Beyond the Toolbox: Funding Models and Managerial Capacity as Determinants of Digital Transformation in Higher Education

Abstract

Abstract

The pervasive trend of digitalisation without genuine transformation, also known as the proliferation of technology which fails to catalyse profound strategic change, remains a persistent challenge in the domain of higher education (HE) and continuous scholarly debate. In fact, the prevailing technological imperative that treats technology as an evident solution has resulted in the implementation of funding and policy models which focus on investing in the toolbox over human capital and organisational capacities needed to use technology effectively and ethically. Our study argues that technology itself cannot result in transformative outcomes; instead, it is important to address the structural reasoning of funding models along with the often-neglected variable of managerial capacity building for effective change. In this regard, our study examines a purposive sample of national and international policy frameworks and institutional strategic plans through the use of a critical qualitative document analysis (CQDA) approach through a critical realist paradigm lens to provide a comprehensive understanding of efficient digitalisation approaches in HE.

Our analysis provides an underlying mismatch between the funding logics of national discourse, which are characterised by short-term project-based, competitive and output-focused funding, and the international long-term, iterative and capacity-building processes of genuine transformation. Especially when our findings reveal a conventional presumption of managerial readiness in the face of technological advance instead of actively working on developing managerial capacity, including leadership, professional development, and management structures transformation that are primordial for effective implementation. In this respect, our findings help explain this mismatch as a causal mechanism that systematically produces a number of observed outcomes, namely underutilised systems, fragmented innovation and stalled sustainable change. Moreover, our study suggests that meaningful and effective digital change calls for a decisive policy reorientation away from funding technology procurement toward investment in the durable organisational and managerial ecosystems that enable sustainable pedagogical and strategic transformation.

Keywords: Higher education, Digitalisation, Leadership, Strategic Management, Funding