MANAGERIAL COMPETENCE OF THE HEAD OF A VOCATIONAL EDUCATION INSTITUTION: STRUCTURE AND SECTORAL VARIABILITY
Abstract
Relevance. The network of vocational education and training (VET) institutions is heterogeneous in its sectoral training profile, yet existing models of managerial competence describe the head of such an institution as the head of an educational institution in general. The expansion of institutional autonomy, the introduction of supervisory boards involving employers, and key performance indicators for heads shift responsibility for the sectoral relevance of training to the institutional level, leaving unaddressed the theoretical intersection between the sectoral specificity of VET and the managerial competence of its head.
Purpose. To provide a theoretical justification for the two-component structure of the managerial competence of the head of a VET institution and to operationalise its variable component as a matrix “economic sector – sectoral component of managerial competence”.
Methods. Fundamental theoretical research: structural-functional and comparative analysis, theoretical modelling, analysis of regulatory documents and international review studies. A matrix of nine aggregated sectoral areas and twenty passport positions was constructed and populated with 180 baseline and 36 unique characteristics. Two independent scales were applied – the significance of a characteristic (1–3) and the coefficient of substantive sectoral variability of a position; an index of sectoral determinacy of management was calculated.
Results. The significance of positions proved almost invariant across sectors: mean variance is 0.127, eight of twenty positions show zero variance, and 65 % of characteristics were rated critically significant. At the same time, eleven of twenty positions display high substantive sectoral variability. The index of sectoral determinacy exceeds 0.84 in every area (0.846–0.966). Two of twenty positions were reassigned to the general component under the operational criterion. Thirty-six unique characteristics are distributed evenly across the areas.
Conclusions. The managerial competence of the head of a VET institution has a two-component structure: a general (invariant) component of eight elements and a sectoral (variable) component of nine. The sectoral component is a managerial rather than an occupational category. Sectoral variability manifests not in the list of required competences but in their substantive content, which explains the limited operational adequacy of universal models. The development of a head’s competence should follow a proportionality principle that accounts for the institution’s sectoral profile, while the formation of the sectoral component requires the managerial application of sectoral knowledge – which gives internships of heads at sector enterprises the status of a structural element of professional development.
Keywords
managerial competence (MC), invariant component of MC, variable component of MC, competency matrix, sectoral training profile, vocational education, development of managerial personnel
Data Availability
Pryhodii, M., Hurzhii, A., & Zaichuk, V. (2026). Survey results on management competence of vocational education institution leaders [Data set]. Institute of Vocational Education of the NAES of Ukraine. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22054080
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