From issue to action. The role of social and technical arrangements for enacting digital transformation in Norwegian higher education.

Abstract

This thesis is an analysis of a selection of documents that introduced a strategic direction for digital transformation in Norwegian higher education. These documents imagine the future of higher education where digital technologies are pictured to play a large role. These documents have been studied to discover how the issue of digital transformation in higher education first was established and later translated into actions. In addition, a Digitalization board was constructed for higher education institutions to contribute to the discussion on digital transformation in higher education. Specifically, this study will examine the selected government documents and facilitated governing approaches, with the overarching goal of exploring what the issue is and how it is being translated into specific actions so that the institutions can embark on digital transformation. Inspired by several stances of the theoretical landscape within science and technology studies (STS), I will answer the following research questions: Which social and technical encounters are affecting the imaginaries of digital transformation in Norwegian higher education? How are the documents and the Digitalization board set in place to allow these imaginaries to be carried out? The research will allow us to see the social and structural circumstances that have made possible the vision to step forward and how it is turned into actions.