Institutional Support and Students’ Interest in AI: The Mediating Role of Learning Aspirations and the Moderating Effect of Gender

Abstract Institutional support is widely viewed as essential for promoting artificial intelligence (AI) education; however, its influence on students’ interest may depend on underlying motivational processes. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, this study examines whether institutional support fosters high school students’ interest in AI primarily through the development of AI learning aspirations, while also exploring the moderating role of gender. Using a two-phase quantitative design, psychometrically validated scales were developed, and structural relationships were tested using Structural Equation Modeling. The results indicate that institutional support does not directly predict students’ interest in AI once motivational factors are considered. Instead, AI learning aspirations fully mediate this relationship, demonstrating that institutional support promotes AI interest chiefly by strengthening students’ future-oriented learning aspirations. Although multi-group analysis showed that gender does not significantly moderate the relationship between institutional support and AI interest, female students reported slightly higher overall levels of interest in AI than male students. Collectively, these findings underscore the significance of aspiration-driven institutional practices and offer empirical evidence to inform the development of inclusive and future-oriented AI education policies and school-level interventions aimed at sustaining students’ engagement with AI learning.