What’s holding higher ed back from digital transformation?

Following the launch of the new higher education (HE) report, How can people power your university’s digital transformation?, I wanted to share my thoughts on how HE leaders can get better outcomes from university transformation efforts. The report's content is drawn from the lived experience of professional staff and teaching faculty in 10 countries, the advice of 28 university leaders and their own engagement with HE transformations around the world.

The report starts with the headline that, for those implementing or impacted by digital transformation in HE, the process is proving harder than expected – sometimes even painful! – and rarely delivers on its promise. The reason? Universities are not paying enough attention to the emotional journey essential to a transformation’s success.

In 2022, a cross-industry study by EY and the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School found that, when organizations focus on the humans at the center of their transformation efforts across six specific areas, the likelihood of success is 2.6 times higher. Having one or two of these practices in play is not enough. But when all elements are done well, transformation success rates increase from 28% to 73%.

The research therefore asked people about the realities of digital transformation in the context of these six success factors, discussing how well their university was doing against each of them.

Change does not come naturally to the sector

In the vast majority of these conversations, interviewees told us that the traditional fragmented and siloed structure of universities is proving to be a major hurdle to change. For decades, some faculties have operated as small fiefdoms, making them highly resistant to strategies that require coordinated efforts with other departments.

Many people also said that universities are suffering from change fatigue. The teaching faculty and professional staff who made superhuman efforts to keep the show on the road during the COVID-19 pandemic just want life to return to ‘normal’. In some geographies, large numbers of staff have also moved from tenured positions to casual contracts, potentially damaging institutional loyalty or trust in leadership.   

When we interviewed Dr Gerard Culley, Director of IT Services, University College Cork, he made this excellent point: “Universities are very unused to change — unlike in a commercial organization, where change happens annually or even quarterly and people just have a ‘muscle memory’ for change.”

Transformation takes a fundamentally different leadership approach

For university leaders – and it must be high-profile leaders, not just the head of IT – the most important element of spearheading digital transformation is managing emotions. Success depends on fundamentally changing decades-old teaching and management practices, and collaborating across faculties, departments and colleges. This is a big cultural change for many universities.

Leaders must convince a large cohort of smart, and professionally skeptical, people that the change they instinctively oppose is necessary – even important. And these people must be supported and empowered to keep stepping out of their comfort zones and embrace new technologies, new practices and new modes of working.

In this situation, command and control does not work. Instead, a transformational leader inspires the university workforce by articulating a vision for the future that is compelling and engaging, but also pragmatic and believable. They empower people to take ownership of change, strongly motivate cross-organizational collaboration and keep everyone engaged in the change process.

Communication is continuous, open and transparent, encouraging feedback and dialogue. Leaders actively listen to the concerns and ideas of employees, lean into change and continually adapt to keep the organization with them.

Such ideas can sound trite – even obvious. But as anyone involved in transforming large organizations will tell you – making them work in practice is hard. It requires a different approach, personal growth and a fundamental commitment to honor the people at the center of the transformation process.

This is the focus of the new report. It starts by documenting the realities of HE digital transformation around the world. Then it outlines in practical terms how university leaders can make their digital transformations work for students, faculty and professional staff – by paying attention to their needs.

The views reflected in this article/blog are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms.