Trends in digital transformation (DT) of higher education institutes (HEI): bibliometric and systematic review of 13 years

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to investigate the digital transformation (DT) trends in higher education institutes (HEI) (from 2010 to 2023) and examine the role of upcoming technologies in the HEI and their impact on user experience and social inclusiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The middle-range research method is adopted, wherein the Scopus database is used for publication searches. The bibliometric analysis is done on a dataset of 408 articles to determine research trends in DT, top-cited articles, top journals, key authors, country-wise contribution, keyword analysis, bibliographic coupling and co-occurrence analysis. Additionally, content analysis was done on 51 articles that were finally selected to identify the upcoming DT themes in HEI.

Findings

Three key themes emerged from the analysis: digital technologies (for teaching, learning, assessment and administration), user experience and social inclusiveness, based on which we propose a conceptual model for DT in HEI.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the ongoing studies in the following way: (1) it proposes a conceptual model for DT in HEI. (2) It provides an understanding of the impact of DT on user experience and social inclusiveness in the context of HEI. (3) It paves the way for future research by providing future research themes, future research directions and future research questions, providing a groundwork for upcoming investigations which will help researchers develop this area further.

Citation

Joshi, S., Srivastava, A.P., Prabhu, S., Pathak, P., Chirputkar, A. and Pillai, S. (2024), "Trends in digital transformation (DT) of higher education institutes (HEI): bibliometric and systematic review of 13 years", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-02-2024-0084