Shaping digital entrepreneurial intention in higher education: the role of entrepreneurship education, creativity, and digital literacy among Chinese university students

As digital technologies reshape the global economy, fostering digital entrepreneurial intention ( DEI ) among university students has become an urgent educational goal. However, empirical research on how entrepreneurship education promotes DEI , particularly through creativity and digital literacy, remains limited. Drawing on survey data from 1188 graduating students at a “double first-class” university in Guangdong, China, this study examines how different forms of entrepreneurship education (theoretical vs. practice-based) influence DEI . To control for selection bias and strengthen causal inference, propensity score matching (PSM) is applied. The results show that practice-oriented education significantly enhances DEI by fostering creativity, which serves as a mediating mechanism. Moreover, digital literacy, particularly growth-oriented social media use, moderates the direct effect of education on DEI , amplifying its impact, while entertainment-oriented use diminishes it. These findings underscore the importance of experiential entrepreneurship curricula that integrate digital skill development and purposeful social media engagement to cultivate entrepreneurial readiness in the digital age.