Exploring Digital Academic Leadership and Graduate Thesis Supervision: A Qualitative Study at the Faculty of Education, Al-Madinah International University, Malaysia

HRMARS - This qualitative study explores the role of digital academic leadership in enhancing the quality of graduate thesis supervision at the Faculty of Education, Al-Madinah International University, Malaysia. While digital transformation in higher education is well documented, there is limited understanding of how leadership practices, digital tools, and institutional conditions interact to shape supervision quality in specific contexts. To address this gap, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with academic leaders, supervisors, and graduate students, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Four interrelated themes emerged: strategic digital vision as a foundation for organized and transparent supervision, digital tools as enablers of communication and progress monitoring, leadership competencies that strengthen supervisory capacity, and digital infrastructure as a moderating factor influencing leadership effectiveness. The findings indicate that effective digital academic leadership extends beyond the adoption of technology, relying on context-sensitive, strategic, and ethical practices that enhance clarity of guidance, timeliness of feedback, and graduate students’ research skill development. By providing empirical, context-specific evidence, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of how digital leadership is enacted in postgraduate supervision and highlights practical implications for higher education institutions. These include the need for targeted leadership development programs, clear institutional policies for digital supervision, and robust infrastructure to support high-quality, sustainable research practices. Overall, the study emphasizes that fostering effective digital academic leadership is critical for improving supervision quality and developing a resilient research culture in digitally transitioning higher education environments.