The role of academic institutions, particularly technical colleges, is essential and requires a rethinking of the traditional education models and programs to prepare their graduates and the factors that influence their employability such as the development of adequate knowledge to increase their expertise and skills. Building on the student outcome model, knowledge-based view and expectancy-value theory, this study empirically examines the mediating role and effects of students’ practical intelligence, tacit knowledge and competencies on the relationship between the characteristics of female technical colleges and female students’ employment (EMP), and also their direct/indirect relationships with EMP. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was adopted, using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 286 full-time students at female technical colleges in Saudi Arabia. The findings reveal the positive and significant mediating effects of students’ practical intelligence, tacit knowledge, and competencies on the relationship between the characteristics of female technical colleges and EMP. These findings suggest that both securing and retaining a job are dependent on the competencies, tacit knowledge, and practical intelligence of the jobseeker. Female technical college administrators and teachers/instructors should therefore inculcate in their students not only academic aspects in terms of explicit knowledge but also these identified study outcomes, to enhance their employability in the competitive labor market. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024.
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