Digital Self-Efficacy among Graduate Students at Al-Azhar University with Varying Levels of Attitude toward Artificial Intelligence in Light of Some Demographic Variables

The study aimed to investigate the level of digital self-efficacy among postgraduate students at Al-Azhar University, and to identify the differences in this variable among the participants based on their level of attitude toward artificial intelligence (positive / neutral / negative), gender (male / female), specialization (educational / psychological / vocational), and academic stage (Special Diploma / Master's / Doctorate). A total of (464) participants enrolled in the Special Diploma, Master’s, and Doctoral programs took part in the study. The descriptive method was employed as it is appropriate to the nature of the research. Two scales were used: the Digital Self-Efficacy Scale and the Attitude Toward Artificial Intelligence Scale-both developed by the researcher. The results revealed that the level of digital self-efficacy among postgraduate students at Al-Azhar University was moderate. Statistically significant differences were found in digital self-efficacy based on the level of attitude toward artificial intelligence, favoring those with a positive attitude. The positive attitude group ranked highest across all dimensions and the total score, followed by the neutral group, while the negative group came last. Significant differences were also found by gender, in favor of males, who outperformed females in all dimensions and the total score of the digital self-efficacy scale. Regarding specialization, differences favored the educational specialization, as Scheffé’s post hoc test showed that educational students achieved the highest means, followed by psychological students, while vocational students scored the lowest across all dimensions and the total score. Additionally, differences by academic stage were in favor of doctoral students. The results clearly indicated a gradual increase in digital self-efficacy as students advanced in their academic stage, with doctoral students ranking first, followed by master’s students, and then special diploma students across all dimensions and the total score. The findings were discussed, and a set of recommendations and suggestions for future research were presented.