Strengthening the cultivation of students' innovation ability is an urgent requirement for the construction of China's innovation system, and vocational colleges are a crucial driving force for cultivating technical innovation talents. Therefore, this study aims to explore the influence of metacognition on innovative behavior among vocational college students in Hainan, China and the differences between the behavior of boys and girls. Five vocational colleges were selected by purposive sampling. A total 600 students and 577 valid questionnaires were obtained, with 285 male and 292 female respondents. The results of the study found that the metacognition of boys and girls in vocational colleges has a positive and substantial impact on innovative behavior, and that the effect of metacognition on the innovative behavior of girls is higher than that of boys.