The educational structure of digital artisans: a qualitative study based on grounded theory

With the rapid development of digital technology and its increasing integration with traditional industries, new industries, new business forms, and new modes continue to emerge, and the new economy continues to expand; the world’s manufacturing industry is experiencing a new round of technological revolution and industrial change, which is marked by the in-depth fusion of digital technology and advanced manufacturing technology, the overall development of the industry flattens, and the boundaries between the various phases of the work gradually blurred, which puts forward new requirements on the digital literacy and skills of the labour force. This has put forward new requirements for workers’ digital literacy and skills. Against this backdrop, there is an urgent need to vigorously cultivate digital artisans with solid technological foundations, high levels of skill in relevant fields, and the ability to innovate so as to fully utilise the value and efficacy of technological development and support industrial transformation and upgrading and high-quality development. The report of the 20th Party Congress puts forward ‘to promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in a comprehensive way with Chinese-style modernisation’, and ‘digital technology is the first opportunity of the world’s scientific and technological revolution and industrial change’. Immediately after, in 2022, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Highly Skilled Personnel Teams in the New Era, stressing the need to increase the cultivation of urgently needed and in short supply high-skilled personnel, and, in particular, to establish a batch of experimental zones for the cultivation of digital skilled personnel in the context of the building of a solid cybernetic state and a digital China. As the mainstay of the highly skilled talent team, digital artisans aim to provide digital products and services, possess excellent digital literacy, a strong sense of innovation and innovation ability, and master the knowledge and skills required for modern manufacturing and service production (Stofkova et al., 2022; Tzafilkou et al., 2022). Under the background of symbiotic development of digitalisation and skills, analysing the elemental structure of digital artisans and identifying the quality level of digital artisans can help to promote the spirit of craftsmanship in the digital era, break the bottleneck constraints of digital skilled talents, better stimulate the vitality of digital artisans, and provide theoretical support and practical inspiration for promoting digital artisans to serve the development of digital economy (Hu and Chen, 2023).Accordingly, based on the research methodology of rooted theory, this study selected 30 digital artisans for in-depth interviews, combined with 16 open questionnaires for digital artisan teachers and supplementary information, such as secondary sources, to explore the educational structure of digital artisans. The aim is to inject new momentum into the digital era and advance the level of social productivity.

The contributions of this paper are as follows: Firstly, it further explains the theoretical framework of the educational structure of digital artisans. Compared with existing studies that focus on the dimensions of the connotation of ‘craftsmanship’ and the cultivation of ‘skilled labour’, Combining first-hand interviews and secondary textual materials to form a triangulation, this study combines the digital scenario with ‘digital craftsmen’ as the research object. Using the method of rooted theory analysis, based on the condensation of the educational structure of digital artisans in the four levels of knowledge-competence-quality-digital, we explore the internal logical relationship between different dimensions and construct the ‘knowledge-competence-quality-digital’ of digital artisans. The structural framework of ‘knowledge-competence-quality-digital’ of digital artisans is constructed based on condensing the educational structure in the four levels of knowledge-competence-quality-digital, exploring the internal logical relationship between different dimensions, and providing a theoretical analysing tool for systematic research on digital artisans. Secondly, the unique connotation of digital artisans in the Chinese field is creatively proposed. On the one hand, this study absorbs the Western theoretical viewpoints and divides the educational structure of digital artisans into explicit and implicit parts; on the other hand, the characteristics presented in the educational structure are the internalisation and assimilation of the Chinese artisanal spirit, and it is the primary embodiment of the theoretical dialogues between China and the West. The chapters of this study are organised as follows: the second part is the literature review; the third part is the research design; the fourth part is the coding analysis and model construction; the fifth part is the theoretical explanation of the core categories, and the sixth part is the conclusion of this paper.

The essential context of digital artisans

As a new type of labour group in the simultaneous development of modern digital technology, digital artisans have the typical characteristics of the digital field and the characteristic style of craftsmanship. The heterogeneity of digital technology progress, the specificity of industrial transformation and upgrading needs, and other elements have given different conceptual connotations to digital artisans in various fields. The literature shows that the research on digital artisans is broadly divided into two views. Firstly, in terms of digital skills, Denaro argues that the digital artisan is not a generic digital talent but a product of the development of Industry 4.0, who is not only able to assume the role of a bridge between technology and product but also can effectively manage all the production phases by virtue of his craftsmanship (Van et al., 2015). Gramazio and Kohler identified digital artisans as complex, skilled individuals who possess the technical skills required by new industries, are proficient in intelligent digital technologies and are adept at incorporating digital technologies to improve the efficiency of traditional industries in a holistic manner (Heimerl and Kolisch, 2010). Second, from the spirit of craftsmanship. Song Jing believes that being a ‘digital artisan’ means actively practising socialist core values, cultivating patriotism, having a deep sense of pride and self-confidence in the Chinese nation, and possessing the heart of perseverance and focus, the pursuit of the value of skills and virtues, and the ability to innovate in line with digital characteristics (Song, 2019). Third, from the perspective of human-machine symbiosis. Yuan Feng redefines the ‘digital artisan’ concept based on the context of human-machine symbiosis, which refers to the parametric collaborative relationship between humans and machines. This definition indicates that the current design subject has undergone a subversive change, and the design method has shifted from the traditional ‘design intent-drawing-manufacturing’ to the new ‘digital artisan’ model (Yuan et al., 2019). Fei Tao believes that the digital artisan is a new model that deals with physical, virtual and fusion data by the symbiosis model and discovers the data evolution law through intelligent algorithms and other methods to optimise the processing of data (Tao et al., 2019).

Based on the above analysis, this study defines digital artisans as theoretical and technical researchers or technical skill workers responsible for building data models, data cleansing, data integration, data conversion, data mining, data analysis, memory data-driven decision-making and other jobs or occupations, specifically divided into three categories such as high, medium, and low, whose main tasks are basic technology research and development, project process design, and infrastructure installation and operation and maintenance.

Educational structures for digital artisans

In terms of the elemental structure of digital artisans. On the one hand, some scholars have discussed the basic structure of digital artisans ‘specialised’ skills from the perspective of a specific field of engineering or industrial development. For example, from the perspective of the development of the space construction industry, digital artisans not only need to be proficient in the negotiation of digital space but also, more importantly, need to master digital manipulation skills, such as the development of digital construction led by 3D printing technology (Almurbati et al. (2016)). Karpinski’s views from a knowledge and skills perspective suggest that digital artisans need basic skills, attitudes and perspectives, background knowledge, and core competencies, among other things. Background knowledge refers to understanding sources of information. In contrast, core or central competencies are the main competencies of digital literacy (Karpinski et al., 2023). The European Union, on the other hand, emphasises five digital skills in the digital age, including the ability to read and write information and data, the ability to communicate and collaborate using Internet tools, the ability to edit and apply digital content, cyber security, and cyber problem-solving. On the other hand, some scholars have also explored the basic structure of digital artisans in terms of the skill elements they need to possess. For example, some scholars take the integration of digital technology into the curriculum as the basis to build a ‘learning-doing-creation’ training mode for digital artisans, with ‘learning’ strengthening digital design learning ability and digital literacy formation and ‘learning’ strengthening digital design learning ability and digital literacy formation, and ‘learning’ strengthening digital design learning ability and digital literacy formation (Mbuba et al., 2008). For example, Bo build a ‘learning-doing-creation’ cultivation model based on the integration of digital technology in the curriculum to strengthen digital design learning ability and digital literacy, ‘learning’ to enhance the development of digital design practice ability, and ‘creation’ to strengthen the development of digital design innovation ability (Bo et al., 2020). Hu believe that digital artisans are not only users of digital technology tools but also constructors of digital technology knowledge, innovators of digital technology development, and responsible for the consequences of digital technology. Their role expectations cover four roles: technical digital artisans who master digital tools, knowledge-based digital artisans with digital thinking, innovative digital artisans familiar with digital integration, and responsible digital artisans who abide by digital ethics (Hu and Chen, 2023).

In conclusion, the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology puts forward higher requirements for the elemental structure of digital artisans: first, in digital literacy, digital literacy is the ‘digital artisan’ in the development of intelligent manufacturing using specific information technology means and methods, rapid and effective discovery and access to information, evaluation of information, integration of information, exchange of information, comprehensive scientific skills and cultural literacy (Liang and Xing, 2024), including digital awareness, digital thinking, digital skills and digital ethics (Liu et al., 2022; Stopochkin et al., 2022) and other aspects. Secondly, in terms of knowledge structure, digital artisans need to master professional knowledge such as computer fundamentals, network fundamentals, artificial intelligence fundamentals, programming fundamentals, database operations, and website management and security (Bampasidou et al., 2024; Grigorescu et al., 2021). thirdly, in terms of competence structure, digital artisans need to have the competence of software development, extensive data application development, application of artificial intelligence technology, network system and website construction and maintenance (Cai, 2022; Macedo et al., 2023). At the same time, ‘digital artisan’ should also have outstanding innovation ability (Xuan et al., 2021), not only to achieve digital and intelligent production with advanced production technology and processes but also to creatively improve the way of work with the support of data(Liu and Qian, 2021). Fourth, in terms of spiritual structure, ‘digital artisans’ should practice socialist core values, have a deep sense of patriotism and pride in the Chinese nation, and possess a quiet and persistent heart of scrupulousness, ‘skill’, ‘art’, ‘virtue’ and ‘industry’, ‘skill’, ‘art’, ‘virtue’, ‘industry values’ and ‘innovative thinking’ in line with the characteristics of the times (Flemisch et al., 2019), fully demonstrating the ‘artisan spirit’ of the new era(Gao et al., 2023).

Cultivation of digital artisans

At the international level, the cultivation of talents with digital skills is mainly carried out, and the main measures in the European Union are as follows: firstly, institutional planning. Based on economic and industrial development needs, the EU has developed a strategy for developing digitally skilled personnel. The EU’s strategic documents on digital skills can be traced back to the 21st Century Digital Skills: Enhancing Competitiveness, Growth and Employment’ issued in 2007, and in 2016, the European Commission formulated the ‘Digital Skills Framework 2.0’, which clearly put forward a series of indicators for measuring the degree of digital skills of citizens, and put forward the education and training objectives at eight levels, providing a theoretical basis for the cultivation of digital skills talents; Secondly, linking resources from all sides: in 2016, the EU set up the Digital Skills and Jobs Alliance and the Digital Skills Governance Board, combining schools, digital enterprises and education and training departments to provide matching education, training and skills certification for school students and digital skills talents; lastly, encouraging educational institutions to cultivate skills talents. Finally, it encourages educational institutions to cultivate skilled personnel. The EU focuses on assisting universities in cultivating digital high-quality technical talents in conjunction with the Marie Curie programme under the ‘EU Horizon 2020’ framework. In the context of the Erasmus+ programme, internships are offered to students in digital companies within the EU. In conjunction with the European Digital Skills Competition, the European Union will inspire and motivate the education sector to provide appropriate teaching and training programmes to create a favourable environment for developing digital talent (Wu et al., 2020). Australia has taken various measures to improve the quality of digital artisan training in vocational education by enhancing the intelligence of vocational schools’ practical training areas, developing digital skills courses that highlight the needs of the industry, building a collaborative digital skills training community, and improving the digital competence of vocational education teachers in various ways (Chen, 2024). India, which has a solid industrial foundation and rich talent reserves in the field of software and information services, formally put forward the strategy of ‘Digital India’ and proposed three practice models for digital talent training, namely, the interdisciplinary model of computing, the industry-teaching fusion model of technology and the project-based model of business analysis (Zhou and Zhou, 2020).

From the domestic level, the existing research shows two main cultivation paths: government-led and education-led. First, the government-led, first of all, digital artisan cultivation of the ‘Jiangsu model’. The real economy is the ‘watchword’ of Jiangsu, and the digital economy is the ‘key increment’ of Jiangsu’s transformation and development. The main initiatives are as follows: the first step is to build an environment, plant fertile soil for growth, and provide a stage for ‘digital artisans’ to practice their skills; the second step is to implement collaborative education to cultivate composite and innovative high-skilled talents with both industrial technology background and digital literacy; the third step is to focus on digital technology and new occupations, new job types and scarce positions to improve digital skills through training; the fourth step is to create a solid atmosphere to create a favourable atmosphere for the whole society to respect skills and attach importance to skilled talents through extensive publicity (Zhang, 2021). Next is the ‘Fujian model’ of digital artisan cultivation. In recent years, under the impetus of the digital Fujian strategy, Fujian has been making efforts to promote digital industrialisation and industrial digitisation and drawing a new picture of high-quality development in industrial parks and factories on the land of Fujian (Tan, 2018). Secondly, education is a small quantity of the main, more from the perspective of institutional, professional training to discuss the intelligent era of digital artisan cultivation of curriculum system reform and education path. For example, Chongqing Industrial Vocational and Technical College of Mechanical Design and manufacturing professional ‘three-dimensional digital’ and ‘innovative design’ teaching reform as an entry point to the integration of course content and digital technology as the main line, to build a ‘4 stars The ‘4-star’ competence course system features advanced experience, which enables students to master digital development skills through the advanced practice of project modelling and simulation (Bo et al., 2020). Shenzhen Institute of Vocational Technology (SZVT), by fully integrating the advantageous resources of schools, industries and enterprises, organically integrates professional core competencies with digital competencies, improves the level of international schooling, and cultivates digital skilled talents (Geng et al., 2023).Chongqing Electronic Engineering Vocational College, relying on Chongqing Electronic Information Vocational Education Group through the ‘Artisan Teacher Collaboration’ teaching team, to design a set of basic competencies and integration capabilities for the ‘dual-capability support’ curriculum system, a set of incubation projects and development support for the ‘incubation and support linkage’ of the ‘incubation and support linkage’ of the ‘incubation and support linkage’ of the ‘incubation and support linkage’. Through the ‘Artisan Collaboration’ teaching team, a set of curriculum systems with basic ability and integration ability as ‘dual ability support’ and a support platform with incubation projects and development support are designed, forming the ‘Artisan Collaboration—Dual Ability Support—Incubation and Support Linkage’ high-skilled talent cultivation model (Sun et al., 2023).

In summary, the relevant research on digital artisans is still in a state of scattered distribution. The research on digital artisans’ connotations and educational structures mainly centres on the demand for talent supply in the development of the digital industry. It has yet to form a more distinctive academic point of view and influence. In this context, exploring the educational structure of digital artisans has become necessary for developing China’s education system (Luo et al., 2024) and social productivity. Accordingly, this study adopts a rooted theoretical research paradigm to explore the educational structure of digital artisans and establish a theoretical analytical framework for the educational structure of digital artisans, i.e., including the knowledge structure, the ability structure, the digital structure, the literacy structure, through the results of the interviews, the open questionnaires of the teachers, and the supplementary information such as secondary sources, to enrich the theoretical research on digital artisans based on the perspective of digital technology and provide a Theoretical Mirror.

Research methodology

Grounded theory began in the 1860s as a method of qualitative analysis proposed by American scholars Glaser and Strauss. The basic logic of the method is to seek conceptual categories of social phenomena under the premise of an extensive collection of empirical data and link these conceptual categories to construct a theoretical model, resulting in a qualitative research method (Matavire and Brown, 2013). After a long period of development, grounded theory has evolved into the categories of classical grounded theory, procedural grounded theory, and constructive grounded theory, among which procedural grounded was first introduced into our country, which generally follows the three steps of open coding, spindle coding, and selective coding (Turner and Astin, 2021), and the specific steps are relatively mature and have received a great deal of attention and use (Jia and Heng, 2020). Open coding is to decompose, sort, and integrate the collected data to extract the relevant conceptual categories; spindle coding is based on open coding, clarifying the logical relationships in the conceptual categories and ultimately extracting the main categories, and selective coding is to analyse the conceptual categories further to obtain the overarching ‘core categories’ (Jia and Heng, 2016). NVivo software, as an essential application tool for rooted theory, can systematically manage qualitative data, and through highly flexible coding tools and drag-and-drop decoding and organising functions, it can intuitively cluster concepts and integrate categories; it can also be used for editing conceptual network diagrams and visualisation, helping research to analyse in-depth unstructured data, explore conceptual associations, and construct theories, and the process of its application follows the qualitative research paradigm (Wang et al., 2014).

This study adopts the qualitative research method of procedural grounded, referring to the studies of Wang Bunjun (Wang et al., 2021). Li Shuling (Li, 2019), and combining with the current literature on the basic structure of ‘digital artisans’, we establish a preliminary theoretical model of the basic structure of ‘digital artisans’ on the basis of the iceberg theory. based on the iceberg theory, and established a preliminary theoretical model of the basic structure of ‘digital artisans’. Using in-depth interviews to obtain relevant research data, teachers’ open questionnaires and secondary data and other supplementary materials, open coding, spindle coding and selective coding of the relevant research data with the help of NVivo12Plus software, and analyse the results of the coding of the existing studies, the structure of the digital artisan education was finally derived, to provide a theoretical and practical basis for improving the quality of digital artisan education.

Data sources

Digital artisan interview subjects. In order to explore the structure of digital artisan education in depth, this study selected national, provincial, and municipal digital artisans to conduct in-depth interviews. It used the interview’s textual information as the basis for rooted theoretical analyses. Since the beginning of this study in 2023, based on analysing relevant theories and through consulting relevant experts, the semi-structured interview outline of ‘Exploring the Education Structure of Digital Artisan’ was initially formed, and the specific interview process was divided into three phases of pre-interviews January 2023-February 2023, the first-phase interviews March 2023-May 2023, and the second-phase interviews May 2023-June 2023, etc. A total of 30 digital artisans were selected digital artisans as interview subjects, and five digital artisans were reserved for theoretical saturation tests. Among the 25 digital artisans used for rooted analysis, there were 16 provincial and municipal-level great master artisans and nine national-level great master artisans. The interviews were carried out from January 2023 to June 2023. The interviews were conducted using a combination of online and offline methods, with offline mainly adopting one-on-one in-depth interviews through research and online relying on the Internet. The adequate interview time per person in the actual interviews ranged from 40 to 80 min, and the recorded information was immediately transformed into textual information at the end of the interviews, with more than 180,000 words of interview information being collated. The basic information of the respondents is shown in Table 1.

Digital Craftsmen Teachers Open-ended Questionnaire Respondents. Sixteen digital artisan teachers were invited to complete the open-ended questionnaire, of which 5 were female vocational college teachers and 11 were male vocational college teachers; 3 non-senior titles and 13 senior titles; in terms of the duration of years of experience, 1, 6, and 9 had worked for 5 years or less, 5–10 years, 10–20 years, and more than 20 years, respectively; and the age of the teachers ranged from 34–55 years old.

The combination of primary interview materials and secondary textual materials helped the researcher to obtain more comprehensive and integrated materials and to form a triangulation. In addition to the primary interview materials and teachers’ open-ended questionnaires, the data analysis materials of this study also collected a large amount of secondary data through a variety of channels to supplement the data of the primary interview information; the specific materials include the tweets on the company’s official website, media news reports, and research articles in journals such as WOS, CNKI, Wanfang, and so on. The data sources are shown in Table 2.

Coding process

In this study, the original data were structured using NVivo qualitative software, and the data were processed according to the idea of constructive Zagan theory concerning the data processing procedure of Zagan theory and coded according to the three-level procedural coding paradigm of ‘open coding-major axis coding-selective coding’. The data processing follows the idea of constructive rootedness theory, referring to the data processing procedure of rootedness theory, coding according to the ‘open coding—spindle coding—selective coding’ three-level procedural coding paradigm, and doing the theory saturation test. The specific coding process is as follows.

Open coding

Open coding is the initial stage of rooted theory coding, in which initial concepts are identified, and initial categories are generated by analysing and comparing the raw textual material, word by word and analytically. In order to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of the coding, this study extracted the raw data for open coding with the help of NVivo12Plus qualitative analysis tool, followed the operational process of ‘raw data→abelling→conceptualisation→category’, reinterpreted the raw data according to the logical association between concepts and categories, and eliminated the less frequent or invalid initial concepts. Initial concepts with low frequency or invalid initial concepts were eliminated, merged and conceptualised in the same category, and 33 initial concepts and 12 categories (C1-C12) were formed. The conceptual categories extracted by open coding are a refined synthesis of the primary sources, reflecting the structure of the educational elements of digital artisans and laying the conceptual foundation for the entire rooted theoretical model. Given the space limitation, only some initial conceptual categories and initial representative partial statements are listed here, as shown in Table 3.

Spindle type coding

Principal axis coding is the process of subcategory development, i.e. the resulting subcategories are re-summarised, summarised, merged, and condensed to explore the principal categories further (Gou et al., 2018). In this study, by further exploring the intrinsic connections among the 11 subcategories of open coding, four main categories were finally formed, including knowledge structure (B1), ability structure (B2), digital structure (B3), and quality structure (B4). The main-axis coding is shown in Table 4.

Selective coding

In the selective coding process, the categories generated in the spindle coding process are constantly collated, summarised, and analysed to explore the ‘core categories’ that play a guiding role, and to deeply analyse the relationship between the core categories and the other categories (Wang and Xu, 2022). In this study, the extracted main categories and their logical associations were analysed and compared, and a model of the structure of digital artisan education was constructed by combining iterative validation of primary sources (Fig. 1) (Table 5).

Diagram of the relationships inherent in the structure of digital artisan education.

Full size image

Theoretical saturation test

The criterion for stopping sampling in rooted theory studies is testing for theoretical saturation, which can be tested by alternately collecting and analysing data. Existing studies have tested theoretical saturation in the later stages by explaining their main categories to former research participants and asking if and to what extent they conformed to their experiences. Studies have also tested theoretical saturation by adding information for coding and analysis (Conlon et al., 2020). On the one hand, in order to prove that the theoretical saturation test has been passed, this study uses the results of the interviews with the four digital artisans reserved for the interviews and conceptualises and categories them according to the three-level coding methodology, which reveals that no new conceptual categories have been generated, suggesting that all the category categories have been adequately extracted and that the logical relationships between the different categories are clear. On the other hand, we explained the categories and theoretical frameworks to the interviewees, digital artisans, and digital artisan teachers. We asked whether they were in line with practical experience. The interviewees gave feedback that the main categories and their interrelationships were more in line with practical experience and real feelings, which determined that the theory constructed in this study passed the theoretical saturation test and had explanatory solid power.

Through the above coding analysis results, this study constructed a model of the structure of digital artisan education, including four conceptual categories: knowledge structure, competence structure, quality structure and digital structure, as shown in Fig. 2. Among them, the knowledge structure mainly embodies individual knowledge reserves such as basic knowledge, professional knowledge and specific knowledge; the ability structure mainly embodies individual ability reserves such as essential ability, professional ability and specific ability; the digital structure mainly embodies digital features and levels such as digital qualities, digital knowledge and digital skills; and the quality structure mainly embodies intrinsic spiritual characteristics such as the quality of beliefs and the spirit of professionalism.

Structure of digital artisan elements.

Full size image

Knowledge structures: underpinning digital artisans

Knowledge structure is the digital artisan education system’s core and most fundamental concept. Skilled labour refers to the labour of experienced and skilled producers in the same type of work. The knowledge structure possessed by digital artisans further optimises skilled labour. Digital artisans should not only have in-depth professional knowledge but also extensive basic knowledge and specific knowledge, as well as the most comprehensive and optimal knowledge system that meets career development needs. Clarifying the knowledge structure of digital artisans will help cultivate a scientific way of thinking and improve professional skills to meet the requirements of artisanal positions. This paper summarises the cultivation dimensions of the knowledge structure of digital artisans, i.e., basic knowledge, professional knowledge, comprehensive knowledge, etc., by rooting the theoretical research paradigm. Firstly, basic knowledge is the basic knowledge in digital artisan learning, and it is also the basic knowledge that must be familiar with and mastered when engaging in any work. For digital artisans, no matter what position they are in, they have to have the basic knowledge structure, and they should master the basic knowledge such as theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge, and general knowledge, which must not be neglected, and they should do specialisation in their field on this basis. Secondly, professional knowledge refers to a body of knowledge in a particular discipline or field that provides a comprehensive grasp and understanding of relevant concepts, principles, theories, and skills, and can be used flexibly in practical applications. It is composed of the basic knowledge, standards and norms, and research methods of the field, which can support and advance the development of the field. For digital artisans, professional knowledge includes vocational knowledge, technical knowledge cutting-edge knowledge, etc., which are the basis of their cognition and practical operation. Only by familiarising themselves with the professional knowledge in the field they are engaged in can they apply it more skillfully in practice and improve the quality and efficiency of their work (Gao and Lv, 2021). Third, comprehensive knowledge. Integrated knowledge is a systematic knowledge structure, that is to say, it refers to the integrated mastery of political knowledge, scientific and technological humanities knowledge, and communication knowledge. Digital artisans need to have comprehensive knowledge that can be linked and applied between different fields. Accumulation of knowledge and deepening and expanding insights are the foundational elements of comprehensive quality. They can further develop their horizons and grow their insights only when digital artisans have achieved a certain amount of knowledge.

Competence structures: sustaining digital artisans

Competency structure is an important part of digital artisans, and ‘competency’ refers to the level of skills, such as operational level and methodology, that skilled workers develop in the course of their work. Unlike the knowledge structure, the competence structure is more about the skills that digital artisans have accumulated during their studies and work, which is difficult to express visually. Through coding and analysing the existing interview data, it can be found that the ‘competence structure’ encompasses ‘professional competence’, ‘practical competence’, and ‘innovation competence’. Through coding and analysing the existing interview data, it can be found that the ‘competence structure’ encompasses the three cultivation categories of ‘professional competence’, ‘practical competence’, and ‘innovation competence’. Firstly, professional ability is the foundation of quality, the guarantee of safety, and the basis of creation, and the professional ability of digital artisans includes three aspects: superior skills, unity of knowledge and behaviour, and diligent study and practice. Digital craftsmen need to be more exquisite in their professional ability, so they need to unite their knowledge and behaviour, practice diligently to improve their professional ability, polish each work carefully, and always adhere to the value of striving for perfection and the pursuit of excellence, to achieve the realm of superior skills. At the same time, the digital era has put forward more stringent requirements for the professional ability of digital artisans, professional ability is a mixture of integrated, cross-cutting, and composite talents, and the professional content will change and develop with the change of the times, and the only way to have the professional ability to meet the digital era is to learn and practice hard (Zou et al., 2022). Secondly, practical ability requires that digital artisans be nurtured in their practical, hands-on, and executive abilities, which is also the unique connotation and proper meaning of digital artisans. The enhancement of digital artisans’ competence comes from practice, which can only be truly acquired and continuously improved through ‘doing’. In the context of digitisation, the deconstruction of practical ability is even more emphasised, to inspire digital artisans to avoid the evaluation of being detached from reality, working behind closed doors and talking on paper, and to realise their ideals through practical action on the ground, proving themselves through action and demonstrating their ability (Shang, 2023). Thirdly, in the process of digitisation, innovation provides inexhaustible power to support world development, and the ability to innovate has become a key competency essential to digital artisans. Taking innovation as the competitiveness of craftsmen, and taking the pursuit of a high standard and high quality as a new normal is the real way out of the industry change, which can not only materialise the crisis awareness and adventure spirit of digital craftsmen but also realise the practical goal of ‘changing the world’. In the current context of rapid technological change, innovation will be eliminated if it fails to keep up with the development of the times. Therefore, digital artisans need to cultivate the ability to think diligently, be open to iteration and be flexible and adaptable. They also need to cultivate the courage to face up to dilemmas and the ability to innovate strongly with the help of digital technology and digital tools (Li, 2020).

Digital architecture: a key breakthrough for digital artisans

Digital technology, as a universal enabling technology, not only represents an emerging technology, giving rise to a fast-growing new industry, but also accelerates the increasing standardisation of ‘hardware’ and personalisation of ‘software’, triggering the traditional innovation system and systematic reconstruction of the traditional innovation system, production mode, and industrial structure (Xu et al., 2023). With the help of the rooted theory research paradigm, this paper concludes that the digital structure should focus on cultivating three subcategories of ‘digital quality’, ‘digital knowledge’, and ‘digital technology’. Firstly, digital quality includes digital cognitive quality, digital emotional quality, and digital ethical quality. Digital cognitive quality reflects the degree of digital craftsmen’s cognition of digital technology, which also reflects the change in digital craftsmen’s thinking; digital emotional quality reflects digital craftsmen’s emotional attitude towards digital technology, which requires that digital craftsmen should keep their mindset open and critical thinking in the face of the application of digital technology; and digital ethical quality requires that digital craftsmen should keep their mindset open and critical thinking in the face of the application of digital technology. The quality of digital ethics requires that digital artisans follow the basic requirements and code of conduct in the process of using digital technology. Secondly, digital knowledge includes digital professional knowledge, digital service knowledge, and digital work norms, which refer to basic digital knowledge, specialised digital knowledge, basic service knowledge, and basic digital work norms that digital artisans urgently need to master in the course of their work. Thirdly, digital technology includes skills for interaction with digital technology, such as basic skills for the digital environment, skills for the digital field of specialisation, and integrated skills for the digital society. Basic skills in the digital environment require digital artisans to possess basic digital equipment operation, digital information management, and digital security maintenance skills; digital professional skills require digital artisans to master professional skills in the industry; and integrated digital social skills require the cultivation of digital artisans’ self-management, social participation, and digital citizenship. In conclusion, the digital structure of digital artisans should highlight digital cognitive quality, digital emotional quality, digital ethical quality, and other digital qualities based on the existing digital education to train talents in digital knowledge and digital technology.

Quality structure: endogenous drive for digital artisans

Compared with ordinary skilled personnel, digital artisans not only need to have good habits but also need to have a core quality structure, which is indispensable for refining from ordinary skilled personnel to digital artisans. According to the coding analysis of the existing data, the ‘quality of belief’ should focus on the cultivation of ‘quality of belief’ and ‘professionalism’. First, is the quality of belief. The quality of beliefs is a value-based quality that runs through the entire labour process of digital artisans, which can not only cultivate digital artisans themselves, but also gain a sense of satisfaction from their work, and ultimately not be tempted by material things. Among them, love and dedication are the most basic belief qualities of digital artisans, entering an organisation means becoming a community of interest with the organisation, which also means accepting the organisation’s culture and value beliefs, assuming their responsibilities in the organisation, and working hard and conscientiously. Responsibility awareness is the ‘advanced’ belief quality of digital artisans, which is the most basic belief quality, influencing digital artisans decision-making and actions all the time, which requires them to be rigorous and responsible in their work, take responsibility, abide by the integrity, and be responsible for themselves, their work, the organisation and the society, and their customers (Zou, 2022). As a ‘higher order’ quality of beliefs, it requires digital artisans to look at an issue from a broader and wider perspective and to make choices in the interest of the organisation, society, or the country. Second, professionalism. Professionalism refers to the working style and attitude of digital artisans, and the concepts, mentality, and personality determine the acting style of digital artisans and affect their work performance. The basic element of the professional spirit of digital artisans is the pursuit of excellence, regardless of whether the digital artisans are in ordinary positions or high-end positions, the requirements are high quality, high value, high output, the pursuit of low energy consumption, the pursuit of perfection, the goal is specific and firm (Liu and Deng, 2021). The core cultivation element of the professional spirit of digital artisans is persistence and concentration, and becoming a digital artisan requires a long period of professional learning and experience accumulation in the industry (Gao, 2022; Zhu et al., 2021) Different industries have different professional knowledge and skill systems, compared with low-tech industries, the knowledge system of high-tech and high-intelligence industries is more complicated and the skill requirements are more profound, which requires a long period of dedicated learning and understanding, and many innovative activities can only make breakthroughs based on in-depth understanding and familiarity with the professional field (Al-Khatib et al., 2015; Alakrash and Razak, 2021).The key cultivation element of the professional spirit of digital artisans is striving for excellence, and strict requirements and high standards are carried through the production process of digital artisans before fine products can emerge (Cherbonnier et al., 2024; Heimerl and Kolisch, 2010).

Conclusions of the study

Using the qualitative research method of rootedness theory, this study selected 30 digital artisans as the interview subjects, combined with 16 open questionnaires of digital artisan teachers and supplementary information such as secondary data, and through the steps of open coding, spindle coding and selective coding, we constantly compared and refined the concepts and categories, and combined with the iceberg theory, we found that the structure of digital artisan education includes four dimensions, including ‘knowledge structure’, ‘ability structure’, ‘digital structure’ and ‘quality structure’, and the different dimensions are related to each other, influence each other, and mutually affect each other. It is found that the structure of digital artisan education consists of four dimensions: ‘knowledge structure’, ‘competence structure’, ‘digital structure’ and ‘quality structure’, and the different dimensions are connected with each other, influence each other, support each other and facilitate each other’s progress. Among them, the knowledge structure is the digital artisan education system’s core and most basic concept. Digital artisans need not only in-depth professional knowledge but also broad basic knowledge and comprehensive knowledge and have the most comprehensive and optimal knowledge system that meets the needs of career development, which is similar to Zhang’s study, i.e., they should have professional knowledge, but this study systematically summarises the three types of knowledge systems that digital artisans urgently need to have, which is a more comprehensive study (Zhang, 2024). The competence structure is an integral part of digital artisans, which is the skills they accumulate in their study and work. It is complex to express intuitively and is specifically divided into three categories: ‘professional competence’, ‘practical competence’, and ‘innovation competence’. Specifically, it is divided into three categories, such as ‘professional ability’, ‘practical ability’, ‘innovation ability’, and compared with the proficiency coefficient of traditional skilled labour (Zhu et al., 2022), this study focuses on the innovation ability and practical ability of digital artisans. The digital structure is the critical breakthrough of digital artisans, which requires digital artisans to promote the increasing standardisation of ‘hardware ‘and personalisation of ‘software’, triggering the systematic reconstruction of the traditional innovation system, production mode, industrial structure, etc. Specifically divided into three sub-categories, namely ‘Digital quality’, ‘digital knowledge’, ‘digital technology’ and other three sub-categories, which are different from the related research on digital education, this study requires digital artisans to have digital technology and digital knowledge but also requires them to have digital cognition. Knowledge, but also digital qualities such as digital cognitive, emotional, and ethical quality (Wing, 2008). The quality structure is endogenously driven by the digital artisan, which requires good habits and a core quality structure, precisely the ‘quality of beliefs’ covering the connotation of the two categories of professionalism (Li, 2020; Tang, 2021).

Research contribution

The theoretical contributions of this study are mainly reflected in the following aspects: it further explains the theoretical framework of the educational structure of digital artisans. Compared with existing studies that focus on the dimensions of the connotation of ‘craftsmanship’ and the cultivation of ‘skilled labour,’ this study combines digital scenarios with ‘digital craftsmen’ as the research object. Combining first-hand interviews and secondary textual materials to form a triangulation, this study uses the rooted theory analysis method to construct the ‘knowledge-competence-quality-digital’ dimension of digital craftsmen based on the condensation of the educational structure of digital craftsmen in the four levels of the knowledge-competence-quality-digital, and the excavation of the inherent logical relationship between the different dimensions. Based on condensing the educational structure in the four levels of knowledge-competence-quality-digital, it explores the internal logical relationship between different dimensions. It constructs the structural framework of knowledge-competence-quality-digital of digital artisans, which provides a specific theoretical, analytical tool for systematic research on digital artisans. Secondly, we creatively put forward the unique connotation of digital artisans in the Chinese field. On the one hand, this study absorbs the Western theoretical viewpoints and divides the educational structure of digital artisans into explicit and implicit parts; on the other hand, the characteristics of the educational structure are the internalisation and absorption of the Chinese artisanal spirit, which is the primary embodiment of the theoretical dialogues between China and the West.

Research proposal

Digital artisans are a core element in the development of the digital economy, playing an essential role in digital technology research and development and digital industrialisation. Cultivating digital artisans requires the following: first, industry authorities and digital-related industry organisations should set up professional organisations and management bodies, co-ordinate educational resources in the digital field, incorporate them into the digital skills training network, and explore the establishment of a ‘digital artisan cyber-school’, which can provide a la carte menus for the continuing education of digital practitioners; at the same time, it is necessary to gather, we should gather the concept of ‘digital community’, actively build a digital exchange platform for the digital industry, and timely release the investment services, technical research and project cooperation of digital craftsmen, as well as the list of talents in short supply in digital skills and the introduction policy, to create better conditions for the technological exchanges and mutual assistance among digital practitioners. Secondly, consolidate and develop the status of the main body of enterprises in the digital industry, incorporate the cultivation of digital artisans into the overall planning of the company’s strategic development by the actual situation of digital enterprises, provide digital practitioners with opportunities for continued learning and lifelong learning using hiring external experts, the introduction of equipment and construction of laboratories, relying on the enterprise’s skills training centre and industrial schools, network platforms, etc.; conduct regular digital skills competitions within the enterprises, and Incubate and cultivate digital skill masters, and actively build digital artisans studios and innovation development studios, etc., to stimulate digital artisans’s enthusiasm for learning by comparing and catching up with others, and to enhance the knowledge structure and ability structure of digital artisans. Lastly, we should give full play to the fundamental role of colleges and universities, mainly digital vocational schools, promote strategic cooperation between colleges and universities and enterprises, carry out order-type training and package training, and build an array of digital craftsmen who can work together through industry-led and industry-education fusion, such as ‘school-enterprise, school-school and school-land’. Explore the implementation of the ‘Apprenticeship System with Chinese Characteristics’ of ‘Enterprises in the Classroom, Teaching in the Enterprises’, attract digital industry giants to enter into the development of digital skilled personnel projects, implement differentiated training projects for different categories and groups of highly-skilled personnel, and then cultivate ‘masters of digital craftsmen relying on the projects. The project will then cultivate ‘master teachers’ and ‘senior apprentices’ of digital artisans.

Research limitations

There are some shortcomings in this study: First, the differences in the industry of digital artisans have not been explored in detail; in the future, we can classify and analyse digital artisans in different industries and positions and dig out the differences in different types of digital artisans; second, we have not carried out an empirical analysis of the theoretical framework of the educational structure of digital artisans, and in the future, we can further develop the scale for the structure of the digital artisans’ factors and build a more generalised theoretical framework based on it, combined with the questionnaire survey to test the influencing factors and the possible causal relationship between different factors. In the future, we can further develop the scale of digital artisans’ factor structure and use it as a basis for combining the questionnaire survey to test the influencing factors of digital artisans and the possible causal relationship between different factors to construct a universal theoretical framework. Thirdly, due to time and resource constraints, interview studies were not conducted with digital artisans from different countries. Interviews with digital artisans from different countries can be conducted in the future to improve the breadth of data.