Abstract
With information technology advancing swiftly, digital transformation has emerged as the central impetus for global higher education reform. The ICT competence of university teachers are pivotal for realizing educational modernization, yet the impact of digital leadership within this context still needs to be thoroughly explored. This study relies on social cognitive theory, social exchange theory, and the technology acceptance model, using structural equation modeling to analyze data from 1,286 valid questionnaires. It examines the connections between digital leadership, organizational commitment, and ICT competence among university teachers. The findings show that digital leadership exerts a significant positive effect on teachers’ ICT competence (β = 0.428, p < 0.01), explaining 41.2% of the variance. Organizational commitment partially mediates this relationship, with a mediating effect of 0.132, representing 31.2% of the total effect. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that science and engineering teachers, newly recruited teachers, and those from Double First-Class universities respond more markedly to digital leadership. In conclusion, this study suggests that in order to effectively navigate the journey of digital transformation and encourage a fundamental shift in teacher behavior from passive adaptation to active teaching innovation, university administrators must adopt a dual focus strategy. This not only requires strengthening institutional support mechanisms for developing digital leadership, but also creating a supportive organizational atmosphere and enhancing teachers' psychological commitment. In addition, develop and implement tailored differentiation strategies to meet the specific needs and characteristics of different teacher groups.
Keywords: Digital Leadership, ICT Competence, Organizational Commitment, University Teachers.