Level of digital competencies for management in the knowledge society among graduate program directors at the National University of Loja

• Published in: Journal of information systems engineering & management Vol. 10; no. 4; pp. 1153 - 1209
• Main Author: María de los Angeles Coloma Andrade
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 10.05.2025
• ISSN: 2468-4376; 2468-4376
• DOI: 10.52783/jisem.v10i4.10307

This diagnosis is essential for identifying strengths and areas for improvement in digital management capabilities, enabling the redesign of teacher training policies and the modernization of academic and administrative processes in Latin American contexts. The research employed a methodological approach that combined the epistemological focus of the positivist paradigm with a deductive, cross-sectional design and descriptive-explanatory approach. The technique consisted of a survey administered to 30 graduate program directors, comprising 45 subjects. The research instrument was constructed and validated in four phases, which included: definition and rationale of the theoretical construct, instrument adaptation, testing to assess reliability, and review by experts in the field of study. Statistical processing was subsequently performed using SPSS and Excel, with descriptive and inferential analysis. The results were calculated using percentage averages per faculty, considering the number of participants for each variable. The conclusion was that the digital competencies and university management capabilities of UNL graduate program directors were distributed heterogeneously by academic unit. Education-related faculties, such as the Distance Education Unit and the Faculty of Education, Arts, and Communication, excel at the highly specialized level. Technical and applied faculties exhibited variable performance, with the exception of the Faculty of Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources, which remained at an intermediate level. Furthermore, a direct and very high-degree relationship was evident between Digital Competencies in the Knowledge Society and Educational Management, specifically in the level of mastery of the participating graduate program directors. This allowed the optimization of administrative processes through the adoption of ICTs for institutional strengthening, thus positioning UNL as a benchmark for educational innovation in Ecuador.