How can the acceptance of artificial intelligence be transformed into employability? The sequential effect of a positive attitude toward artificial intelligence and career adaptability

As artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded into education and career development contexts and its applications grow in higher education, how student acceptance of artificial intelligence affects student perception of employability is a major research topic. Based on SCCT, we see generative AI acceptance (GAIA) as a situational occupational resource and study how it affects students' perceived employability (SPE) through positive AI attitude (PAAI) and career adaptability (CA). We used PLS-SEM to model 689 Chinese students. We found that acceptance of artificial intelligence was positively associated with positive attitudes toward artificial intelligence, which in turn promote career adaptability, and subsequently with students' perceived employability. Acceptance of artificial intelligence also indirectly affects perceived employability through successive positive attitudes toward artificial intelligence and career adaptability. This paper further strengthens the theoretical impact of SCCT on digital technology. The findings indicate that acceptance of artificial intelligence was positively associated with perceived employability, both directly and indirectly through positive attitudes toward artificial intelligence and career adaptability. Practically, it emphasizes that universities must develop vocational adaptability resources of students, beyond just technological applications, to support students' readiness to work in AI-driven jobs.