Educational processes within the university system must undergo continuous change due to the ongoing transformation of social, learning, and technological environments, ultimately leading to higher levels of performance in education. The present study aims to develop a strategic framework for digital transformation in higher education—one of the most fundamental changes in educational systems—and was conducted at Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences.
This study is applied in terms of its objective and descriptive-correlational in terms of data collection method. The respondents consisted of faculty members of the university, with a sample of 241 individuals selected through stratified sampling and surveyed using a standardized questionnaire with confirmed validity and reliability. Subsequently, the field data were analyzed using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach and Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA).
The findings of this study indicated a good fit of the developed strategic framework and revealed that the most significant antecedents of digital transformation in higher education are, in order of importance, organizational, technological, and environmental factors.
The study demonstrates that the developed strategic framework effectively identifies the prerequisites for digital transformation in the higher education system and emphasizes the critical role of organizational, technological, and environmental factors in realizing digital transformation. This framework can serve as a practical guide for planning and implementing changes within universities.