Digital Competence, Lifelong Learning, and Employment Outcomes Among Korean College Graduates: A Serial Mediation Analysis with Implications for the AI Era

This study examines whether the association between digital competence and labor market outcomes among recent Korean college graduates operates through the sequential mediating roles of lifelong learning participation and employability. Data were drawn from the 2019 Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey (2019GOMS), conducted by the Korea Employment Information Service in 2020 (analytic N = 17,842). Because wages, regular employment, and job satisfaction are defined only for employed graduates, and because the employability items were answered almost exclusively by employed graduates, the conclusions are based on outcome-specific structural equation models with all hypothesized paths freely estimated: wages, regular employment, and job satisfaction among employed graduates (n = 13,268), and employment status in the full sample, controlling for gender, age, educational attainment, field of study, and parental socioeconomic background. Among employed graduates, digital competence was positively associated with lifelong learning participation (β = 0.383–0.385), which was associated with employability (β = 0.356–0.358); employability was associated with each job-quality outcome (β = 0.214–0.371); and the serial indirect effect was significant for all three outcomes (β = 0.029–0.051, all 95% CIs excluding zero). The direct path from digital competence was non-significant except for a small positive association with wages (β = 0.061). In the full sample, digital competence was also associated with lifelong learning participation (β = 0.391), but because employability was not observed for non-employed graduates, the serial pathway to employment status could not be assessed reliably. A model combining the four outcomes into one latent variable showed acceptable fit (CFI = 0.934, RMSEA = 0.048) and a similar pattern, but it is reported only as a summary. Given the cross-sectional design, the results describe associations consistent with the hypothesized ordering rather than causal effects, and a non-significant direct path does not imply that digital competence lacks direct labor market value. The findings suggest that digital-skills initiatives for graduates may be more effective when linked to opportunities for continued learning and employability development. Implications for online lifelong learning and sustainable development are discussed as possible applications rather than as tested effects.