Responsible Leadership and Innovation Ability as Dual Mediators of Knowledge Sharing toward Quality Performance: Evidence from Higher Vocational Colleges

This study examines how Knowledge Sharing (KS) influences Quality Performance (QP) through the dual mediating effects of Responsible Leadership (RL) and Innovation Ability (IA) in Chinese higher vocational colleges. Using data from 406 valid responses, the hypothesized model was tested through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Bootstrap analysis. The results indicate that KS significantly predicts RL (β = 0.55, p < 0.001) and IA (β = 0.49, p < 0.001), while both RL (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) and IA (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) positively affect QP. The direct effect of KS on QP is not significant (β = 0.08, p = 0.12), confirming a dual full mediation effect. These findings highlight that KS enhances institutional quality indirectly through ethical leadership and innovation mechanisms, offering theoretical support for integrating Social Capital, Responsible Leadership, and Innovation Diffusion perspectives in educational management.