The role of technological resources in the reputation of vocational education schools

Abstract

The low reputation of vocational education in Spain requires schools to reconsider this type of education by taking advantage of its key resources and developing dynamic capabilities. Using structural equation modelling, this study analyses the impact of technological resources on two categories of dynamic capabilities: sensing capability and innovativeness, as well as the effect of these two capabilities on reputation, in a representative sample of vocational schools in tourism in Spain, with the key informants being the staff responsible for the degree (i.e., director, vice-director, head of studies, etc.). The results show that the use of technological resources provides vocational schools with the necessary capabilities to explore trends in social demands and the job market and reduce the gap between academy and industry. The findings also reveal that innovativeness has a direct influence on the schools’ reputation. However, the opportunities for improvement detected through the sensing capability do not directly influence reputation; instead, they require a subsequent action, innovativeness, that favours their effective implementation.