A MODEL OF INDIVIDUAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, FACULTY, AND POLICY INFLUENCES ON MARITIME SCHOOL GRADUATE QUALITY: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY

The quality of maritime school graduates is a critical factor in ensuring industry readiness and professional competence. Academic self-efficacy is emphasized as a moderator between the direct and indirect impacts of individual, environmental, faculty, and institutional variables on graduate quality in this study. Using PLS-SEM, this research evaluates the relationships among achievement motivation, cognitive skills, family support, quality of learning facilities, teaching quality, lecturer’s industry experience, industry-based curriculum policy, and academic evaluation systems in shaping student outcomes. The findings reveal that achievement motivation, cognitive skills, and teaching quality are the most significant predictors of academic self-efficacy and graduate quality, confirming that intrinsic motivation, cognitive readiness, and effective instruction play a fundamental role in preparing students for maritime careers. The results further indicate that academic self-efficacy is the strongest predictor of graduate quality, reinforcing its role as a psychological bridge between academic experiences and professional competence. The study finds that family support and learning facilities contribute indirectly to graduate quality by enhancing self- efficacy, highlighting their role as enabling rather than determining factors. Similarly, industry-based curriculum policies and lecturers’ industry experience exhibit limited direct influence, suggesting that these elements must be effectively integrated with interactive and applied learning strategies to maximize their impact on student outcomes.