An AI-Driven Decision Framework for Promoting Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Vocational Colleges

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31181/dmame7220251481

Keywords:

Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Vocational Education, Artificial Intelligence, Green Innovation, Decision-Making Framework

Abstract

This research investigates the application of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools within vocational education to advance green innovation start-ups and promote sustainable entrepreneurship, with particular emphasis on the role of educational institutions in contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4). It addresses the pressing need to explore the interconnections between AI utilisation, digital literacy, and sustainability achievements in vocational learning environments across global contexts. The study employed a quantitative and descriptive research design, making use of secondary data sourced from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, World Bank Open Data, OECD education statistics, and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. A consolidated dataset was compiled for 200 vocational institutions, encompassing seven primary attributes: regional coding, type of institution, national income classification, participation rates, digital literacy levels, AI adoption levels, and per capita funding. A refined AI-based decision-making framework was developed, integrating data pre-processing procedures, AI model construction, multi-criteria decision-making techniques, and mechanisms for continuous performance evaluation. The results demonstrate a robust positive relationship between digital literacy and AI adoption (correlation coefficient: 0.805). Employment outcomes exhibited the strongest association with institutional success (correlation coefficient: 0.965). Random Forest classification models achieved an accuracy rate of 93.3% in forecasting sustainability adoption, with AI adoption emerging as the most influential factor, contributing 89.6% to employment-related outcomes. Regional comparisons highlight pronounced inequalities, as developed regions record AI adoption levels approximately three to four times higher than those in developing areas. Bayesian analysis further indicated that institutions combining substantial funding with high AI adoption display a 92.9% likelihood of achieving effective sustainability integration.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] Ahmed, M., Yousaf, H. Q., Naseer, M., & Rehman, S. (2024). The role of social entrepreneurship education and corporate social responsibility in shaping sustainable behaviour in the education sector of Lahore, Pakistan. Industry and Higher Education, 09504222241297538. https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222241297538

[2] Al Halbusi, H., Popa, S., Alshibani, S. M., & Soto-Acosta, P. (2024). Greening the future: Analyzing green entrepreneurial orientation, green knowledge management and digital transformation for sustainable innovation and circular economy. European Journal of Innovation Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-02-2024-0169

[3] Alexa, L., Maier, V., Șerban, A., & Craciunescu, R. (2020). Engineers changing the world: education for sustainability in Romanian technical universities—an empirical web-based content analysis. Sustainability, 12(5), 1983. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051983

[4] Betáková, J., Havierniková, K., Okręglicka, M., Mynarzova, M., & Magda, R. (2020). The role of universities in supporting entrepreneurial intentions of students toward sustainable entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 8(1), 573. http://doi.org/10.9770/jesi.2020.8.1(40)

[5] Brewka, G. (1996). Artificial intelligence—a modern approach by Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, Prentice Hall. Series in Artificial Intelligence, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. The Knowledge Engineering Review, 11(1), 78-79. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0269888900007724 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0269888900007724

[6] Cai, X., Zhao, L., Bai, X., Yang, Z., Jiang, Y., Wang, P., & Huang, Z. (2022). Comprehensive evaluation of sustainable development of entrepreneurship education in Chinese universities using entropy–TOPSIS method. Sustainability, 14(22), 14772. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142214772

[7] Chen, Y., Lu, Y., Bulysheva, L., & Kataev, M. Y. (2024). Applications of blockchain in industry 4.0: A review. Information Systems Frontiers, 26(5), 1715-1729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-022-10248-7

[8] Christou, E., Parmaxi, A., Andreou, G. T., & Stefanidi, A. (2024). Building a Sustainable Learning Ecosystem: A Systematic Review of Teaching Methods in Clean Energy Transition. Workshop on Digital Transformation in Higher Education, 3031739906. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-73990-3_5

[9] de Lucas Ancillo, A., & Gavrila, S. G. (2023). The impact of research and development on entrepreneurship, innovation, digitization and digital transformation. Journal of Business Research, 157, 113566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113566

[10] Eboigbe, E. O., Farayola, O. A., Olatoye, F. O., Nnabugwu, O. C., & Daraojimba, C. (2023). Business intelligence transformation through AI and data analytics. Engineering Science & Technology Journal, 4(5), 285-307. https://doi.org/10.51594/estj.v4i5.616

[11] Forum, W. E. (2020). Unlocking technology’s potential for sustainable development. . https://www.weforum.org

[12] Hu, X., Feng, F., Liu, K., Zhang, L., Xie, J., & Liu, B. (2019). State estimation for advanced battery management: Key challenges and future trends. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 114, 109334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109334

[13] Islam, M. F., & Can, O. (2024). Integrating digital and sustainable entrepreneurship through business models: a bibliometric analysis. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 14(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40497-024-00386-4

[14] Jarrahi, M. H. (2018). Artificial intelligence and the future of work: Human-AI symbiosis in organizational decision making. Business horizons, 61(4), 577-586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.03.007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.03.007

[15] Kurhayadi, K. (2025). Evaluating the readiness of public institutions for AI-Driven decision making: A framework for adaptive governance. Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology, 9(4), 1569-1580. https://ideas.repec.org/a/ajp/edwast/v9y2025i4p1569-1580id6335.html

[16] Lai, V., Chen, C., Smith-Renner, A., Liao, Q. V., & Tan, C. (2023). Towards a science of human-AI decision making: An overview of design space in empirical human-subject studies. Proceedings of the 2023 ACM conference on fairness, accountability, and transparency, 1369-1385. https://doi.org/10.1145/3593013.3594087

[17] Langeveldt, D. C. (2021). AI-Driven leadership: A conceptual framework for educational decision-making in the AI era. Journal of Educational Administration, 59(3), 256-270. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245812

[18] Liow, M. L. S. (2025). Artificial Intelligence Shaping the Future of Vocational Education and Training: Roles, Impacts, and Insights. In Transforming Vocational Education and Training Using AI (pp. 183-210). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-8252-3.ch008

[19] Liu, H. (2024). Security and privacy protection in the distributed cloud: A hyper-converged architecture-based solution. World Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology and Sciences, 13(1), 425-435. http://dx.doi.org/10.30574/wjaets.2024.13.1.0440

[20] Poza Vílchez, F., Arjona Romero, J. J., & Martín-Jaime, J. J. (2023). Diagnosis of blue and sustainable entrepreneurship in university education in Spain: A case study. https://doi.org/10.2478/jtes-2023-0007

[21] Qu, F., Tang, Q., Li, C.-M., & Liu, J. (2025). Exploring the impact of digital transformation on productivity: the role of artificial intelligence technology, green technology, and energy technology. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 1-32. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2025.23009

[22] Römer-Paakkanen, T., & Suonpää, M. (2023). Entrepreneurship education with purpose: Active ageing for 50+ entrepreneurs and sustainable development for rural areas. Education Sciences, 13(6), 572. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060572

[23] Romero-Colmenares, L. M., & Reyes-Rodríguez, J. F. (2022). Sustainable entrepreneurial intentions: Exploration of a model based on the theory of planned behaviour among university students in north-east Colombia. The International Journal of Management Education, 20(2), 100627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2022.100627

[24] Sahoh, B., & Choksuriwong, A. (2023). The role of explainable Artificial Intelligence in high-stakes decision-making systems: a systematic review. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 14(6), 7827-7843. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-023-04594-w

[25] Sansanee, H., & Kiattisin, S. (2024). The current state of generative AI prompt framework design for enhancing utility in organizational decision-making. 2024 5th Technology Innovation Management and Engineering Science International Conference (TIMES-iCON), 9798350362602. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIMES-iCON61890.2024.10630713

[26] Schaltegger, S., & Wagner, M. (2011). Sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability innovation: categories and interactions. Business strategy and the environment, 20(4), 222-237. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.682 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.682

[27] Sharma, L., Bulsara, H. P., Trivedi, M., & Bagdi, H. (2024). An analysis of sustainability-driven entrepreneurial intentions among university students: the role of university support and SDG knowledge. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 16(2), 281-301. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-11-2022-0359

[28] Shepherd, D. A., & Patzelt, H. (2011). The new field of sustainable entrepreneurship: Studying entrepreneurial action linking “what is to be sustained” with “what is to be developed”. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 35(1), 137-163. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00426.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00426.x

[29] Statista. (2022). Artificial intelligence adoption in education worldwide—CAGR and applications. https://www.statista.com/

[30] UNESCO. (2019). Artificial intelligence in education: Challenges and opportunities for sustainable development. https://unesdoc.unesco.org

[31] UNFCCC. (2015). Paris Agreement. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

[32] Vincent-Lancrin, S., & Van der Vlies, R. (2020). Trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) in education: Promises and challenges. OECD education working papers(218), 0_1-17. https://doi.org/10.1787/a6c90fa9-en DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/a6c90fa9-en

[33] Wang, Y., & Xue, L. (2024). Using AI-driven chatbots to foster Chinese EFL students’ academic engagement: An intervention study. Computers in Human Behavior, 159, 108353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108353

[34] Yan, L., Sha, L., Zhao, L., Li, Y., Martinez‐Maldonado, R., Chen, G., Li, X., Jin, Y., & Gašević, D. (2024). Practical and ethical challenges of large language models in education: A systematic scoping review. British Journal of Educational Technology, 55(1), 90-112. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13370

[35] Zahrani, A. A. (2022). Promoting sustainable entrepreneurship in training and education: The role of entrepreneurial culture. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, 963549. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.963549

[36] Zhang, T., Haq, S. u., Xu, X., & Nadeem, M. (2024). Greening ambitions: exploring factors influencing university students' intentions for sustainable entrepreneurship. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 20(4), 2863-2899. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-024-00991-5

[37] Zuboff, S. (2023). The age of surveillance capitalism. In Social theory re-wired (pp. 203-213). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003320609

Downloads

Published

2024-12-30

How to Cite

Chao Rong. (2024). An AI-Driven Decision Framework for Promoting Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Vocational Colleges. Decision Making: Applications in Management and Engineering, 7(2), 748–769. https://doi.org/10.31181/dmame7220251481