Multiple Pathways to University Programme Structure Optimisation in the Digital Economy: Insights from China for Sustainable Higher Education

The digital economy is reshaping talent development needs and programme and curriculum provision in higher education, making sustained alignment between programme provision and societal needs an important concern for sustainable higher education. However, how different digital economy conditions jointly influence university programme structure optimisation remains insufficiently understood. Using data from 29 provincial-level regions in China, this study characterises digital economy development across five dimensions: digital service accessibility, digital innovation, industrial digitalisation, digital industrialisation, and the policy and fiscal support environment. It constructs an index of university programme structure optimisation for digital transformation and distinguishes the shares of new engineering and non-engineering programmes. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), fixed-effects models, and system generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation are combined to identify configurational pathways and linear effects. The results show that multiple digital economy conditions jointly shape programme structure optimisation, with digital service accessibility and the digital industrial base providing relatively consistent support. Engineering programmes respond more directly to digital economy development and exhibit clearer pathways, whereas non-engineering adjustments are more complex and involve indirect institutional influences and knowledge reconfiguration. From a programme and curriculum change perspective, this study reveals multiple pathways and regional differences in programme structure optimisation. The findings inform regionally tailored programme and curriculum restructuring and the sustained adaptation of higher education to socioeconomic needs.