Exploring the Effect of Lecturers' Digital Leadership Styles on Students' Digital Mindset: The Mediating Role of Students' Big Five Personality Traits

Abstract

 The accelerating digital transformation in higher education underscores the critical role of lecturers’ digital leadership in shaping students’ digital mindset. This study explores the effect of lecturers’ digital leadership styles on students’ digital mindset, with students’ Big Five personality traits serving as a mediating variable. Grounded in digital leadership theory, digital mindset literature, and personality psychology, this study proposes a structural path model to explain how leadership in digitally enriched learning environments influences students’ attitudes, adaptability, and engagement with digital technologies. A quantitative approach was employed, involving university students as respondents. Data were collected using validated instruments measuring lecturers’ digital leadership styles (.85), students’ digital mindset (.87), and the Big Five personality traits (.91). Path Analysis was applied to examine both direct and indirect relationships among the variables. The results indicate that lecturers’ digital leadership styles have a significant direct effect on students’ digital mindset. Additionally, digital leadership significantly influences students’ Big Five personality traits, which, in turn, affect their digital mindset. Mediation analysis confirms, however, that the Big Five personality traits were not significantly mediating the relationship between lecturers’ digital leadership styles and students’ digital mindset. All hypothesized paths in the structural model were statistically significant, except for the indirect effect. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying the development of a digital mindset and highlight the importance of integrating effective digital leadership and personality development into higher education strategies