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A Study on the Practical Challenges and Pathways to Enhancing Governance Capabilities in University Secondary Schools in the Context of Digital Transformation

Author(s)

Xia Tao, Juemin Wang, Zhuojie Zheng*

Affiliation(s)

School of Marxism, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, China * Corresponding Author

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the popularization and high-quality development of higher education, secondary colleges have become the core entities responsible for university operations and governance. Enhancing their governance capabilities is therefore critical to establishing a modern university system. Digital transformation offers a crucial opportunity to shift secondary college governance from experience-based to data-driven precision governance. Based on theoretical analysis and an examination of practical challenges, this study explores the empowering logic and real-world dilemmas of digital transformation in enhancing governance capabilities at the secondary college level. The findings reveal practical challenges including a lag in governance mindset, imbalanced data authority and responsibility between university and college levels, blurred managerial accountability, and uneven digital literacy among diverse stakeholders. In response, this study proposes four pathways: shifting toward a service-oriented philosophy, clarifying data authority and responsibility, reengineering business processes, and systematically enhancing digital literacy. This implies that to truly unleash the empowering effects of digital transformation on secondary college governance, it is necessary to move beyond the limitations of “technological instrumentalism” and achieve a deep coupling of technology and institutions across four dimensions: mindset shift, clarification of authority and responsibility, process reengineering, and capacity building.

Keywords

Digital Transformation; University Secondary Colleges; Governance Capabilities

References

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