal-producing regions: Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Shanxi. Respondents included faculty, department heads, and academic administrators. The following important constructs were measured using validated multi-item measures with a 5-point Likert scale: industry-education integration, instructors' professional competence, corporate assistance, and the caliber of talent development. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to assess direct and mediated effects, and PROCESS Macro (Model 14) was employed to analyze moderated mediation. By using statistical controls and procedural separation, common method bias was mitigated.
Results: The results showed that the association between IEI and talent development quality is significantly mediated by enterprise support (β = 0.396, p < 0.001), suggesting that enterprise engagement is the main way that IEI improves outcomes. Additionally, the influence of enterprise support on talent outcomes is moderated by teachers' professional competence (interaction β = 0.211, p < 0.01), meaning that highly qualified and industry-adaptable instructional staff have a greater impact on enterprise contributions. The moderated mediation was statistically significant, supporting the idea that internal capacity determines how effective external help is.
Conclusion: This study highlights a dual-pathway model for vocational education reform in resource-dependent settings, which requires external enterprise involvement to complement internal instructional preparation in order to achieve observable educational advances. Policies that support IEI should prioritize the creation of dual-qualified teaching staff and institutionalize enterprise support systems. These findings contribute to theoretical knowledge of IEI implementation and practical strategies for improving the quality of vocational training in the coal sector and elsewhere.
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