Exploring faculty perceptions of barriers to metaverse integration in higher education: development and validation of a new scale

This study aimed to develop and conduct an exploratory validation of the Barriers to Integrating the Metaverse into Higher Education Scale (BIMHES) to assess faculty members’ perceptions of challenges in adopting the metaverse in educational settings. 512 Saudi Arabian faculty members participated in the current study. The first phase was qualitative, involving interviews and a literature review to generate items for the scale. The second phase was quantitative, assessing the scale’s psychometric properties, including face, content, and construct validity through preliminary (exploratory) and confirmatory factor analysis. Additionally, the study evaluated the scale’s stability and internal consistency reliability. A network perspective was also applied using Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA). The final scale comprised 38 items across six primary dimensions: Digital Infrastructure, Strategic Alignment, Adaptive Learning and Content Design, Technological Perceptions, Socio-Cultural Integration, and Ethical Governance and Data Security. Model fit indices (CFI = 0.938, RMSEA = 0.063) and reliability measures (α = 0.925, Ω = 0.903) indicated strong validity and internal consistency of BIMHES. Network analysis supported the six-factor structure of the BIMHES. Totally, this instrument offers practical insights for developing the technological infrastructure and implementing suitable educational programs, ensuring that institutions are better prepared to leverage the potential of the metaverse.