The Effect of Digital Literacy on International Students’ Adjustment to University Life: Focusing on the Mediating Effect of ICT Self-efficacy

This study aims to investigate the effect of digital literacy on international students’ adjustment to university life and how ICT self-efficacy mediates the relationship between digital literacy and adjustment to university life. A survey was conducted among 118 international undergraduate and graduate students in Seoul and Daegu. Analytical methods consisted of reliability analysis, validity analysis, regression analysis and multiple mediation analysis performed using the SPSS 26.0 and PROCESS macro (Version 4.0). The results indicated that digital literacy significantly affected international students’ academic adjustment, social adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment, and institutional adjustment. In addition, ICT self-efficacy was identified as a mediating factor in the relationship between digital literacy and academic adjustment. These findings suggest that university libraries, which are the central institutions for providing academic information at universities, should provide a variety of digital literacy programs for international students to improve their ability to use digital tools and help them adjust to the SW-centered society and university life.