Factors influencing learning agility: undergraduate university students in Fuzhou

This study aims to measure learning agility levels among Fuzhou undergraduate students, identify influencing factors, and validate a mediational model of these factors. Guided by 17 hypotheses, we examined how emotional intelligence (EI), achievement motivation (AM), self‑leadership (SL), and self-efficacy (SE) influence learning agility, with specific focus on chain mediating effects (e.g., EI → AM→SL → SE → learning agility). Adopting a mixed-methods design, we collected quantitative data from 400 students across five Fuzhou universities via questionnaires, using multistage stratified random sampling. Data were analyzed via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test measurement validity and hypothesized paths. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 8 education experts were thematically analyzed to explore contextual insights. Quantitative results showed self‑leadership (β = 0.479, p < 0.001) and self-efficacy (β = 0.206, p < 0.01) as primary direct predictors of learning agility, while EI influenced learning agility indirectly through AM→SL → SE chains (explaining 87.3 % of total effects). Qualitative findings highlighted curricular rigidity as a barrier to change agility and emphasized the hierarchical role of achievement motivation in driving self‑leadership. The study validates a four-dimensional learning agility construct for Chinese students and underscores the need for interventions targeting self‑leadership and self-efficacy cultivation.