From Cognitive Advantage to Competitive Disadvantage

A Multidimensional Analysis of How Digital Literacy “Knowing Without Doing” Undermines Vocational College Students’ Employability in Western China

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the rapidly developing digital economy, digital literacy has become a critical factor influencing individuals' employability. Existing research often treats digital literacy as a homogeneous whole, lacking in-depth exploration of its multidimensional structure and its differential impacts. This study, focusing on vocational college students in Western China and based on 743 valid questionnaires, employed descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, and Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) to systematically examine the mechanism through which the four dimensions of digital literacy (digital awareness, digital application, digital responsibility, and digital knowledge & skills) affect employability. The findings are as follows: (1) Vocational college students' digital literacy exhibits a structural imbalance characterized by "high cognition, low practice, and weak responsibility." Specifically, digital awareness scored the highest (3.67±0.99), while digital application (3.11±1.14) and digital responsibility (2.95±1.15) performed relatively weakly. (2) Regression analysis revealed that digital application (β=0.340, t=11.537^***) and digital responsibility (β=0.257, t=8.744^***) had the strongest positive predictive effects on employability, whereas the positive predictive effect of digital awareness (β=0.231, t=7.927^***) was relatively weaker. (3) IPA further indicated that digital application and digital responsibility fall into the "high importance—low performance" quadrant, representing critical shortcomings in the current cultivation system. In contrast, digital awareness resides in the "low importance—high performance" quadrant, suggesting a possible tendency of over-allocation of cultivation resources toward this dimension. The study demonstrates that the uneven development within the internal dimensions of digital literacy, particularly the shortfalls in practice and responsibility—the "knowing without doing"—may undermine the employment competitiveness of vocational college students. Vocational education should shift its focus from merely "enhancing the level of literacy" to "optimizing the structure of literacy," prioritizing the cultivation of digital application and digital responsibility capabilities to better meet the demands of the digital economy for technical and skilled talents.