Enterprise Practice Experience Mediates the Relationship Between University-Related Factors and Students’ Perception of Employability
Downloads
Objective: This study aims to examine the mediating role of enterprise practice experience in the relationship between university-related factors and students’ perception of employability
Methods and Materials: This quantitative study surveyed 561 students from five vocational colleges in Shandong Province, China, using stratified random sampling. Seven constructs were measured: Disciplinary and Industry Knowledge, Practical and Problem-Solving Skills, Professionalism and Work Attitude, Teacher Guidance and Feedback, Enterprise Practice Experience, and Students’ Perception of Employability. Structural Equation Modeling using AMOS tested direct effects and mediating relationships within an integrated framework informed by Human Capital Theory, Constructivist Learning Theory, and Social Cognitive Career Theory.
Findings: The results indicate that disciplinary and industry knowledge, practical and problem-solving skills, professionalism and work attitude, as well as teacher guidance and feedback, all have significant direct impacts on views of employability. More importantly, enterprise practice experience serves a partial mediating role, in the relationship between university-related factors and perceived employability. The model accounted for 58% of the variance observed in employability perception.
Conclusion: The results demonstrate that the perception of employability is influenced by both university-related factors and enterprise practice experience. Although university-related factors influence employability perception, enterprise practice allows students to apply knowledge, refine skills, and cultivate professional confidence, thereby augmenting the influence of formal education on employability results. These findings underscore the necessity of incorporating organized enterprise practices into vocational curriculum and connecting pedagogical approaches with industry requirements.
Downloads
Adegbite, W. M. (2024). Unpacking mediation and moderating effect of digital literacy and life-career knowledge in the relationship between work-integrated learning and graduate employability. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 10, 101161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2024.101161
Arinaitwe, D. (2021). Practices and strategies for enhancing learning through collaboration between vocational teacher training institutions and workplaces. Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training, 13(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40461-021-00117-z
Ayala Calvo, J. C., & Manzano García, G. (2021). The influence of psychological capital on graduates’ perception of employability: the mediating role of employability skills. Higher Education Research & Development, 40(2), 293-308. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1738350
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual review of psychology, 52(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1
Becker, G. S. (1975). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis. National Bureau of Economic Research.
Bruner, J. S. (2009). The process of education. Harvard university press.
Chan, C. K. Y. (2023). Assessment for experiential learning. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003018391
Chen, J. (2023). Holistic innovation: Innovation paradigm explorations in the new era. Springer Nature.
Chen, Y., & Gan, N. (2021). Sustainable development of employability of university students based on participation in the internship promotion programme of Zhejiang province. Sustainability, 13(23), 13454. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313454
Citaristi, I. (2022). International Labour Organization—ILO. In The Europa directory of international organizations 2022 (pp. 343-349). Routledge.
Clarke, M. (2018). Rethinking graduate employability: The role of capital, individual attributes and context. Studies in Higher Education, 43(11), 1923-1937. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1294152
Eames, C., & Coll, R. K. (2010). Cooperative education: Integrating classroom and workplace learning. In Learning through practice: Models, traditions, orientations and approaches (pp. 180-196). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3939-2_10
Eraut, M. (2002). Developing professional knowledge and competence. Routledge.
Gan, W., Chen, B., Madeddu, M., & Attuyer, K. (2025). How to renovate old residential communities to support healthy ageing-in-place at a neighbourhood level? A case study in Suzhou, China. Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2025.2605774
Gazi, M. A. I., Rahman, M. K. H., Yusof, M. F., Masud, A. A., Islam, M. A., Senathirajah, A. R. b. S., & Hossain, M. A. (2024). Mediating role of entrepreneurial intention on the relationship between entrepreneurship education and employability: a study on university students from a developing country. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1), 2294514. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2023.2294514
González, J., & Wagenaar, R. (2006). Tuning Educational Structures in Europe II, Universities' contribution to the Bologna Process. Universidad de Deusto/Universidad de Groningen.
Haritha, G., & Rao, R. (2024). A Holistic Approach to Professional Development: Integrating Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory for Soft Skills Mastery. Journal of Engineering Education Transformations, 415-424. https://journaleet.in/index.php/jeet/article/view/2426
Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of educational research, 77(1), 81-112. https://doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487
Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication monographs, 76(4), 408-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750903310360
Heppner, P. P., & Petersen, C. H. (1982). The development and implications of a personal problem-solving inventory. Journal of counseling psychology, 29(1), 66. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.29.1.66
Jackson, D. (2017). Developing pre-professional identity in undergraduates through work-integrated learning. Higher Education, 74(5), 833-853. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0080-2
Jackson, D., & Bridgstock, R. (2021). What actually works to enhance graduate employability? The relative value of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular learning and paid work. Higher Education, 81(4), 723-739. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00570-x
Jackson, D., Shan, H., & Meek, S. (2022). Enhancing graduates’ enterprise capabilities through work-integrated learning in co-working spaces. Higher Education, 84(1), 101-120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-021-00756-x
Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford publications.
Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of vocational behavior, 45(1), 79-122. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1994.1027
Li, C., & Jansaeng, A. (2025). Enhancing College Students' Employability in Higher Education: Exploring the Issues of Applying Project-Based Learning in Training Courses. Journal of Management World, 2025(1), 198-207. https://doi.org/10.53935/jomw.v2024i4.638
Li, H., Khattak, S. I., & Shamim, M. A. (2024). Quality culture, university-industry collaboration, and perceived employability among vocational students in China: a Yanpei Huang perspective. Frontiers in psychology, 15, 1439097. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1439097
Lyu, S., Niu, S., Yuan, J., & Zhan, Z. (2024). Developing professional capital through technology-enabled university-school-enterprise collaboration: an innovative model for C-STEAM preservice teacher education in the Greater Bay area. Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 18(3), 270-299. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJIE-01-2024-0014
Ma, Y., & Bennett, D. (2021). The relationship between higher education students' perceived employability, academic engagement and stress among students in China. Education+ Training, 63(5), 744-762.
Musa, S., Nurhayati, S., & Boriboon, G. (2025). The Effect of Internships on Graduates' Employability, Soft Skills, and Digital Competence. Educational Process: International Journal, 17, e2025306. https://doi.org/10.22521/edupij.2025.17.306
Piaget, J. (1976). Piaget’s theory. In Piaget and his school: A reader in developmental psychology (pp. 11-23). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-46323-5_2
Pianda, D., Hilmiana, H., Widianto, S., & Sartika, D. (2024). The impact of internship experience on the employability of vocational students: a bibliometric and systematic review. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1), 2386465. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2386465
Pitan, O. S., & Muller, C. (2019). University reputation and undergraduates’ self-perceived employability: mediating influence of experiential learning activities. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(6), 1269-1284. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1634678
Presti, A. L., Capone, V., Aversano, A., & Akkermans, J. (2022). Career competencies and career success: On the roles of employability activities and academic satisfaction during the school-to-work transition. Journal of Career Development, 49(1), 107-125. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845321992536
Qiana, R. (2024). Strategies for Internationalizing Student Development at Regional Undergraduate Institutions in China: A Study. Journal of Advanced Academic Research and Studies, 1(4), 19-73. http://www.nlbaeai.org/
Rothwell, A., & Arnold, J. (2007). Self‐perceived employability: Development and validation of a scale. Personnel Review, 36(1), 23-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480710716704
Ryan, A. M., & Shim, S. S. (2008). An exploration of young adolescents' social achievement goals and social adjustment in middle school. Journal of educational psychology, 100(3), 672. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.3.672
Simon, E. (2024). Cultivating professional identity: The vital role of practical teaching experience for future educators. Education sciences, 14(5), 439. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14050439
Soltani, B., Pham, T., & Joshanloo, M. (2024). Workplace ideologies, employability and the ideal graduate identities. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2024.2433164
Stern, D. T., & Papadakis, M. (2006). The developing physician—becoming a professional. New England Journal of Medicine, 355(17), 1794-1799. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra054783
Tomlinson, M. (2017). Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability. Education+ training, 59(4), 338-352. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-05-2016-0090
Tomlinson, M., & Holmes, L. (2016). Graduate employability in context: Theory, research and debate. Springer.
Tomlinson, M., & Jackson, D. (2021). Professional identity formation in contemporary higher education students. Studies in Higher Education, 46(4), 885-900. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1659763
Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The collected works of LS Vygotsky: Problems of the theory and history of psychology (Vol. 3). Springer Science & Business Media.
Wang, G., & Wang, Z. (2023). Vocational education: a poor second choice? A comparison of the labour market outcomes of academic and vocational graduates in China. Oxford review of education, 49(3), 408-427. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2022.2096583
Wang, S., Peng, F., & Feng, Z. (2023). The role of skills competitions in improving the practical ability of vocational college students. Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 7(2), 23-28. https://doi.org/10.26689/jcer.v7i2.4708
Wang, W., Hussin, M., & Majid, M. Z. A. (2024). Employment Skills in Tertiary Work-Based Learning: A Multiple-Stakeholder Investigation into China’s “3+ 1” Programs. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 23(9), 198-219. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.23.9.11
Yang, L., & Zhang, H. (2022). The chain mediating effect of network behavior and decision self‐efficacy between work skills and perceived employability based on social cognitive theory. Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, 2022(1), 5240947. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/5240947
Yang, Y. (2020). Exploration and practice of maker education mode in innovation and entrepreneurship education. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 1626. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01626
Zeng, L., Ye, J.-H., Wang, N., Lee, Y.-S., & Yuan, J. (2023). The learning needs of art and design students in Chinese vocational colleges for entrepreneurship education: From the perspectives of theory of entrepreneurial thought and action. Sustainability, 15(3), 2366. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032366
Zhang, H., Khaskheli, A., Raza, S. A., & Masood, A. (2024). Linkage between students’ skills and employability: Moderating influence of university reputation. Corporate Reputation Review, 27(4), 229-248. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-023-00169-9
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Body, Mind and Culture
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
