At a glance
- Source
- Luna, Ocaña, Ortiz-Colón and Rodríguez Moreno (2026). From Self-Perception to Reality in Digital Competence: Findings from the DigComp 2.2 Framework. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 24(3), 137–153. doi:10.34190/ejel.24.3.4611
- How it was done
- Students rated their own digital skills and also took a test of the same skills. The researchers compared the two. Survey. People answered questions once. It shows what goes together, not what causes what.
- Who took part
- 629 students at a military university.
- Where
- Spain.
“Self-assessment of digital competence is notoriously unreliable, often masking critical skill gaps by conflating confidence with actual competence.”
What it found
- Self-ratings and test scores did not match. The gaps were too large to be chance.
- The mismatch ran both ways. Some people rated themselves well above their test score, and some well below.
- Two areas were weakest, even among top scorers: problem solving, and finding and judging information.
- The authors propose combining a self-rating with a test, plus a check of how consistent a person’s answers are.
When the result holds
The skills were general digital skills, measured against the European Union’s digital competence framework in its 2022 version (2.2). A newer version of that framework has since been published.
Limits
- The participants were students at one military university, not employees.
Practices that use this study
This study supports:
- Test AI knowledge instead of asking staff to rate their own People judge their own skills poorly. To find out what your staff know about AI, use a short knowledge test or a second opinion, not only a self-rating. Do next · Effort: medium (weeks, a few people)
- Assess readiness from several sources, not one executive’s rating A readiness check filled in by one senior person reflects that person’s view. Ask staff and managers as well, and compare the answers with what you can observe. Do next · Effort: medium (weeks, a few people)
Assessments linked to this study
- How do staff rate their own AI skills and their confidence to learn? Meta AI Literacy Scale (MAILS) Staff, each rating their own skills · 34 questions, or 10 in the short version Free to use, ask before changing
- What do staff know about AI, including generative AI? AI Competency Objective Scale (AICOS) Staff, each taking a test · A full and a short version. The number of questions is not established Free to use and adapt
- What do staff know about AI? Scale of Artificial Intelligence Literacy for All (SAIL4ALL) Staff, each taking a test · 56 questions in 4 parts. Each part can be used on its own Free to use and adapt