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AI literacy and employment anxiety among higher vocational college students in Jiangxi Province

Source article: The chain mediating roles of career planning and future time perspective between AI literacy and employment anxiety among higher vocational college students

Against the background of artificial intelligence (AI) reshaping the labor market, employment anxiety among higher vocational college students is becoming increasingly prominent. Grounded in Career Construction Theory, this study aims to explore the relationship between AI literacy and employment anxiety among Chinese higher vocational college students, with a specific focus on the chain mediating roles of career planning and future time perspective. A total of 1,234 students from five industry-featured higher v…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourcePeer-reviewedTRV-2026-2165· cite & verify
The chain mediating roles of career planning and future time perspective between AI literacy and employment anxiety among higher vocational college students
"Interview" by Alan Cleaver is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.
Trace impact readingContested
P 72The P score combines the specificity and measured human impact of the grounded problem claim with the strength of this Trace’s cited sources.

Both sides are scored from claims and sources, not community votes.

G 69The G score combines the specificity and measured human impact of the grounded gain claim with the strength of this Trace’s cited sources.

In brief

A survey of 1,234 students at five industry-featured higher vocational colleges in Jiangxi Province, China, measured AI literacy, employment anxiety, career planning and future time perspective. Analysis with the PROCESS macro found all four variables significantly correlated.

The overall link between AI literacy and employment anxiety was positive, which the authors read as greater awareness of labor-market disruption. Part of that effect was cushioned through better career planning and future orientation, but the net result stayed anxious, and the data cannot show whether literacy causes the anxiety.

Main points

  1. The sample covered 1,234 students from five industry-featured higher vocational colleges in Jiangxi Province.
  2. AI literacy had a positive total association with employment anxiety, made up of a substantial positive direct association and a negative total indirect association.
  3. Three indirect pathways reduced anxiety: career planning alone, future time perspective alone, and the two in a chain.
  4. The authors suggest colleges consider building AI literacy education into career guidance and strengthening career planning skills.

The gain

Career planning and a long-term future orientation formed an indirect pathway through which AI literacy was associated with lower employment anxiety among surveyed vocational students.

The problem

Among 1,234 surveyed vocational students, AI literacy had a significant positive total association with employment anxiety, so greater literacy coincided with more anxiety about jobs.

The rundown

The study is grounded in Career Construction Theory and was prompted by AI reshaping the labor market. It targets employment anxiety among higher vocational students, a group the authors describe as increasingly affected.

Data came from self-report scales and were tested with PROCESS Model 6 in SPSS. The three mediation routes each had a negative indirect association with anxiety, yet the direct positive association was large enough that the total stayed positive.

The authors recommend that colleges consider integrating AI literacy into career guidance, strengthening career planning competencies and cultivating long-term future orientation, in order to potentially strengthen the anxiety-buffering pathway.

What this doesn’t fix

The findings rest on self-report scales and describe associations, and the authors use cautious language such as 'may' and 'potentially' about the recommended interventions.

Sources

  1. Peer-reviewedScientific Reports2026-10-21

The debate