Article
https://doi.org/10.52783/mjble.62
Digital Tools Integration in Social Entrepreneurship Education: A Dual-Pathway Enhancement Model for Student Engagement and Employability Capital Development
Purpose -- This study addresses the critical gap in understanding how the integration of digital tools creates dual pathways for enhancing social entrepreneurship education outcomes, where traditional models fail to explain the simultaneous effects on immediate learning engagement and long-term career development through the formation of employability capital. Drawing on mental model theory, this research extends understanding of how students process and internalise digital technology experiences in mission-driven educational contexts.
Design/methodology/approach -- A structural equation modelling approach with data from 271 university students across 15 institutions in 8 countries. The study develops and validates a novel Dual-Pathway Enhancement Model that integrates the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory, while introducing and empirically validating a five-dimensional framework of employability capital. This framework incorporates the innovative zero-harm capital dimension, complemented by digital mindset components.
Findings -- Digital tools integration operates through two complementary pathways: Learning Enhancement (DTI → Perceived Usefulness → Student Engagement, 59.2% mediation) and Career Development (DTI → Employability Capital → Social Entrepreneurial Intentions, 73.9% mediation). Employability capital development demonstrates the largest effect size (Cohen's d = 1.96), while the enhanced zero-harm capital dimension addresses contemporary sustainability, ethical, and digital adaptation requirements. The model explains 54-57% of the variance in key outcomes with excellent fit indices (CFI = 0.961, RMSEA = 0.060).
Research limitations/implications -- The cross-sectional design limits causal inferences, despite robust theoretical foundations. Cultural variations between developed and developing country contexts may influence the effectiveness of pathways, suggesting a need for cross-cultural validation. Future research should investigate digital growth mindset as a potential mediating mechanism and examine cultural moderators affecting dual-pathway performance across different educational and economic contexts.
Practical implications -- Educational institutions can expect transformative improvements through digital integration, with an 83% enhancement in student engagement and a 96% improvement in employability capital development. The framework provides evidence-based guidance for government policy, institutional curriculum design, and student development strategies, with technology selection prioritising mission alignment over ease of use and sequential competency development approaches.
Originality/value -- This research provides the first comprehensive Dual-Pathway Enhancement Model specifically for social entrepreneurship education, introduces and validates enhanced zero-harm capital with digital mindset components as a novel employability dimension, and demonstrates that digital tools create simultaneous learning and career development benefits rather than isolated outcomes. The mental model framework positions an advanced theoretical understanding of how students cognitively process digital educational experiences.