Advancing Training Transfer Among Academics in Private Higher Education Institutions: An Integrated Conceptual Model of Digital Readiness, Work Support and Self-Efficacy

Private higher education institutions depend on academics' ability to translate professional development into sustained improvements in teaching, research and administration. Yet the application of training remains uneven, particularly when development is delivered virtually and must be enacted in digitally intensive work settings. This conceptual article develops an integrated model of training transfer among academics in Malaysian private higher education institutions. The model synthesizes recent evidence on training job-alignment, virtual training design quality, collaborative support, the learning environment and digital readiness. It positions self-efficacy as the central psychological mechanism through which these individual, design and contextual conditions influence transfer. Social Cognitive Theory explains how capability beliefs and social cues shape action, the Motivational Theory of Training Transfer connects relevance and opportunity to application, and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology clarifies the role of digital competence and facilitating conditions. Sixteen testable hypotheses specify direct and mediated relationships. A future cross-sectional survey of 379 academics from seven private universities in the Klang Valley is proposed, using a refined 49-item instrument and partial least squares structural equation modelling. The article contributes a context-sensitive explanation of why well-designed training may still fail to transfer when academics lack confidence, support, resources or opportunities to apply learning. It also offers a practical architecture for universities to align development with academic roles, strengthen transfer-oriented virtual design, create peer and supervisory reinforcement, and build digital readiness. Because no empirical data are reported, the model should be treated as a theory-driven agenda for validation rather than evidence of causal effects.

training transfer; self-efficacy; digital readiness; private higher education

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