A qualitative study of Investigating the adoption of blockchain technology in higher education

Abstract: This study has the purpose to investigate the existing state of adoption of blockchain technology in higher education, exploring the obstacles, and potential associated with its implementation to provide an updated and concise overview of the challenges and assess the feasibility of adopting blockchain in higher education.This research includes a literature review to examine the current status of blockchain in higher education. Additionally, a qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews is utilized to gain an in-depth understanding of blockchain adoption, the potential challenges of its adopting, and its prospects within higher education by investigating the perspective of the interviewed academic community.Furthermore, the TOE framework is used to categorize adoption challenges into technical, organizational, and environmental dimensions. Challenges identified include technical complexity, resistance to change, financial constraints, perception of immaturity, lack of awareness, limited interoperability, insufficient skills, inadequate organizational support, regulatory compliance, cultural factors, and ecosystem readiness.Besides, the TAM is utilized to highlight the potential of blockchain based on respondents’views. It also explores how challenges from the TOE framework impact users’ perceptions of blockchain’s ease of use and usefulness in higher education. The overall findings indicate that adopting blockchain in higher education presents challenges such as resistance to change, cost concerns, lack of awareness, cryptocurrency bias, technical complexity, regulatory compliance, and ecosystem readiness.As a consequence, considering the identified level of readiness of universities to embrace new technologies, it is evident that blockchain is still in its early stages of recognition in higher education. However, its potential benefits are suggested such as reducing bureaucracy, enhancing communication and collaboration, improving payment systems, and ensuring secure document storage. It will require time for the full potential of blockchain to be acknowledged and accepted within the field of higher education