University Leadership and Tensions: The Challenge of Integrating Digital Education

The university is facing, once again, a deep transformation process. On this occasion, the continuous increase in the digital dimension of society and its consequent impact on teaching and research plays a fundamental role. The effects of the pandemic, which have made digital education the only option to avoid the complete interruption of higher education in most of the world, have further accentuated this impact. This article combines two investigations. A qualitative one on the rationale behind the transformation processes of the university, analyzing in-depth interviews with eleven international university experts, who identified ten tensions that the university is experiencing at this time. The other one is a mixed methodology study that, based on three case studies located in three universities, determines the leadership literacies necessary for the integration of digital education in the transformation process of universities. The results make it possible to relate the leadership competencies necessary to solve the ten tensions raised, concluding with the importance of developing these leadership literacies for digital education proposed by the DELLHE framework.