Challenges in digital technology adoption: a qualitative study of higher education lecturers

Digital technology (DT) has reshaped higher education pedagogy, necessitating lecturers to adapt despite persistent challenges related to modern teaching practices. However, existing studies emphasize generic barriers such as infrastructure and training, paying insufficient attention to how challenges differ across career stages and academic disciplines. This study addresses these gaps by exploring the challenges lecturers encounter in applying DT. Data were collected from two focus group (n = 16) of purposively sampled lecturers aged 26–49 across disciplines (with Group 1 comprising nine participants and Group 2 seven participants). Thematic analysis conducted in NVivo 14 identified six core challenges: interactive teaching and learning (22.06%), lecturer development (20.59%), technology-related issues (20.10%), university management-level constraints (17.65%), student development (11.27%) and disciplinary differences in DT adoption (8.33%). Findings reveal intergenerational patterns: early-career lecturers report tool overload, while middle-career-stage lecturers experience innovation fatigue and senior-career lecturers confront emotional conflicts. Disciplinary differences emerged, with STEM lecturers demonstrating stronger technological proficiency than humanities colleagues. The study offers implications for institutions and policymakers to implement flexible, differentiated professional development (PD) that integrates career-stage needs with disciplinary cultures, thereby supporting equitable and sustainable digital transformation.