TITLE:
Constructing a Model for Identifying Young Educational Leadership Talent in Local Universities: A Differentiated Career Pathway Perspective
AUTHORS:
Xiansheng Wei, Muhd Khaizer Omar, Suhaida Abdul Kadir, Siti Sabihah Ghazali
KEYWORDS:
Differentiated Career Pathways, Young Educational Leadership Talent, Talent Identification, Local Universities, KPIs, KIPs
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.2,
February
28,
2026
ABSTRACT: Local universities have long operated under resource constraints. As governance reform deepens and universities are expected to serve regional development more directly, institutional sustainability increasingly depends on whether a credible pipeline of young educational leadership talent can be identified and developed. In many local institutions, however, identification practices remain strongly shaped by metric-centred evaluation, especially publication outputs and grant/project rankings, making leadership potential, organisational contribution, and developmental promise less visible in decision-making. This conceptual paper synthesises research literature and policy documents to propose a differentiated career pathway framework for identifying young educational leadership talent in local universities. The framework distinguishes academic leadership, administrative governance, and hybrid pathways; combines Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with Key Intangible Performance Indicators (KIPs); and links identification decisions to role-based practice and longitudinal developmental follow-up. By shifting attention from one-off outcomes to pathway fit and process-based evidence, the framework offers an operational reference for improving identification and cultivation practices in resource-constrained local universities.