The Influence of Digital Competence and Work Ethic on Students’ Human Capital Readiness with Intrinsic Motivation as a Mediator in the Era of Technological Disruption

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-811-5_20How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Digital Competence; Human Capital Readiness; Intrinsic Motivation; PLS-SEM; Work Ethic

Abstract

With the rapid advancement of technology, there is a rising demand for graduates who have not only technical capabilities but also the psychological capacity to adjust to changing occupations. The current literature has mainly investigated the direct effects of teachers’ digital skills or work ethic on student outcomes, and has little empirical evidence on the channels through which teachers’ resources are converted into students’ human capital through intrinsic motivation, especially when considering secondary education in developing countries. This study addresses this research gap by analysing the effects of work ethics and digital competence of teachers on the human capital preparation of students, using intrinsic motivation as the intervening variable, within the context of Human Capital Theory and Self-Determination Theory. Data from 214 teacher-student pairs in public and private secondary and vocational schools in Jakarta were collected and analysed using PLS-SEM. Teachers’ digital skills and work ethic play important roles in improving students’ human capital directly and indirectly through intrinsic motivation. This association is partly mediated by autonomous motivation, indicating that technological competence and professional ideals foster students’ preparation more strongly when they stimulate autonomous motivation. The model explained 61.8% of the variation in student preparation. This extends Human Capital Theory by showing that resources alone are not adequate to generate workforce-ready graduates without intrinsic motivation, as Self-Determination Theory predicts. Practically, enhancing teachers’ digital abilities and work ethic should be consistent with instructional techniques that promote students’ intrinsic drive to build durable human capital in face of rapid technological change.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Zakia Rahma Diana
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/29
TI  - The Influence of Digital Competence and Work Ethic on Students’ Human Capital Readiness with Intrinsic Motivation as a Mediator in the Era of Technological Disruption
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Business, Economic, and Social Sustainability (ICOBES 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 238
EP  - 250
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-811-5_20
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-811-5_20
ID  - Diana2026
ER  -