AI-enhanced entrepreneurship education in vocational colleges: the roles of strategic engagement, digital literacy, and perceived fairness

Introduction Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly entering higher education, yet its educational-psychological implications for vocational entrepreneurship education remain underexplored. Methods This quasi-experimental mixed-methods study examined whether AI-enhanced entrepreneurship instruction improves learning outcomes in vocational colleges and how strategic engagement, digital literacy, and perceived fairness shape those outcomes. Participants were 360 students from 12 vocational colleges (180 AI-enhanced; 180 comparison), together with instructors and industry mentors who contributed implementation and assessment perspectives. Quantitative data included pre/post business plan scores, self-reported entrepreneurial competence, project outcome, and digital literacy assessments; qualitative data came from focus groups, instructor interviews, and mentor feedback. Results Students in the AI-enhanced condition showed larger gains in business plan performance than controls [22.4% vs. 15.1%; mean difference = 7.3 percentage points, 95% CI (4.3, 10.3), Cohen’s d = 0.50]. Strategic Prompters outperformed Passive Consumers and Minimal Users, and students with stronger digital literacy benefited more from AI-supported learning. Instructors reported continuing concerns about fairness, transparency, authorship, and bias, while students from lower socio-economic backgrounds reported smaller perceived equity gains. Discussion The findings suggest that AI can support entrepreneurship learning in vocational colleges when it is embedded within psychologically informed pedagogy emphasizing self-regulation, critical evaluation, and transparent assessment.