Unraveling the Pathways of Digital Transformation in Vocational Institutions: Evidence From a National Survey in China

Abstract

Despite substantial investments in educational digitalization, the mechanism converting resources into institutional maturity remains underexplored, particularly in vocational education. Drawing on the Input-Process-Output (IPO) model, this study constructs a structural path model to unravel the complex interplay between digital organizational support, funding, infrastructure, and educational application. Analysis of survey data from 2,748 Chinese vocational institutions reveals a dual-pathway mechanism. While digital funding acts as a dominant predictor with strong direct effects on development levels, digital organizational support serves as a critical systemic enabler, exerting its influence primarily through indirect pathways via digital infrastructure. Notably, the mediation effect of infrastructure significantly outweighs that of educational application, highlighting the current “infrastructure-first” stage of transformation in the sector. These findings challenge the hardware-centric view, suggesting that organizational support is more strongly associated with development through infrastructure-related pathways, suggesting that ‘technical backbone’ investments may be more effectively activated in supportive organizational contexts. These results provide survey-based evidence to help policymakers re-balance attention from capital injection alone toward the cultivation of organizational conditions and interoperable infrastructure.