Development and validation of an instrument for measuring critical success factors (CSFs) of technical education - a TQM approach

Like other systems, technical education system is also dynamic in nature. It faces many challenges in responding to societal, technological and economic changes in the local and global environment. The issue today is to ensure quality education delivery system for technical education. The literature shows that many educational institutes have initiated efforts for quality improvements. However, there is neither sufficient literature (regarding identification of critical factors responsible for excellence in technical education), nor appropriate measures (research instruments) to determine those factors. In this context it is necessary to identify key critical success factors (CSFs), which may be given special attention for ensuring desired excellence in technical education. Though different authors have proposed different ways to address the quality related issues in various domains, on the basis of critical review of literature, this study proposes use of a new research instrument for identification of critical success factors by using total quality management (TQM) as the base. The developed instrument was assessed for its reliability and validity using standard methods. The results indicated that the developed instrument was reliable and valid, which can be used to identify the critical success factors important for excellence in technical education.