What influences teachers’ digital literacy? Evidence from partial least squares equation modelling and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis

With the rapid digital transformation in education, enhancing teachers’ digital literacy has become an urgent issue. Drawing on survey data from 585 Chinese teachers, this study integrates partial least squares equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to investigate how the school digital ecosystem, organisational innovation climate, and teachers’ self-efficacy shape digital literacy. PLS-SEM results show that both the digital ecosystem and innovation climate exert significant positive effects, with self-efficacy partially mediating. FsQCA further identifies three main pathways: the efficacy-driven type, which emphasises the importance of self-efficacy; the resource-driven type, which leverages the school ecosystem and experiential advantages; and the implicit-driven type, where external training or self-directed learning compensates for weaker conditions. These findings reveal digital literacy development as an equifinal process shaped by diverse sufficient conditions, emphasising the interplay between individual beliefs and external resources. The study offers a new theoretical perspective on the development of teachers’ digital literacy and provides practical insights for teacher educators on how to coordinate internal motivation and external school support in designing more responsive professional learning environments.