Empowering Innovative Talents in the Digital Era: Exploring the Psychological Mechanism of Accounting Students in China

Higher education plays a key role in fostering national strength through talent and promoting innovation. In particular, accounting education is required to help students improve their digital and innovative skills. Based on social cognitive theory and componential theory of creativity, we have developed a moderated mediation model to study the relation between using digital accounting tools and students’ innovation behavior, and its mechanisms. We used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to verify 304 accounting students from a private university in Xi’an, China. We obtained a direct and positive influence of digital accounting tool usage on the innovation behavior of students (β = 0.218, P < 0.001). Creative self-efficacy significantly mediates this connection (indirect effect = 0.263) and explains psychological pathways through which technology stimulates innovation. Digital literacy moderates the relationship between tool usage and innovation behavior (β = 0.089, P < 0.05), suggesting that enhanced basic digital skills enhance innovation benefits. These results offer theoretical insights and practical guidance for universities that aim to improve accounting curriculum and move from “operational empowerment” to “psychological empowerment.”

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