How Organizational Support Translates Into Digital Competence in Higher Education: The Mediating Role of Institutional Digital Capability

This study examines the relationships among perceived organizational support (POS), institutional digital capability (IDC), and academic staff’s digital competence (DC) in higher education. The study focuses on Türkiye, where digital transformation has become a strategic institutional priority in higher education. In response to the increasing emphasis on digital transformation in academia, the study positions digital competence not only as an individual attribute but also as an outcome shaped by institutional conditions and organizational capacities. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional correlational survey design, data were collected from 536 academic staff working at various higher education institutions across Türkiye. Perceived organizational support, institutional digital capability, and digital competence were measured using established scales, and the hypothesized relationships among these constructs were tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that perceived organizational support is associated with the development of institutional digital capability, which in turn is linked to academic staff’s digital competence. While perceived organizational support did not have a significant direct effect on digital competence, its influence operated indirectly through institutional digital capability, suggesting a mediation pattern in which the relationship between organizational support and digital competence operates through institutional digital capability. Additionally, academic rank was negatively associated with digital competence, pointing to possible professional and career-related differences in digital competence development. Overall, the findings indicate that institutional capacity plays an important role in translating organizational support into digital competence. The study contributes to the literature by proposing a model that links organizational conditions with academic staff’s digital competence in higher education.