ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1582771
This article is part of the Research TopicApplying Lean Six Sigma and Industry 4.0 Concepts to Enhance Higher EducationView all 8 articles
Optimizing Efficiency and Sustainability in Higher Education: Development and Validation of a Lean Thinking Adoption Instrument
Provisionally accepted
Andrés Avilés-Noles1*
Fabricio Guevara-Viejó1
Pedro Javier Fajardo1Milton Januario Rueda2JOSE DIVITT VELOSA2- 1State University of Milagro, Milagro, Ecuador
- 2EAN University, Bogotá, Bogota, Colombia
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Lean Thinking has been applied across various sectors to optimize processes and improve efficiency; however, its implementation in higher education still encounters methodological and structural barriers. This study develops and validates an instrument to measure the application of Lean Thinking in Ecuadorian higher education institutions, addressing key dimensions such as leadership, long-term vision, continuous improvement, waste elimination, student value, teaching, research, and community engagement. A cross-sectional empirical design was employed, using a sample of 315 university students and a 42-item questionnaire, which was analyzed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The results revealed an eight-dimensional factorial structure with high reliability levels (Cronbach's α = 0.94; factor loadings > 0.40), convergent validity (AVE > 0.40), and discriminant validity (HTMT < 0.85). Model fit indices confirmed the robustness of the instrument (CFI = 1.000, TLI = 1.008, RMSEA = 0.000). Leadership emerged as the highest-rated factor (M = 7.53, SD = 1.09), whereas the research dimension obtained the lowest score (M = 7.25, SD = 1.13). This study contributes a validated tool for assessing Lean adoption in higher education, suggesting that its implementation enhances institutional efficiency and educational experience, though its sustainability requires long-term strategies.1. At my university, administrators take responsibility for their actions and decisions. 2. At my university, administrators encourage teamwork within the institution.
Keywords: Lean Thinking1, Leadership in Education2, Waste Reduction3, Higher Education4, Instrument Validation5
Received: 24 Feb 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Avilés-Noles, Guevara-Viejó, Fajardo, Rueda and VELOSA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Andrés Avilés-Noles, State University of Milagro, Milagro, Ecuador
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