Generation pathways of innovation capability among engineering graduate students at Chinese Double First-Class universities: configurational analysis using the Technology-Organization-Environment framework

Innovation capability at the graduate level is a key outcome of higher education, reflecting not only institutional arrangements but also students' learning-related psychological processes. As China has become a major global hub for engineering education, understanding how engineering graduate students develop innovation capability is essential for cultivating high-level innovative talent. However, existing studies have largely relied on variable-centered approaches and paid limited attention to configurational mechanisms. Drawing on the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study investigates multiple pathways leading to high innovation capability among engineering graduate students at Chinese Double First-Class universities. Survey data from 544 graduate students were analyzed to identify combinations of pedagogical practices, organizational support, and environmental conditions associated with high innovation capability. Four configurational pathways were identified: the environment-organization model, the technology-organization model, the technology-environment-organization model, and the environment-partial technology or organization model. The findings indicate that innovation capability does not depend on a single factor but emerges from different condition combinations, partly through activating students' psychological engagement, innovation self-efficacy, and learning motivation. This study extends the TOE framework to graduate engineering education and contributes to psychological research on learning and innovation by clarifying how institutional and pedagogical contexts may activate key psychological mechanisms underlying students' innovative behavior.