The nexus between agility-fostering competences and AI literacy of higher education students

Abstract

The pace of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption not only in organizations, but also in higher education is accelerating, raising questions about whether students possess the competences required to engage with AI critically and effectively. Although adaptive capacity is frequently assumed to facilitate technology use, limited empirical evidence clarifies whether such capacity translates into AI literacy. Drawing on the conceptualisation of student agility as a multidimensional metacapability comprising proactivity, adaptability, and resilience, this study examines the relationships between key competences, agility, and AI literacy in higher education. The study is based on survey data collected from 224 management and finance students. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to validate the measurement constructs used in the study. Structural modelling was applied to examine whether competences that foster agility also predict AI literacy. The results indicate that agility and AI literacy follow partially distinct developmental pathways. While teamwork and cognitive competences significantly predict agility, AI literacy is primarily shaped by knowledge–skill competences and human–tool collaboration, while cultural competence does not show a statistically significant effect. The findings challenge the assumption that generic student agility automatically fosters AI literacy and highlight the need to conceptually differentiate between adaptive capacity and AI-specific competence development in higher education. This study is subject to several limitations. The sample was relatively homogeneous, consisting of students from a single type of higher education institution within one national context, which may limit generalisability. Future research could extend this analysis to diverse institutional profiles and cross-national settings