Lean six sigma is a powerful business initiative that improves the effectiveness and performance of organizations. It started as a useful improvement strategy in manufacturing and then was transferred to other sectors. Although popular in many industries, its implementation in higher education is still limited and to date has not yet achieved its potential as a tool that enhances the effectiveness and efficiency of institutions which operate in highly competitive environments with pressure respond to their stakeholders’ expectations and to attract more students and funds.

Academic institutions seem to resist the implementation of lean six sigma despite its widespread success in achieving processes improvement and minimizing variations and defects. Therefore it would be important to shed light on the challenges hindering its implementation. Some of these obstacles might originate from the nature of higher education and others from the approach’s concept or misunderstanding perceptions.

This research aims to identify the main obstacles of six sigma in higher education with hope to create more awareness regarding these challenges for those seeking to implement six sigma in higher education. It is hoped that this research will support future research that aims to enable a better fit of lean six sigma with higher education.