Digital transformation is reshaping occupational structures and competence requirements across industries, yet vocational education research has rarely explained how authentic workplace participation contributes to the development of occupation-specific digital capability. This paper addresses that gap by introducing the construct of Digital Occupational Competence (DOC), defined as the integrated capability through which vocational students accomplish occupation-specific tasks by mobilizing digital technologies, occupational knowledge, collaborative practice, and adaptive judgement within authentic workplace environments. Drawing on Situated Learning Theory, Workplace Learning Theory, and Boundary Crossing Theory, the paper develops the Workplace-Embedded Digital Occupational Competence Formation (WEDOCF) Framework, which explains competence formation through four interrelated mechanisms: authentic digital tasks, boundary-crossing participation, reflective knowledge integration, and enterprise digital standards. Six theoretical propositions are advanced concerning the direct, mediating, and moderating relationships among these mechanisms and DOC. As a conceptual contribution, it proposes a structural-equation-modeling research design for future validation and outlines the measurement, sampling, and analytical considerations such a study would require. The paper contributes to the literature by (a) proposing a competence construct suited to the situated and occupation-specific nature of vocational digital work, (b) bridging workplace learning theory and digital competence research through a unified explanatory framework, and (c) offering a testable agenda for empirical research on digital competence formation under conditions of workplace digitalization.
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