A Systematic Review of Digital Academic Leadership in Higher Education

Abstract

Digital academic leadership (DAL) in higher education has been recognised as an important aspect in the enhancement of academic development in the stage of new normal and the academic achievement of academic members and learners across higher education contexts. DAL is seen as leadership that integrates the portfolio of technologies and instruments such as e-platforms (webinars) and social media in academic settings. A systematic literature review was employed in this study to map the relevant literature on the topics of 1) what is DAL? 2) what are the core dimensions of digital academic leadership? The source database includes 39 English articles related to the topics of DAL published between January 2003 and June 2023 in high-indexed journals. This review provides theoretical-conceptual and empirical contributions to the DAL literature. This study synthesises the related theories and conceptual frameworks for elucidating the concept of DAL. The results imply the need and how to enhance DAL in higher education contexts.