Abstract
Employability is a key issue in graduates’ job-hunting, but little research has been done on that of the graduates in Chinese universities. These universities have been experiencing a decline in their graduate employment since the past decade. This paper attempts to tackle this issue. It reviews the relevant research on employability and develops a research-based theoretical framework to evaluate and analyze the graduates’ employability in China. It adopts multiple approaches to establish the skills that will enhance university students’ employability. Investigating around 100 employers and 200 undergraduates from the universities in Beijing, the paper explores the characteristics of and factors influencing the graduates’ employability. Subsequently, it proposes a qualitative model to measure graduates’ employability. Based on the findings, it discusses the theoretical and practical implications and provides advice for Chinese graduates to improve their employability.
Highlights
With a global shortage of skilled workers, governments around the world are concerned that higher education makes the greatest possible contribution to “human capital,” the quality of which is believed to be crucial to national well-being (Yorke & Knight, 2007)
Su’s main research interests focus upon career development and HRM. She has been working in career education with university students in China since 2005 and has developed a model to develop the university graduates’ employability in China
This paper develops a research theoretical framework to evaluate and analyze the graduates’ employability in China
Summary
With a global shortage of skilled workers, governments around the world are concerned that higher education makes the greatest possible contribution to “human capital,” the quality of which is believed to be crucial to national well-being (Yorke & Knight, 2007). Su’s main research interests focus upon career development and HRM She has been working in career education with university students in China since 2005 and has developed a model to develop the university graduates’ employability in China. She has published a series of papers and two textbooks in the field. Miao’s main research interests are related to Human Resource Management and Developing Countries with a focus on China She has published several papers in journals and books, such as International Journal of Human Resource Management and International Labour Review. She is a reviewer for various journals, e.g. Human Resource Management (USA), Journal of World Business, and International Journal of Human Resource Management
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