AI 리터러시와 AI 기반 창업교육이 중국 대학생의 창업의도에 미치는 영향 : 창업 자기효능감의 다중 병렬 매개효과 = The Impact of AI Literacy and AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education on the Entrepreneurial Intentions of Chinese University Students: Multiple Parallel Mediating Effects of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

With the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence, AI technologies With the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence, AI technologies are reshaping university students’ ways of learning, knowledge structures, capability development, and their judgments about future career paths. At the same time, the number of college graduates in China continues to increase, intensifying competition in the job market, while the entrepreneurial environment has become more intelligent, less entry-barrier-driven, and more efficient due to the integration of AI. Against this dual backdrop of mounting employment pressure and the structural transformation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, examining how AI-related competencies and AI-based educational experiences influence university students’ entrepreneurial intentions carries important theoretical and practical significance. However, existing research has not sufficiently explained the independent role of technological capability in shaping entrepreneurial intentions, and systematic examination of the multidimensional psychological mechanisms of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in the era of generative AI remains limited. These issues are particularly evident in the context of Chinese higher education, where AI education is still at an early exploratory stage, and empirical studies that accurately reflect local students’ cognitive characteristics and capability profiles remain relatively scarce.
Accordingly, this study examines the effects of AI literacy and AI-enabled entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions among Chinese university students, while comprehensively testing the mediating roles played by four dimensions of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. A total of 463 valid samples were collected from two universities in Guangdong Province, all of whom had completed entrepreneurship education courses and possessed experience using AI tools. Confirmatory factor analysis, reliability and validity tests, multiple regression analysis, and parallel multiple mediation analysis using Hayes’ PROCESS Model 4 were employed to examine the proposed relationships.
The main findings are as follows. First, AI literacy was found to have a significant positive effect on university students’ entrepreneurial intentions; however, when the four dimensions of entrepreneurial self-efficacy were included in the model, the direct effect became nonsignificant, indicating a full mediation structure. Second, AI-enabled entrepreneurship education significantly enhanced entrepreneurial intentions, and its direct effect remained significant even after controlling for the mediating variables, suggesting a partial mediation structure in which direct and indirect pathways coexist. Third, although all four dimensions of entrepreneurial self-efficacy functioned as mediators, their effects differed in magnitude. Specifically, risk-taking self-efficacy and innovation self-efficacy exhibited the strongest mediating effects, whereas opportunity recognition self-efficacy and relationship coordination self-efficacy showed relatively weaker or nonsignificant effects.
These findings underscore the importance of technological capability in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions and highlight the differentiated internal mechanisms through which entrepreneurial self-efficacy operates in AI-driven contexts. By analyzing entrepreneurial self-efficacy at a disaggregated level, this study provides an empirical basis for understanding entrepreneurial intention formation in the AI era. From a practical perspective, the results offer data-driven implications for universities seeking to strengthen AI literacy education, improve entrepreneurship curricula, and systematically cultivate key psychological competencies, thereby contributing to the enhancement of students’ innovation capacity, entrepreneurial preparedness, and competitiveness in the labor market.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

생성형 인공지능 기술의 급속한 발전은 대학생들의 학습 방식과 지식 구조, 역량 형성, 나아가 미래 진로 선택에 이르기까지 광범위한 변화를 초래하고 있다. 한편 중국에서는 대학 졸업생 수의 지속적인 증가로 취업 경쟁이 심화되는 가운데 인공지능 기술의 확산은 창업 환경을 더욱 지능화하고 진입 장벽을 낮추며 효율성을 제고하고 있다.
이러한 취업 압력의 증대와 창업 생태계의 구조적 변화라는 이중적 맥락 속에서 AI 관련 역량과 AI 기반 교육 경험이 대학생의 창업 의도 형성에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지를 규명하는 것은 중요한 이론적·실천적 의미를 지닌다. 한편, 기존 연구는 기술 역량이 창업 의도에 미치는 독립적 역할을 충분히 설명하지 못하고, 생성형 AI 시대에 적합한 창업 자기효능감의 다차원적 심리 메커니즘에 대한 체계적 검증 또한 미흡한 실정이다.
이에 본 연구는 중국 대학생을 대상으로 AI 리터러시와 AI 기반 창업 교육이 창업 의도에 미치는 영향을 분석하고, 이 과정에서 네 가지 차원의 창업 자기효능감이 수행하는 매개 역할을 종합적으로 검증하고자 하였다.
연구 대상으로 광둥성 소재 두 개 대학에서 창업 교육 과정을 이수하고 AI 도구 사용 경험을 보유한 대학생 463명을 대상으로 설문조사 후, 통계 처리는 확인적 요인분석, 신뢰도 및 타당도 검증, 다중 회귀분석, 그리고 Hayes의 PROCESS Model 4를 활용한 병렬 다중 매개효과 분석을 실시하였디.
주요 연구 결과는 다음과 같다.
첫째, AI 리터러시는 대학생의 창업 의도에 유의미한 정(+)의 영향을 미쳤으나 창업 자기효능감의 네 가지 하위 차원을 포함할 경우, 그 직접 효과는 유의하지 않게 나타나 완전 매개 구조를 형성하는 것으로 확인되었다.
둘째, AI 기반 창업교육은 대학생의 창업의도를 유의하게 증진시키며 네 차원의 매개변수를 통제한 이후에도 직접효과가 유의하게 유지되어 직접 경로와 간접 경로가 병존하는 부분 매개 구조를 형성하는 것으로 확인되었다.
셋째, AI 기반 창업 교육은 창업 의도에 직접적·간접적 영향을 모두 미치는 부분 매개 구조를 제시하였다. 그리고 위험 감수 자기효능감과 혁신 자기효능감은 가장 강력한 매개 효과를 제시하였지만, 기회 인식 자기효능감과 관계 조정 자기효능감의 매개 효과는 상대적으로 약하거나 유의하지 않았다.
이러한 결과는 기술적 역량이 창업 의도를 형성하는 데 있어 핵심적임을 강조함과 동시에 AI 주도 환경에서 창업 자기효능감의 차별화된 내적 작동 메커니즘을 시사하였다. 특히, 창업 자기효능감을 세분화하여 분석함으로써 AI 시대에 적합한 새로운 창업 심리 모형을 구축하는 데 중요한 토대를 제공하며, 실천적으로는 대학이 AI 리터러시 교육을 강화하고 창업 교과과정을 개선하며 핵심 심리 역량을 체계적으로 함양하는 데 활용할 수 있는 데이터 기반 시사점을 제시하였다. 그리고 학생들의 창업 혁신 역량, 창업 준비도, 그리고 노동시장 경쟁력을 제고하는 데 기여할 수 있다.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Abstract vi
• Ⅰ. Introduction 1
• 1.1 Research Background and Necessity 1
• 1.2 Research Purposes 5
• 1.3 Research Questions 8
• 1.4 Research Significance 9
• Ⅱ. Theoretical Background 11
• 2.1 AI Literacy 11
• 2.1.1 Concept of AI Literacy 11
• 2.1.2 Applications of AI Literacy in the Field of Education 15
• 2.1.3 Prior Studies on the Dimensional Structure and Measurement Frameworks of AI Literacy 18
• 2.1.4 The Relationships Between AI Literacy and Other Variables 23
• 2.2 AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education 27
• 2.2.1 Concept of Traditional Entrepreneurship Education 27
• 2.2.2 Research Directions of Traditional Entrepreneurship Education 28
• 2.2.3 Concept of AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education 31
• 2.2.4 Research Trends in AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education 32
• 2.2.5 Prior Studies on AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education 33
• 2.3 Conceptual Positioning and Distinctions Between AI Literacy and AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education 37
• 2.4 Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy 40
• 2.4.1 The Concept of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy 40
• 2.4.2 Dimensions of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy 44
• 2.4.3 Prior Research on Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy 49
• 2.4.4 The Influence of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy on Other Variables 55
• 2.5 Entrepreneurial Intention 61
• 2.5.1 Concept of Entrepreneurial Intention 61
• 2.5.2 Theoretical Foundations of Entrepreneurial Intention 64
• 2.5.3 Antecedent Studies on Entrepreneurial Intention 68
• 2.6 Relationships Among the Core Variables 74
• 2.6.1 Relationship Between AI Literacy and Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy 74
• 2.6.2 Relationship Between AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy 75
• 2.6.3 Relationship Between AI Literacy and Entrepreneurial Intention 76
• 2.6.4 Relationship Between AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intention 77
• 2.6.5 Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Entrepreneurial Intention 78
• III. Research Design 83
• 3.1 Research Participants and Data Collection 83
• 3.2 Operational Definitions of Variables and Measurement Instruments 84
• 3.2.1 AI Literacy 84
• 3.2.2 AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education 85
• 3.2.3 Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy 87
• 3.2.4 Entrepreneurial Intention 89
• 3.3 Data Analysis Methods 91
• 3.4 Research Model 93
• 3.5 Research Hypotheses 95
• 3.5.1 Relationship Between AI Literacy and Entrepreneurial Intention 95
• 3.5.2 Relationship Between AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intention 96
• 3.5.3 AI Literacy, Dimensions of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and Their Relationships With Entrepreneurial Intention 96
• 3.5.4 AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education, Dimensions of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and Their Relationships With Entrepreneurial Intention 98
• Ⅳ. Analysis of Research Results 99
• 4.1 Sample Characteristics 99
• 4.2 Validation of the Measurement Model 101
• 4.2.1 Confirmatory Factor Analysis of AI Literacy 101
• 4.2.2 Confirmatory Factor Analysis of AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education 103
• 4.2.3 Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy 103
• 4.2.4 Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Entrepreneurial Intention 104
• 4.3 Reliability and Validity Analysis of the Measurement Model 105
• 4.3.1 Convergent Validity 105
• 4.3.2 Discriminant Validity 107
• 4.3.3 Reliability Analysis of the Measurement Instruments 108
• 4.4 Descriptive Statistics and Normality Test 110
• 4.5 Correlation Analysis Among Variables 111
• 4.6 Verification of Research Hypotheses 113
• 4.6.1 Multiple Regression Analysis (Direct Effect Testing) 113
• 4.6.1.1 Multiple Regression Analysis: Direct Effects and Pre-Mediation Testing of the AI Literacy 113
• 4.6.1.2 Multiple Regression Analysis: Direct Effects and Pre-Mediation Testing of the AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education Pathway 115
• 4.6.2 Parallel Multiple Mediation Effect Testing 118
• 4.6.2.1 Parallel Multiple Mediation Analysis of AI Literacy 118
• 4.6.2.2 Parallel Multiple Mediation Analysis of the AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education Path 121
• 4.7 Summary of Mediation Effects 124
• Ⅴ. Conclusions and Discussion 128
• 5.1 Research Conclusions 128
• 5.2 Discussion of Empirical Findings 130
• 5.2.1 AI Literacy as an Indirect Psychological Enabler of Entrepreneurial Intention 130
• 5.2.2 Direct and Indirect Pathways from AI-Enabled Entrepreneurship Education to Entrepreneurial Intention 134
• 5.2.3 Stage-Specific Mediating Roles of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Dimensions 137
• 5.3 Research Implications 141
• 5.3.1 Theoretical Implications 141
• 5.3.2 Practical Implications 142
• 5.4 Limitations and Directions for Future Research 143
• REFERENCES 147
• Appendix A 164
• Appendix B 173
• DECLARATION 180
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 181
• 국문초록 184