Rethinking the adoption of artificial intelligence in higher education: : a bibliometric study of barriers, ethical issues, and governance challenges

Afafe ELAMRANI ELHASSANI; Ayoub OULAMINE; Fatima ELBARHOUMI

doi:10.23882/ijdam.25216

Authors

Afafe ELAMRANI ELHASSANI Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences of Ait Melloul, Ibn Zohr University, Morocco
Ayoub OULAMINE Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences of Agadir, Ibn Zohr University, Morocco
Fatima ELBARHOUMI Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23882/ijdam.25216

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence, Higher Education, Bibliometric Analysis, Governance, Ethics

Abstract

This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of recent research on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education, with a particular focus on the obstacles encountered, the ethical dilemmas raised, and the associated governance issues. The study is based on a corpus of 803 peer-reviewed articles extracted from the Web of Science database for the period 2020–2024.

The analysis was conducted using the VOSviewer and Biblioshiny tools, which identified the most frequently co-occurring keywords, major contributors, global collaboration networks, and structuring thematic clusters.

The results highlight a strong focus on technology acceptance models (particularly UTAUT and TAM) and the pedagogical integration of AI. However, several critical gaps remain, particularly regarding personal data protection, algorithmic bias, the lack of robust regulatory frameworks, and the underrepresentation of developing countries in scientific publications and academic collaboration networks.

The study highlights the importance of strengthening ethical governance mechanisms, developing inclusive policies to support the growth of AI in the Global South, and promoting more balanced scientific partnerships at the international level.

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