Contradictory Tension, Conflict Management, and Response Strategies of University Data Security Governance

Data security governance in universities serves as a crucial guarantee for promoting the digital transformation of higher education and can supports the sustainable high-quality development of universities, yet it is conftonted with severe contradictions and conflicts. Given the dynamic balance between conflicting sides, four pairs of contradictory tensions existed in university data security governance: institutionalization versus professionalization, security versus data sharing, alert-oriented manual supervision versus automated governance, and real-time response versus long-term sustainable management. To thoroughly understand and effectively resolve such contradictions and conflicts, a governance model for university data security can be constructed based on conflict management tools from three aspects of participation of governance stakeholders, identification of contradiction types, and conflict management models, providing theoretical guidance for reconciling tensions and handling conflicts. Finally, flexible response strategies were proposed corresponding to five conflict management modes: classified emergency classification response based on the competitive mode, adjustment of governance norms based on the accommodative mode, streamlined data administration based on the avoidance mode, construction of collaborative governance frameworks based on the cooperative mode, and selection of technical path based on the compromising mode, thereby helping universities cope with complex and evolving data security challenges.