Mechanism of Digital Literacy’s Impact on College Students’ Employability

Digital literacy (DL) has become a critical competency for adapting to information-intensive industrial environments; however, the mechanisms through which it enhances employability remain insufficiently understood. This study develops an integrated analytical framework to examine the transmission pathways linking DL to employability (EA) through information extraction (IE) and digital innovation (DI), while considering the moderating role of professional practice assessment (PPA). Based on standardized survey data and structural equation modeling combined with Bootstrap mediation analysis, the results show that DL exerts a significant total effect on EA (0.471), including a direct effect of 0.220 and indirect effects through DI (0.133) and IE (0.118). Furthermore, PPA positively strengthens the transformation of DL into both IE and DI, with moderating coefficients of 0.15 and 0.18, respectively. The findings indicate that digital innovation provides a more stable pathway for capability enhancement, whereas information extraction is more sensitive to practical environments. By interpreting employability development as a multi-stage information acquisition, processing, and transmission process, this study provides a quantitative framework for understanding capability propagation in digital environments and offers empirical support for data-driven talent development strategies.